Key benchmark indices edged higher in early trade. At 9:18 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 11.90 points or 0.04% at 26,771.13. The Nifty 50 index was currently up 7.80 points or 0.09% at 8,251.60.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.15%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 0.17%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed. Japan stock market was shut for a holiday. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.54%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was up 0.04%. Data over the weekend showed China's foreign-exchange reserves fell to the lowest level in nearly six years last month. The People's Bank of China said that the world's largest stockpile of foreign currency fell $41.08 billion in December to $3.011 trillion, the lowest level since March 2011. The decline was smaller than the previous month's drop of $69.06 billion.
US stocks registered modest gains on Friday, 6 January 2017 as gains in the technology, industrials and healthcare sectors led shares higher. US nonfarm payrolls rose by 156,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said on Friday, 6 January 2017. The number of jobs created fell from an upwardly revised 204,000 in November. The jobless rate edged up last month to 4.7% from 4.6%.
Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans on Friday, 6 January 2017 reportedly said that US economic conditions are likely to call for two interest-rate hikes in 2017, but a forecast of three hikes is not implausible. Evans said he was sticking with expectation of two rate hikes that he made in September even though things are now a little bit stronger than they were then.
Closer home, the market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market was strong. On the BSE, 736 shares rose and 398 shares declined. A total of 65 shares were unchanged.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, Axis Bank (up 0.89%), ONGC (up 0.82%) and Tata Steel (up 0.69%) edged higher. Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 1.83%), Wipro (down 1.03%) and Bharti Airtel (down 0.8%) edged lower.
Aurobindo Pharma rose 2.98% after the company announced on Saturday, 7 January 2017, that it has received final approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) to manufacture and market Levetiracetam in Sodium Chloride Injection, 500 mg/100 mL (5 mg/mL), 1000 mg/100 mL (10 mg/mL), and 1500 mg/100 mL (15mg/mL) (single-use bags). Aurobindo's Levetiracetam in Sodium Chloride Injection is a generic equivalent of HQ Specialty Pharma Corp's Levetiracetam in Sodium Chloride Injection. The product will be launched in January 2017.
Levetiracetam in Sodium Chloride Injection is a CNS drug and indicated for partial onset seizures in adults (16 years and older) with epilepsy; myoclonic seizures in adults with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy;primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures in adults with idiopathic generalized epilepsy. The approved product has an estimated market size of $32 million for the twelve months ending November 2016, according to IMS.
Separately, Aurobindo Pharma announced on Saturday, 7 January 2017 that its wholly owned step-down subsidiary Agile Pharma B.V., Netherlands has entered into a binding agreement to acquire 100% shareholding in Generis Farmaceutica S.A for 135 million euro from Magnum Capital Partners. The acquisition includes the manufacturing facility in Amadora, Portugal, which has the capacity to manufacture 1.2 billion tablets/capsules/sachets annually. Generis is engaged in manufacture and sale of pharmaceutical products in Portugal.
The indicative time period for completion of the acquisition is February 2017. Closing of the transaction is conditional on obtaining necessary approvals from Portuguese authorities.
On the macro front, as per the first advances estimates of real gross domestic product (GDP) released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the GDP growth is estimated at 7.1% for FY 2017, showing moderation from 7.6% in FY 2016. Real gross value added (GVA) is anticipated to increase 7% in FY 2017 against 7.2% growth in FY 2016. The data was announced after market hours on Friday, 6 January 2017.
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