Benchmarks hit fresh intraday high; pharma stocks edge lower

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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