The benchmark indices trade with small gains during mid-morning trade. Banks and pharma stocks were in demand. The Nifty hovered above 16,600 level.
At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 92.92 points or 0.17% at 55,557.31. The Nifty 50 index gained 24.95 points or 0.15% at 16,619.85.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.07% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.60%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,021 shares rose and 1,134 shares fell. A total of 122 shares were unchanged.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,981.15 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 945.71 crore in the Indian equity market on 10 March 2022, provisional data showed.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Pharma index rose 1.44% to 13,266. The index added 5.73% in four trading sessions.
Laurus Labs (up 3.31%), Cipla (up 3%), Granules India (up 2.58%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 2.31%) and Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 1.44%) were the top gainers in the Pharma segment.
Lupin rose 0.59%. The pharmaceutical firm said that Lupin Diagnostics has launched its first reference laboratory in East India in Kolkata. The new Reference Laboratory at Kolkata has capabilities to conduct a broad spectrum of routine and specialized tests in the fields of molecular diagnostics, cytogenetics, flow cytometry, histopathology, cytology, microbiology, serology, haematology, immunology and routine biochemistry. Lupin Diagnostics is also setting up laboratories in West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa to comprehensively cater to the East India region. These labs will be connected to Lupin's franchise collection centers, LupiMitra. Lupin Diagnostics has more than 100 LupiMitra already enrolled for its East India operations.
Strides Pharma Science lost 0.39%. The company announced that its step-down wholly owned subsidiary, Strides Pharma Global, Singapore, has received approval for Colchicine tablets USP, 0.6 mg from the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA). The product will be marketed by Strides Pharma Inc. in the US market. The product is bioequivalent and therapeutically equivalent to the Reference Listed Drug (RLD), Colcrys tablets, 0.6 mg, of Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. (Takeda).
Stocks in Spotlight:
Indraprastha Gas rose 0.09%. The company, on Thursday announced that it received a letter of intent from the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB). The letter of intent is for grant of authorization to the company for development of CGD network in the geographical area of Banda, Chitrakoot and Mahoba in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Under the PNGRB Act 2006, PNGRB grants the authorization to the entities for developing a City Gas Distribution (CGD) network (including PNG network) in a specified Geographical Area (GA) of the country. Accordingly, IGL is requested to submit the performance bank guarantee for an amount of Rs 33 crore.
Colgate-Palmolive (India) gained 0.42%. The leading oral care products maker announced to appoint former HUL executive director Prabha Narasimhan as its managing director and CEO. The present managing director and CEO Ram Raghavan is promoted to the global enterprise oral care role for parent firm. In a filing to the exchanges on Thursdaythe maker of Colgate toothpaste said the nomination & remuneration committee of the board of directors of the company, noted that effective 16 April 2022, Ram Raghavan, managing director & CEO of the company has been promoted to president, enterprise oral care, for Colgate Palmolive Company, the parent company of Colgate-Palmolive (India) and will be based out of its headquarter at New York. The company also announced the appointment of Prabha Narasimhan as managing director and chief executive officer of Colgate-Palmolive (India) effective from 1 September 2022.
Global Markets:
Asian stocks fell across the board on Friday, tracking losses on Wall Street as the Russia-Ukraine war continues to keep investors cautious.
Negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers reportedly ended with little progress on matters including a cease-fire or a safe passage for civilians trying to flee the besieged city of Mariupol.
Wall Street resumed its slide on Thursday, ending in the red as inflation hit a four-decade high, cementing expectations that the US Federal Reserve would hike key interest rates at the conclusion of next week's monetary policy meeting to prevent the economy from overheating.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Thursday that America is set for another year of very uncomfortably high inflation amid the Russia-Ukraine war.
US consumer prices surged in February, culminating in the largest annual increase in 40 years. The consumer price index increased 0.8% last month after gaining 0.6% in January, the Labor Department said on Thursday. In the 12 months through February, the CPI shot up 7.9%, the biggest year-on-year increase since January 1982. That followed a 7.5% jump in January and was the fifth straight month of annual CPI readings north of 6%.
In Europe, investors weighed the European Central Bank's decision to unwind stimulus measures sooner than expected. The bank said Thursday it will end its bond-buying program in the third quarter of this year, if the economic data allows for it.
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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