Nifty slips below 9000; pharma stocks buck trend

Key benchmark indices were trading with steep losses in morning trade. The Nifty 50 index gave up the decisive 9000 mark. Pharma stocks bucked broader selling pressure. At 10:23 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 589.03 points or 1.89% at 30,570.59. The Nifty 50 index was down 177.05 points or 1.94% at 8,934.85.

Sentiment was weak after four states - Odisha, Punjab, Maharashtra and Telangana - extended the lockdown till 30 April due to the coronavirus pandemic. The central government is also contemplating extending the 21-day nationwide lockdown that ends on 14 April.

The broader market also traded with losses. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 1.09% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 1.77%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 734 shares rose and 1117 shares fell. A total of 153 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The Government released IIP number for the month of February 2020 after market hours on Friday. The Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2011-12 for the month of February 2020 stood at 133.3, which is 4.5% higher as compared to the level in the month of February 2019. The cumulative growth for the period April-February 2019-20 over the corresponding period of the previous year stood at 0.9%.

The industry group 'Manufacture of basic metals' showed the highest positive growth of 18.2% followed by 8% in 'Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products' and in 'Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products'.

India's foreign exchange reserves fell by $0.90 billion to $474.66 billion in the week ended 3 April 2020. The foreign exchange reserves had stood at $475.56 a week ago. Within the foreign exchange reserves, the foreign currency assets eased to $439.12 billion in the week ended 3 April 2020 from $439.66 billion a week ago.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index was up 1.77% to 8,956.25, rising for fifth consecutive session. The index has surged 27.46% in five trading sessions from its previous closing low of 7026.70 posted on 1 April 2020.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 9.43%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 5.35%), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (up 2.71%), Divi's Laboratories (up 1.83%), Cipla (up 1.35%), Cadila Healthcare (up 0.84%), Biocon (up 0.72%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 0.57%) were top gainers in Nifty Pharma index.

Lupin surged 5.82% to Rs 833.60 after the pharmaceutical major announced that it has received Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the US FDA inspection for its Nagpur facility. The inspection for the facility was carried out between 6 January and 10 January 2020, the drug maker said in an exchange filing made during market hours today (13 April 2020).

Pharmaceutical stocks continued their bull run after the government allowed export of select active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), including antibiotics, vitamins and hormones as well as their formulations, that were placed under restriction early last month.

The government had imposed the restrictions last month as the coronavirus outbreak disrupted global supply chains.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Shares of HDFC were trading 2.23% lower at Rs 1664.05 on BSE. People's Bank of China (PBOC) raised its stake in HDFC to 1.01% from 0.8%. The stake comprises 1.74 crore shares of the mortgage lender.

V.S.T Tillers Tractors said its total auto sales slumped 59% to 1,975 units in March 2020 as against 4,815 units in March 2019. Sale of power tillers tanked 58.57% to 1,585 units in March 2020 as compared to 3826 units reported in March 2019. Sale of tractors dropped 60.5% to 390 units in March 2020 as against 989 units in the same period last year. VST Tillers Tractors was up 2.35% at Rs 712.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News