Sensex, Nifty trade with minor losses; pharma shares slide

The domestic equity barometers traded with minor cuts in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 5.18 points or 0.01% at 40,588.62. The Nifty 50 index lost 1.75 points or 0.01% at 11,929.20.

Gains were capped as India's retail inflation in September rose above the RBI's comfort level, while industrial output continued to contract in August, official data showed on Monday. The RBI MPC has given the mandate to maintain annual inflation at 4% until 31 March 2021, with an upper tolerance of 6% and a lower tolerance of 2%. Negative global stocks also put pressure domestic indices.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.21% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.10%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1092 shares rose and 1388 shares fell. A total of 159 shares were unchanged.

Numbers to Track:

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee rose to 73.355 compared with its previous closing 73.28.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 5.904% compared with previous closing of 5.899% in the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 04 December 2020 settlement lost 0.12% to Rs 51,048.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for December 2020 settlement gained 41 cents to $42.13 a barrel. The contract declined 2.64% or $1.13 to settle at $41.72 in the previous trading session.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index slipped 0.42% to 12,103.90. It gained 0.92% on Monday.

Biocon (down 1.64%), Sun Pharma (down 1.55%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 1.46%), Cadila Healthcare (down 1.42%), Alkem Laboratories (down 1.11%), Divi's Labs (down 0.84%) and Torrent Pharma (down 0.21%) declined.

Cipla rose 0.93% to Rs 807.15. The drug major said that its step-down US-based subsidiary received complete response letter (CRL) from the US drug regulator for IV Trambol. The CRL stated that the application for IV tramadol cannot be approved in its present form. The drug, intended to treat patients in acute pain who require an opioid, is not safe for the intended patient population. The USFDA requires an adequate terminal sterilization validation prior to NDA approval, which is planned for later this quarter.

Vivimed Labs rose 1.79% to Rs 17.05. The company said that it had received approvals for 2 ophthalmic products from its sterile ophthalmic facility and 2 oral liquid suspension products from its PICS & Health Canada approved site. Both facilities are situated at Hyderabad. The company is expecting 5 more approvals in ophthalmics and oral solids in Q4 calendar year 2020.

Stocks in news:

Steel Strip Wheels (SSWL) rose 2.08% to Rs 481 after the company said it received new export orders worth over $368,000 from US and Europe for supply of nearly 38,000 wheels. The orders are to be executed in December and January from the company's Dappar and Chennai plant.

Lakshmi Vilas Bank declined 1.35% to Rs 18.30. The board of the private sector commercial bank will consider rights issue of equity shares on Thursday, 15 October 2020. The bank's board had earlier approved raising upto Rs 1000 crore by issuing equity shares through one or more permitted modes including further public offer, rights issue/qualified institutions placement to eligible investors.

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