Benchmarks off the day's high; pharma shares rise for 2nd day

The domestic equity barometers came off the day's high in mid-morning trade. The Nifty traded some points above towards the 17,750 level after hitting the day's high at 17,799.95. Pharma shares witnessed decent buying demand for second consecutive session.

At 11:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 543.24 points or 0.91% to 60,352.21 The Nifty 50 index added 163.05 points or 0.93% to 17,757.40.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.95% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 1.07%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2314 shares rose and 1059 shares fell. A total of 188 shares were unchanged.

Meanwhile, oil prices retreated on Monday as a weaker-than-expected GDP forecast from China dented some optimism over a recovery in crude demand this year.

Focus this week is also squarely on a testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday, which is expected to shed more light on where U.S. interest rates could go this year.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index rose 0.73% to 11,868.05. The index has advanced 0.91% in two sessions.

Aurobindo Pharma (up 2.74%), Abbott India (up 1.88%), Laurus Labs (up 1.78%), Biocon (up 1.62%) and Alkem Laboratories (up 1.54%) were the top gainers.

Among the other gainers were Granules India (up 1.24%), Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (up 1.23%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 0.97%), Sanofi India (up 0.74%) and Lupin (up 0.68%).

On the other hand, Torrent Pharmaceuticals (down 0.31%), Dr Reddys Laboratories (down 0.23%) and Gland Pharma (down 0.17%) moved lower.

Alembic Pharmaceuticals rose 3.97%. The pharma company announced that it has received final approval from the US drug regulator for its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) Fluorouracil injection USP, pharmacy bulk vial. Fluorouracil Injection is indicated for the treatment of patients with adenocarcinoma of colon and rectum, adenocarcinoma of the breast, gastric adenocarcinoma and pancreatic adenocarcinoma. According to IQVIA, Fluorouracil Injection USP had an estimated market size of $5 million for twelve months ended December 2022.

Zydus Lifesciences added 0.97%. The drug maker said that it has received final approval from US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Vigabatrin for Oral Solution USP, 500 mg. Vigabatrin for oral solution is indicated for the treatment of refractory complex partial seizures as adjunctive therapy in patients 2 years of age and older. It is also used to treat infantile spasms in babies and children between the ages of 1 month and 2 years. As on 31 December 2022, the Zydus group now has 349 approvals and has so far filed over 440 ANDAs since the commencement of the filing process in FY 2003-04.

Global markets:

Asian stock markets mostly advanced on Monday as investors further digested China's growth target set in its parliamentary sessions and looked ahead to a week of economic data.

China's National People's Congress (NPC) has kicked off its annual parliamentary session, announcing a modest target for economic growth of about 5%. The session, which began in Beijing on Sunday, is also set to hand President Xi Jinping a third term in office and implement the biggest government shake-up in a decade.

US stocks ended higher Friday as Treasury yields eased from their recent highs and investors weighed the cumulative impact from Fed hikes already implemented and digested this week's comments from the central bank.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.17%, the S&P 500 climbed 1.61%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.97%. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury note dipped below the 4% threshold.

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