Indices come off day's high; rupee surges past 73 per USD mark

Key barometers came off the day's as profit booking emerged at higher levels in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty slipped below 11,450 level. At 14:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 213.2 points or 0.55% at 38,841.91. The Nifty 50 index gained 61.8 points or 0.54% at 11,448.15.

The broader indices lagged the benchmarks. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.35% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.12%.

Sellers outpaced buyers. On the BSE, 988 shares rose and 1,560 shares fell. A total of 160 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 3,395.49 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 680.88 crore in the Indian equity market on 31 August 2020, provisional data showed.

Numbers to Track:

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee edged higher to 72.87 compared with its previous closing 73.60.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 5.946% compared with previous closing of 6.078% in the previous trading session.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for November 2020 settlement rose 56 cents to $45.84 a barrel. The contract fell 1.16% to end at $45.28 in the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 October 2020 settlement rose 0.41% to Rs 51,913.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 2,54,88,239 with 8,50,596 deaths. India reported 7,85,996 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 65,288 deaths while 28,39,882 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index surged 0.87% to 11,176.25, recovering from yesterday's 4.67% slump.

Divi's Laboratories (up 2.41%), Alkem Laboratories (up 1.74%), Lupin (up 1.44%), Cipla (up 1.11%) and Torrent Pharma (up 0.48%) were top gainers in pharmaceutical space.

Biocon jumped 6.3% announced the US launch of Semglee in vial and pre-filled pen presentations for patients living with diabetes. Semglee (insulin glargine injection), which received final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), helps in controling high blood sugar in adult and pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes and adults with type 2 diabetes. It is not recommended for the treatment of diabetic ketoacidosis. Semglee has an identical amino acid sequence to Sanofi's Lantus and is approved for the same indications. Sanofi's total IQVIA sales for the 12 months ending 30 June 2020 were approximately $1.64 billion for Lantus 100 Units/mL Vial and approximately $4.36 billion for Lantus SoloSTAR Pen.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) rose 0.65% to Rs 610.45 after the company said its total tractor sales jumped 65% to 24,458 units in August 2020 over August 2019. Sequentially, the tractor sales declined 3.7% in August 2020 compared with 25,402 units in July 2020. Domestic sales in August 2020 were at 23,503 units, as against 13,871 units during August 2019, a spurt of 69%. Export for August 2020 stood at 955 units, marginally higher than 946 units exported in the same month last year. Meanwhile, M&M also announced its auto sales performance for the month of August 2020. The company's total automobile sales declined 16% to 30,426 units in August 2020 from 36,085 units in August 2019. M&M's total auto sales jumped 18.5% in August 2020 from 25,678 units sold in July 2020.

MOIL jumped 3.89% after the company increased prices of different grades of manganese ore and other products, effective 1 September 2020. MOIL said that the prices of all grades of ferro, SMGR grades (Mn30% & Mn25%), fines and chemical grades have been increased by about 10% from 1 September 2020 on the prices prevailing since 1 August 2020. The announcement was made post trading hours yesterday, 31 August 2020.

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