Nifty near 9,150 mark; pharma shares in demand

The benchmark indices continued trading higher in early afternoon trade. At 12:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 211.52 points or 0.69% at 31,030.13. The Nifty 50 index rose 70.05 points or 0.77% at 9,136.60. The volatility was high due to expiry of weekly index options on NSE.

Investors risk appetite improved after the government announced resumption of domestic airline operations from 25 May, almost two month after the operations were suspended on 25 March.

The broader market surged. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 1.31% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.42%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1324 shares rose and 621 shares fell. A total of 144 shares were unchanged. In the Nifty 50 index, 35 shares advanced while 15 stocks declined.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 6.72% to 33.4. The Nifty May 2020 futures were trading at 9,124, a discount of 12.6 points compared with the spot at 9,136.60.

On the options front, the Nifty option chain for 28 May 2020 expiry showed maximum call open interest (OI) of 26.35 lakh contracts at the 10,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 30.28 lakh contracts was seen at 9,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index added 0.53% to 9,506.80, advancing for second day. The index has added 4.64% in two sessions.

Piramal Enterprises (up 3.51%), Cadila Healthcare (up 3.32%), IPCA Laboratories (up 2.65%), Wockhardt (up 1.83%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.7%), Alkem Laboratories (up 1.54%), Abbott India (up 1.38%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 1.25%), Strides Pharma Science (up 0.97%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 0.85%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (up 0.8%) and Lupin (up 0.64%) advanced.

Earnings Impact:

Bajaj Auto was up 2.81%. The auto maker's consolidated reported net profit fell 3.9% to Rs 1,353.99 crore on 8.5% decline in net sales to Rs 6,610.90 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. Profit before tax (PBT) slipped 10.8% to Rs 1,764.93 crore during the period under review. Current tax expenses jumped 14.8% to Rs 411.33 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019.

The auto maker's total sales volume declined 17% to 9.91 lakh units in Q4 FY20 as against 11.93 lakh units in Q4 FY19. Domestic sales volumes slumped 33% to 4.78 lakh units while exports gained 7% to 5.13 lakh units during the quarter.

GHCL was up 1.63%. The company's consolidated net profit dropped 28.9% to Rs 84.86 crore on a 17.4% decline in net sales to Rs 750.07 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. Consolidated profit before tax slumped 51.5% to Rs 88.09 crore in Q4 March 2020 as against Rs 181.67 crore in Q4 March 2019. Current tax expenses tumbled 66.3% to Rs 17.07 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019.

The company has received an income tax benefit due to which lower tax has been provided for the quarter. In textile segment, there has been a one-time impact of Rs 30 crore on account of COVID-19, forex and potential markdowns and reduction in the value of inventories, investment and receivables.

"In light of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic situation, the company's performance in Q4 FY20/ FY20 may not depict a correct view, and may therefore not give a fair assessment if compared YoY", the company said.

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