Key benchmark indices started the session amid volatility. At 9:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 37.05 points or 0.12% at 29,873.17. The Nifty 50 index was down 1.70 points or 0.02% at 9,236.15. The Sensex failed to hold the psychologically important 30,000 level which it had hit at the onset of session. The index had closed below that level during the previous trading session.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.34%. The BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.55%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, strong. On the BSE, 1,202 shares rose and 473 shares declined. A total of 71 shares were unchanged.
Overseas, key Asian stock market indices edged lower amid concerns over North Korea's latest ballistic missile test which landed in the Sea of Japan.
US stock markets closed with small gains yesterday, 4 April 2017, ahead of a key meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday and Friday.
Among stocks, Cipla rose 1.15% after the company announced that it has received final approval for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Abacavir and Lamivudine Tablets USP, 600 mg/300 mg, from the United States Food and Drug Administration(USFDA).
Abacavir and Lamivudine Tablets are AB-rated generic equivalents to the reference listed drug (RLD), Epzicom Tablets of ViiV Healthcare Company and are indicated in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV-1 infection.
Epzicom Tablets had US sales of about $346.3 million for the 12 month period ended February 2017, according to IMS Health. The product will cater to the US market and will be commercially available shortly. The announcement was made yesterday, 4 April 2017.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories was down 1.14%. With reference to a news item captioned, "US FDA started Srikakulam inspection on March 27, 2017. No major observation from US FDA yet on Srikakulam plant," the company clarified that the reports being flashed by some media are speculative and unverified.
The company has not issued any statement as the audit is still in progress. The company said it regularly informs all concerned on material events and presently does not have any other information which is material to the company's operations or consolidated results. The clarification was issued after market hours on Monday, 3 April 2017.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) was off 0.57%. The company announced that the total inventory of BS-III Vehicles that the company had before the Supreme Court verdict was worth little over Rs 2000 crore and the company has been able to remove more than half of it at a discount of upto 15%. The company and industry has incurred a loss because of the heavily discounted sale that it had to do on 30 March and 31 March 2017.
The company still has an inventory of about 18,000 BS-III vehicles (two wheelers to trucks). The company may be able to export some of these vehicles which will not incur much of a cost; and convert some of these vehicles to BS-IV, which will have a cost of as little as Rs 3,000-4,000 for some of the small commercial vehicles to as much as Rs 2 lakh for HCVs. Some of the vehicles can neither be exported nor converted to BS-IV. The announcement was made after market hours on Monday, 3 April 2017.
NTPC was up 1.49% after the company said that Unit 2 of 250 megawatts (MW) of Bhartiya Rail Bijlee Company (BRBCL-a subsidiary of NTPC) has been commissioned on 3 April 2017. Further, NTPC has also commissioned its first wind turbine of 2 MW at Rojmal Wind Power Project (50 MW). With this, the commissioned capacity of NTPC and NTPC group has become 43534 MW and 50750 MW respectively. The announcement was made on Tuesday, 4 April 2017, when the stock markets were shut on account of local holiday.
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