Market holds firm at higher levels

The S&P BSE Sensex hovered near the day's high, while the Nifty 50 index hit fresh intraday high in mid-morning trade. At 11:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 369.98 points or 1.11% at 33,583.11. The Nifty 50 index was up 100.05 points or 0.97% at 10,435.35. Positive leads from Asian markets and overnight gains in the US market boosted investors' sentiment.

The market opened higher, tracking positive global cues. Buying gained momentum in morning trade, which propelled key indices to hit record high levels.

The Sensex rose 382.61 points, or 1.15% at the day's high of 33,595.74 in morning trade, its record high level. The index rose 127.49 points, or 0.38% at the day's low of 33,340.62 in opening trade. The Nifty rose 102.25 points, or 0.99% at the day's high of 10,437.55 in mid-morning trade, its record high level. The index rose 47.75 points, or 0.46% at the day's low of 10,383.05 in opening trade.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.86%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.91%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The broad market depicted strength. There were more than two gainers against every loser on BSE. 1,669 shares rose and 771 shares fell. A total of 115 shares were unchanged.

Most pharmaceutical shares rose. Divi's Laboratories (up 4.50%), Wockhardt (up 1.61%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (up 1.51%), Cadila Healthcare (up 0.72%), Cipla (up 0.59%), Strides Shasun (up 0.57%), Lupin (up 0.45%), Alkem Laboratories (up 0.32%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 0.32%) and Aurobindo Pharma (up 0.14%), edged higher. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 0.37%), IPCA Laboratories (down 0.38%), Piramal Enterprises (down 0.46%) and Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 2.47%), edged lower.

Alembic Pharmaceuticals gained 1.58% after the company announced that through its subsidiary, it has completed the acquisition of USA based generic drug developer, Orit Laboratories LLC. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 31 October 2017.

Alembic Pharmaceuticals announced that through its wholly owned subsidiary, Alembic Pharmaceuticals Inc., it has completed the acquisition of West Caldwell, New Jersey, USA based generic drug developer, Orit Laboratories LLC along with real estate, owned by Okner Realty LLC. With this acquisition, Alembic will now have a total of 69 abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) approvals (61 final and 8 tentative) from United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA). Financial details of the transaction was not disclosed.

Established in 2005 by Dr Satish Patel, Orit is focused on developing and filing oral solid and liquid products. With a state of the art 8,600 square feet R&D and pilot manufacturing facility, Orit has seven approved ANDAs and four ANDAs pending approval. Orit adds complementary skill sets in soft gelatin based oral solids and oral liquids to Alembic with a team of eight highly experienced scientists.

The acquisition increases Alembic's breadth and capabilities in the US with a competent R&D team bringing complementary skill sets in soft gelatin based oral solids and oral liquids. Acquisition brings Dr Satish Patel, an experienced leader from the US generic pharmaceuticals industry to the Alembic group.

Cement shares were in demand. Ambuja Cements (up 1.53%), ACC (up 1.38%) and UltraTech Cement (up 0.88%), edged higher. Grasim Industries was up 0.89%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Syndicate Bank spurted 10.98% after net profit rose 27.68% to Rs 105.24 crore on 2.36% decline in total income to Rs 6419.21 crore in Q2 September 2017 over Q2 September 2016. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 31 October 2017.

Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at Rs 20176.64 crore as on 30 September 2017 as against Rs 20183.85 crore as on 30 June 2017 and Rs 16056.73 crore as on 30 September 2016. The ratio of gross NPAs to gross advances stood at 9.39% as on 30 September 2017 as against 9.96% as on 30 June 2017 and 7.72% as on 30 September 2016. The ratio of net NPAs to net advances stood at 5.76% as on 30 September 2017 as against 6.27% as on 30 June 2017 and 5.03% as on 30 September 2016. The bank's provisions and contingencies rose 3.12% to Rs 891.16 crore in Q2 September 2017 over Q2 September 2016. The bank's provision coverage ratio as on 30 September 2017 stood at 56.21%.

Syndicate Bank said it has made pro rata provisions of Rs 172.60 crore during the current quarter (Q2 September 2017) in accordance with the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) direction of initiation of insolvency resolution process in respect of 12 accounts under the provisions of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

On the macro front, growth in India's manufacturing sector lost momentum in October 2017. The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 50.3 in October 2017, from 51.2 in September 2017. This indicated a broad stagnation in the health of the manufacturing sector during October. At the sector level, improvements in consumer goods negated deteriorations in investment and intermediate goods. An index reading above 50 indicates an overall increase in that variable, below 50 an overall decrease. The data was unveiled during trading hours today, 1 November 2017.

Separately, India's eight core infrastructure sector, carrying 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), has shown healthy 5.2% increase in its output in September 2017 over September 2016. Its cumulative growth was 3.3% in April-September 2017. The data was disclosed after market hours yesterday, 31 October 2017.

The World Bank, after market hours yesterday, 31 October 2017, released the Doing Business (DB) Report, 2018. India ranks 100 among 190 countries assessed by the Doing Business Team. India has leapt 30 ranks over its rank of 130 in the Doing Business Report 2017.

The World Bank report recognized India as one of the top 10 improvers in this year's assessment, having implemented reforms in 8 out of 10 Doing Business indicators. India is the only large country this year to have achieved such a significant shift. On the "distance to frontier metric," one of the key indicators in the survey, India's score went from 56.05 in Doing Business 2017 to 60.76 in Doing Business 2018. This means last year India improved its business regulations in absolute terms - indicating that the country is continuing its steady shift towards best practice in business regulation.

The report noted that India has adopted 37 reforms since 2003. Nearly half of these reforms have been implemented in the last four years. The report captured reforms implemented in 190 countries in the period 2 June 2016 to 1 June 2017.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi hailed India's historic jump of 30 ranks in the World Bank's Doing Business Report, 2018 released yesterday. While terming the improvement in the rankings as historic, the Prime Minister in a series of tweets, said that the jump is the outcome of the all-round and multi-sectoral reform push of Team India. Modi promised to take steps to further improve the rankings.

Overseas, Asian shares were trading higher mirroring a positive close in the US market overnight. The Caixin China General Manufacturing Purchase Managers' Index (PMI) stood at 51 for October, flat from the September level, according to the survey conducted by financial information service provider Markit and sponsored by Caixin Media Co. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below reflects contraction.

The headline Nikkei Japan Manufacturing PMI edged fractionally down in October 2017 to 52.8, from 52.9 in September 2017.

US stocks closed higher on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq ending at a record as quarterly results kept equities drifting near all-time highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.12%, the S&P 500 rose about 0.09% and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.43%.

US consumer confidence rose more than expected in October to the highest in almost 17 years as Americans grew more confident about the economy and job market, according to figures Tuesday from the New York-based Conference Board. Confidence index rose to 125.9, highest since December 2000, from 120.60 in September 2017.

The US Federal Reserve concludes a two-day policy meeting today, 1 November 2017, at which it is expected to leave interest rates unchanged. Most market participants expect the US central bank to resume hiking rates in December 2017.

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