Key indices bounced back and hit fresh intraday high in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, added 47.51 points or 0.10% at 47,660.59. The Nifty 50 index advanced 17.75 points or 0.13% at 13,950.35.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.08% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.11%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1500 shares rose and 1373 shares fell. A total of 170 shares were unchanged.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Pharma index shed 0.42% to 12,790.15, declining for third day in a row. The index has lost 0.92% in three sessions.
Sun Pharma (down 1.13%), Biocon (down 0.98%), Cipla (down 0.88%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 0.39%) and Dr. Reddy's Labs (down 0.19%) declined.
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Meanwhile, Divi's Labs (up 0.39%) and Torrent Pharma (up 0.32%) bucked the trend.
AstraZeneca Pharma India rose 1.85% to Rs 4622.80 after the Britain's health regulator approved emergency supply of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in U.K.
AstraZeneca PLC in a press release on Wednesday said the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has provided authorisation for emergency supply of COVID-19 vaccine for the active immunisation of individuals 18 years or older.
AstraZeneca aims to supply millions of doses in the first quarter as part of an agreement with the government to supply up to 100 million doses in total.
Following the development, Wockhardt surged 7% to Rs 545.65.
Wockhardt in August this year announced entering into an agreement with the UK Government to fill finish COVID-19 vaccines. The manufacturing would be undertaken at CP Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Wockhardt based in Wrexham, North Wales.
As per the terms of the agreement, Wockhardt has reserved manufacturing capacity to allow for the supply of multiple vaccines to the UK Government in its fight against COVID19, including AZD1222, the vaccine co-invented by the University of Oxford and its spinout company, Vaccitech and licensed by AstraZeneca.
Numbers to Track:
In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee edged higher to 73.31 as compared to its previous closing of 73.4250.
The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper was unchanged at 5.925%.
MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2021 settlement lost 0.15% to Rs 49,965.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, fell 0.11% to 89.89.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for February 2020 settlement rose 30 cents to $51.39 a barrel. The contract gained 0.45% or 23 cents to settle at $51.09 in the previous trading session.
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