Nifty, Sensex inch higher as pharma, IT stocks climb

By Jessica Kuruthukulangara

(Reuters) - Indian shares inched higher on Friday and were set for their fourth straight weekly gain as pharmaceutical stocks such as Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd extended gains on the back of U.S. regulatory approvals and heavyweight Reliance Industries Ltd hit an all-time peak.

IT stocks such as Infosys Ltd also climbed, supporting the Indian market, while caution prevailed across the globe as Washington looked set to impose tariffs targeting $50 billion Chinese goods and Beijing warned that it was ready to respond.

India's broader NSE Nifty was up 0.09 percent at 10,817.55 as of 0619 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.03 percent higher at 35,612.19.

"There is no trigger as such which could really move the market sharply. But U.S. tariffs on China could cause some volatility," said Krish Subramanyam, co-head and equity adviser at Altamount Capital.

The NSE pharma index climbed as much as 2.3 percent in its eighth straight session of gains. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd rose 2.6 percent to its highest in over three months.

Dr. Reddy's Labs was the top gainer on the NSE index, climbing as much as 4.3 percent after the drugmaker said it would launch buprenorphine and naloxone sublingual film in the U.S. market after it got the Food and Drug Administration's final nod for the treatment.

Reliance Industries rose as much as 1.5 percent and was set for its 10th session of gains in 11 sessions.

The NSE IT index gained as much as 1.1 percent, on track to end higher in six out of the last seven sessions.

Meanwhile, Vakrangee Ltd fell as much as 5 percent after the company said its March-quarter consolidated profit nearly halved.

(Reporting by Jessica Kuruthukulangara in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)