Indices trade with small gains amid volatility; broader markets outperform

The domestic equity benchmarks are trading with small gains in early trade amid volatility. The market breadth is strong.

At 09:21 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 39.91 points or 0.07% to 57,937.39. The Nifty 50 index added 7.10 points or 0.04% to 17,240.35.

Among the Nifty 50 stocks, IndusInd Bank (up 1.98%), Cipla (up 1.06%), Reliance Industries (up 0.76%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 0.76%) and ICICI Bank (up 0.65%) were the top index gainers.

Meanwhile, Power Grid Corporation of India (down 0.97%), Coal India (down 0.64%), Infosys (down 0.61%), Shree Cement (down 0.57%) and Grasim Industries (down 0.50%) edged lower.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.37% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.68%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1966 shares rose and 555 shares fell. A total of 75 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on December 28 cleared the rules for tightening initial public offerings (IPOs). These rules will address gaps like conditions for the objective of IPOs, utilisation of proceeds from the share sales, price bands, anchor investors' lock-in period and the size of the stake a majority shareholder may sell on listing day.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories gained 0.64% to Rs 4773.65. The company said that it has received emergency-use authorisation from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to manufacture and market the oral anti-viral drug Molnupiravir capsules 200mg for the treatment of adult patients with COVID-19.

Aurobindo Pharma added 0.83% to Rs 731.15. The pharmaceutical company announced the receipt of the DCGI's (Drugs Controller General of India) permission to manufacture and distribute its in-licensed generic version of MSD (a trade name of Merck & Co., Inc, Kenilworth, NJ, USA) and Ridgeback's Molnupiravir, to be marketed as Molnaflu.

Strides Pharma Science gained 0.95% to Rs 457.60. The company said that it has received emergency use authorization from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to launch Molnupiravir 200mg in India.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks are trading mixed on Wednesday as investors assessed the impact of the omicron Covid variant.

A study from South Africa found the immune response of people infected with the omicron Covid variant appears to increase protection against delta more than fourfold and could displace it.

U.S. stocks were mixed Tuesday as investors continued to look to pandemic news for direction with the threat of the omicron variant looming large. The S&P 500 closed slightly lower after hitting a record intraday high on Tuesday.

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