A bout of volatility was witnessed as key benchmark indices reversed losses in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:17 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 67.28 points or 0.27% at 25,033.68. The Nifty 50 index was currently up 19.35 points or 0.25% at 7,634.45. The Sensex was currently hovering above the psychologically important 25,000 mark after alternately moving above and below that level in intraday trade. Gains in European stocks aided upmove on the domestic bourses.
The Sensex rose 87.33 points, or 0.35% at the day's high of 25,053.73 in morning trade. The barometer index fell 130.84 points, or 0.52% at the day's low of 24,835.56 in mid-morning trade, its lowest level since 18 March 2016. The Nifty rose 30.70 points, or 0.4% at the day's high of 7,645.80 in morning trade. The index fell 32.85 points, or 0.43% at the day's low of 7,582.25 in mid-morning trade, its lowest level since 18 March 2016.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was weak. On BSE, 1,553 shares declined and 943 shares rose. A total of 164 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.11%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently down 0.08%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
In overseas stock markets, European shares edged higher as trading resumed after a four-day break for the Easter holiday. Asian stocks witnessed a mixed trend ahead of a speech from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen on the US economy and monetary policy. Yellen will deliver a speech at the Economic Club of New York today, 29 March 2016. Markets globally expect Yellen to drop hints about future rate hike path.
Stocks of public sector banks witnessed a mixed trend. Allahabad Bank (up 1.75%), Bank of India (up 0.91%), IDBI Bank (up 0.73%), UCO Bank (up 0.68%), Bank of Maharashtra (up 0.52%), Bank of Baroda (up 0.50%), State Bank of India (up 0.32%), Syndicate Bank (up 0.31%), Union Bank of India (up 0.20%) and Andhra Bank (up 0.10%), edged higher. Indian Bank (down 0.24%), Canara Bank (down 0.33%), Corporation Bank (down 0.52%), United Bank of India (down 0.52%), Central Bank of India (down 0.55%), Punjab National Bank (down 0.55%), Punjab and Sind Bank (down 0.73%), Dena Bank (down 1.2%) and Vijaya Bank (down 1.27%) edged lower.
Most private sector banks edged higher. City Union Bank (up 2.73%), Axis Bank (up 1.29%), HDFC Bank (up 0.69%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 0.49%), Yes Bank (up 0.49%) and Federal Bank (up 0.11%), edged higher.
ICICI Bank was down 0.22% at Rs 224.75. The stock hit a high of Rs 227 and a low of Rs 222.20 so far during the day.
IndusInd Bank rose 1.22% to Rs 927.70. Ashok Leyland rose 2.67%. Ashok Leyland announced before market hours today, 29 March 2016, that it has on 28 March 2016 sold 32.63 lakh equity shares of IndusInd Bank in the open market at a price of Rs 915.96 per share.
Tata Motors rose 3.77% to Rs 376.95. Tata Motors in a press release dated 27 March 2016 said it has secured a follow-on contract for the supply of additional 619 units of the Tata 6X6 high-mobility, multi-axle truck from the Indian Army.
Most capital goods shares edged lower. AIA Engineering (down 4.44%), BEML (down 2.89%), Thermax (down 2.13%), Jindal Saw (down 2.11%), Lakshmi Machine Works (down 1.6%), Alstom T&D India (down 1.29%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (down 1.24%), ABB India (down 0.89%), Siemens (down 0.35%), Praj Industries (down 0.22%), Havells India (down 0.15%) and Suzlon Energy (down 0.15%), edged lower. Punj Lloyd (up 0.65%), Reliance Defence and Engineering (up 1.37%), Bharat Electronics (up 1.38%), ALSTOM India (up 2.40%), SKF India (up 2.47%) and Crompton Greaves (up 2.54%), edged higher.
Index heavyweight and engineering & construction major L&T was down 0.88% to Rs 1,195.30. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,215.10 and a low of Rs 1,190.50 so far during the day.
Drug maker Lupin slumped after media reports suggested that the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has issued Form 483 observations after concluding inspection of Lupin's Mandideep unit in Madhya Pradesh. The stock was down 7.42% at Rs 1,384.20. The stock was volatile. The scrip hit a high of Rs 1,494 and a low of Rs 1,294.05 so far during the day. Lupin clarified to the stock exchanges during trading hours today, 29 March 2019, that the USFDA inspected its Mandideep manufacturing facilities last month. Lupin said that there were total three observations from the USFDA after the inspection. As the site has both dosage form facility and active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) facility, two separate Form 483s were issued with two observations each. One of the observations was common to both these facilities. Lupin said that these observations are minor in nature and it has already addressed these observations. The company said that the management believes that the outcome of the USFDA audit will be a voluntary action and there will be no remediation required.
One of the observations erroneously quoted in news reports relates to the use of non-conforming intermediate for making API prior to 2015. This was done based on laboratory trials and scientific rationale that further processing steps were capable of producing desired quality API. All API batches and drug product batches manufactured using such APIs complied with the specifications and hence were released to market, Lupin said. Appropriate corrective and preventative actions were already implemented in 2015 and were verified by the USFDA investigator, the company said. As an abundant precaution, the company has recalled batches manufactured from this period. There is no material financial impact of the recall, according to Lupin. Lupin further said that it does not expect any disruption to product supply from the Mandideep facility. There are no pending applications from the facility, it added.
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