The key equity indices hit fresh intraday high in afternoon trade. The Nifty was trading above 17,700 mark. Pharma shares extended losses for the second consecutive session.
At 13:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 369.63 points or 0.62% to 59,552.85. The Nifty 50 index added 77.90 points or 0.44% to 17,703.60.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.10% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.10%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1773 shares rose and 1548 shares fell. A total of 120 shares were unchanged.
Gainers & Losers:
NTPC (up 3.81%), ONGC (up 2.90%), Power Grid Corp (up 2.29%), SBI (up 2.17%) and Hindustan Unilever (up 1.86%) were the gainers in the Nifty 50 index.
Tata Motors (down 2.12%), Tata Consumer (down 1.64%), Shree Cement (down 1.49%), Coal India (down 1.42%) and Ultratech Cement (down 1.06%) were the losers in the Nifty 50 index.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Pharma index slipped 0.79% to 14,045.05. the index has lost 1.25% in two sessions.
Granules India (down 3.24%), Laurus Labs (down 2.53%), Cadila Healthcare (down 2.36%), Strides Pharma (down 1.64%), Glenmark Pharma (down 1.38%), Sun Pharma (down 1.30%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 1.24%), Torrent Pharma (down 1.16%) and Lupin (down 1.09%) declined.
Meanwhile, Gland Pharma (up 0.88%) and Ipca Laboratories (up 0.81%) managed to outperform.
Alembic Pharmaceuticals rose 2.62% to Rs 829.20. The company has received final approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for Doxycycline Hyclate Delayed-Release Tablets. The tablets are indicated' to reduce the development of drug-resistant bacteria. They have an estimated market size of US$10 million for twelve months ending September 2021 according to IQVIA.
Economy:
India's merchandise exports jumped to a record high in December, so did imports, causing the trade deficit to remain elevated even as it narrowed over the preceding month.
Merchandise imports were at $59.27 billion in December, up 38.1% year-on-year and 12% over the previous month. Merchandise exports were at $37.29 billion, up 37% year-on-year and 24.1% over November.
The gap between exports and imports stood at $21.99 billion in December compared with $22.91 billion in November.
COVID-19 Update:
India recorded 37,379 new cases in the last 24 hours taking the country's active caseload to 1,71,830. Active cases accounted for less than 1% of total cases, currently at 0.49%. The country's omicron tally stands at 1,892.
The Punjab government has prohibited movement for non-essential activities shall between 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. till 15 January 2021.
Mumbai's Mayor Kishori Pednekar reportedly said a lockdown will be imposed in the city if daily Covid-19 cases cross the 20,000-mark. Mumbai reported 8,082 cases and two deaths in the last 24 hours.
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