Sensex tanks 200 pts, Nifty closes below 9,200-mark; Sun Pharma falls 3%

3.40 PM:

The S&P BSE Sensex tanked 220.73 points to close at 29,706.61 while the Nifty ended the day 63.65 points to 9,198.30.

Reliance snaps its 6-day winning streak after the order from Trai to roll back its Summer Surprise Offer.

Pharma stocks see a fall led by Sun Pharma (down 3.04 per cent) after USFDA conducted a surprise audit at its Dadra plant.

Shares of Lupin fell over 2.61 per cent on the BSE.

Equities slip while the Indian rupee gained in today's trade.

RIL contributed most to the Index fall while TCS provided support closing as the top gainer on BSE.

2.34 PM:

The rupee strengthened to as much as 64.32 per dollar, its highest since August 2015.

1.55 PM:

Alembic Pharmaceuticals has received approval from the US health regulator for generic Fluoxetine Hydrochloride tablets used for the treatment of depression and panic disorder.

The approval is for the generic version of Eli Lilly and Company's Prozac tablets in the same strengths, Alembic Pharma said in a BSE filing today.

The tablets are indicated for treatment of major depressive disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder in adult and paediatric patients, it said.

They are also indicated for treatment of binge-eating and vomiting behaviour in moderate to severe Bulimia Nervosa and acute treatment of panic disorder, in adult patients.

"The company has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its abbreviated new drug application for Fluoxetine Hydrochloride tablets, 10 mg and 20 mg", it said.

These tablets have an estimated market size of USD 120 million for 12 months ending December 2015 according to IMS, the company added.

Alembic Pharma currently has a total of 53 ANDA approvals from the US health regulator.

The company's stock was trading 0.84 per cent higher at Rs 625 per scrip on BSE today.

1.08 PM:

Hindustan Unilever likely to lay off 10-15% staff

India's largest FMCG giant is mulling over cutting staff as a part of its parent firm Unilever's order to reduce costs across its businesses.

Senior executives aware of the news said lay offs and reduction in hiring could be between 10 and 15 per cent, reported The Economic Times.

According to its 2016 annual report, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) employs 18,000 people in its Indian factories and offices and has managerial staff of over 1,500.

1.07 PM:

The Indian benchmark indices continued to trade in the red as continued selling by participants, tracking a weak trend in other Asian markets as US missile strike against Syria fuelled geopolitical concern, dampened sentiments.

12.34 AM:

The shares of Larsen and Toubro surged 1.66 per cent taking the spot of top gainer on the BSE.

Sun pharma and Dr Reddy's were the top laggards on the BSE Sensex, down 2.13 per cent and 1.36 per cent respectively.

10.04 PM:

Indian Rupee Update

The rupee weakened by 13 paise to 64.65 against the US dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market due to appreciation of the American currency overseas.

Besides, a lower opening in the domestic equity market also weighed on the rupee, dealers said.

The rupee had closed yesterday at a near 20-month high of 64.52, firming up by 35 paise against the US dollar on massive unwinding of the American currency by exporters amid buoyant growth outlook by the Reserve Bank.

9.30 AM:

The Indian bencmark indices opened on the lower side on Friday.

The S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 29,823.91, down 103.43 points while the broader Nifty50 was trading at 9,228.00, 33.95 points lower.

"As far levels are concerned, 9230 - 9200 remains to be a strong support and on the flipside, we would expect continuation of this up move towards 9400 - 9600 (price extension of previous up move from recent low of 7893.80) over the next few weeks. It is to be noted that the prudent strategy at this juncture would be to focus on individual stocks in order to fetch higher returns," said an Angel Broking report.

BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap fell 0.3 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively.

Sun Pharma, RIL, Adani Ports, Power Grid and Tata Motors were the top laggards on BSE Sensex while Bharti Airtel, ONGC, Tata Steel were the top gainers.

Sun Pharma fell nearly 1 per cent after media reports that USFDA has conducted a surprise audit at its Dadra plant.

Reliance also shed nearly 1 per cent after the company withdrew it's three-month offer after an order from TRAI.

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel surged 2 per cent, becoming the top gainer on Sensex.

Adani Ports fell over 1.5 per cent after Goldman Sachs removed the company from Asia Pacific Conviction buy list and downgraded the stock to 'Neutral' and set a target price at Rs 371.

STOCKS TO WATCH OUT

RELIANCE

Reliance Jio withdrew its Summer Surprise Offer afteran order by the telecom regulator.

"Jio is in the process of fully complying with the regulator's advice, and will be withdrawing the three months' complimentary benefits of Jio Summer Surprise as soon as operationally feasible, over the next few days," according to a company statement.

GRASIM

Shareholders of the company gave a green signal to the merger with Aditya Birla Nuvo.

The shares of Grasim were 0.32 per cent lower.

PHARMA COMPANIES

The government is going to set up high level committee to study the drug pricing policy.

IDEA

Idea to offer jackpot tariff plans to users at just Rs 100

GLOBAL MARKETS

Stocks slumped and safe haven bonds and the yen jumped in Asia on Friday after the United States launched cruise missiles against an air base in Syria, potentially escalating the conflict and spooking investors globally.

The response was immediate with the U.S. dollar dropping over half a yen in currency markets, while sovereign bonds, gold and oil prices rallied hard.