IT shares in demand

Key benchmarks turned range bound in negative terrain in mid-morning trade. At 11:17 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 224.58 points or 0.59% at 37,644.65. The Nifty 50 index was down 65.65 points or 0.57% at 11,363.85. Trading sentiment took a hit as global cues turned weak on back of rout in Turkish currency.

The indices opened lower and hit fresh intraday low in early trade. Indices came off day's low and was trading with modest losses in morning trade. The Sensex fell 176.04 points, or 0.46% at the day's high of 37,693.19 in early trade. The index fell 309.97 points, or 0.82% at the day's low of 37,559.26 in early trade. The Nifty fell 51.95 points, or 0.45% at the day's high of 11,377.55 in mid-morning trade trade. The index fell 89.20 points, or 0.78% at the day's low of 11,340.30 in early trade.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.35%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.56%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On BSE, 867 shares rose and 1425 shares fell. A total of 110 shares were unchanged.

IT shares were trading higher after rupee fell to a record low of 69.62 per dollar as a currency turmoil in Turkey sparked worries of potential market contagion. Hexaware Technologies (up 3.17%), Tech Mahindra (up 2.91%), MindTree (up 2.74%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 1.41%), HCL Technologies (up 1.31%), MphasiS (up 1.28%), Persistent Systems (up 0.84%), Infosys (up 0.18%) and TCS (up 0.03%), edged higher. Wipro was down 0.04%. A weak rupee benefits IT companies as they earn sizeable chunk of revenues in dollars.

Most pharmaceutical shares rose. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.56%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 0.93%), Strides Shasun (up 0.79%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 0.66%), Wockhardt (up 0.62%), Lupin (up 0.37%), Piramal Enterprises (up 0.35%), Divi's Laboratories (up 0.34%), IPCA Laboratories (up 0.25%), Cadila Healthcare (up 0.23%) and GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (up 0.13%), edged higher. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 0.85%) and Alkem Laboratories (down 2.76%), edged lower.

Drug major Cipla was up 1.10%. The company announced after market hours on Friday, 10 August 2018, that it has received final approval for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Atazanavir Caps 100mg, 150mg, 200mg, 300mg from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).

Cipla's Atazanavir Caps 100mg, 150mg, 200mg, 300mg is AB-rated generic therapeutic equivalent version of Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Company's, Reyataz. It is a protease inhibitor indicated for use in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in patients with minimum age of 6 years and older weighing at least 15 kg. According to IQVIA (IMS Health), Reyataz and its generic equivalents had US sales of approximately $324 million for the 12-month period ending April 2018.

Separately, Cipla USA, Inc., a subsidiary of Cipla, announced after market hours on Friday, 10 August 2018, that it has secured rights from MSN Laboratories to market & distribute Capecitabine 150mg and 500mg tablets in the United States of America. The product is available immediately.

The Capecitabine 150mg and 500mg tablet is an AB-rated generic therapeutic equivalent version of Genentech's Xeloda. Capecitabine tablets are indicated as a single agent for adjuvant treatment in patients with Dukes C colon cancer who have undergone complete resection of the primary tumor when treatment with fluoropyrimidine therapy alone is preferred, and also indicated for the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer after failure of prior anthracycline-containing chemotherapy. As per IQVIA (IMS Health), Xeloda and its generic equivalents had sales of approximately $178 million for the 12-month period ending June 2018 in the United States.

On the economic front, India's industrial production growth rebounded to five month high of 7% in June 2018, while recovering from a seven-month low of 3.9% in May 2018. The industrial production growth for May 2018 has been revised upwards from 3.2% increase reported provisionally.

Overseas, Asian shares tumbled on Monday after investor sentiment took a hit amid the slump in the Turkish currency, lira, on geopolitical developments. US stocks dropped on Friday, triggered by fears over the sell-off in the lira after US President Donald Trump said he had approved the doubling of metals tariffs against Turkey on Friday.

The lira's decline was the latest sign of turmoil in international economies, particularly emerging markets. The currency tumbled on worries over Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's increasing control over the economy and deteriorating relations with the United States.

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