After hovering in a narrow range in mid-morning trade, key benchmark indices edged higher and hit fresh intraday high in early afternoon trade. At 12:17 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 171.49 points or 0.58% at 29,536.79. The Nifty 50 index was currently up 55.95 points or 0.61% at 9,175.35. Strength in Asian stocks boosted investors sentiment.
The Sensex rose 178.20 points, or 0.61% at the day's high of 29,543.50 in early afternoon trade. The index rose 27.69 points, or 0.09% at the day's low of 29,392.99 at the onset of trading session. The Nifty rose 62 points, or 0.68% at the day's high of 9,181.40 in early afternoon trade. The index rose 11.15 points, or 0.12% at the day's low of 9,130.55 at the onset of trading session.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.47%, underperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 0.81%, outperforming the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1,565 shares rose and 1,082 shares fell. A total of 148 shares were unchanged.
Capital goods shares were in demand. GE Power India (up 7.07%), Lakshmi Machine Works (up 4.04%), SKF India (up 1.80%), Thermax (up 1.79%), Punj Lloyd (up 1.75%), BEML (up 1.63%), Reliance Defence and Engineering (up 0.92%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (up 0.80%), AIA Engineering (up 0.67%), Bharat Electronics (up 0.58%), Suzlon Energy (up 0.50%), Siemens (up 0.49%), GE T&D India (up 0.43%), Crompton Greaves (up 0.38%) and ABB India (up 0.25%), edged higher. Jindal Saw (down 0.18%), Praj Industries (down 0.43%) and Havells India (down 0.79%), edged lower.
Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) was up 1.97% to Rs 1,720.90.
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Pharmaceutical shares declined. Lupin (down 2.85%), IPCA Laboratories (down 2.4%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 1.94%), Cipla (down 1.41%), Wockhardt (down 1.08%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 0.73%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (down 0.6%), Cadila Healthcare (down 0.46%) and Alkem Laboratories (down 0.23%), edged lower. Strides Shasun (up 1.91%) and Piramal Enterprises (up 3%), edged higher.
Drug major Dr Reddy's Laboratories was down 0.33%. The company announced the launch of Progesterone Capsules, 100 mg and 200 mg, a therapeutic equivalent generic version of Prometrium (Progesterone) Capsules in the US Market. The drug was approved by the USFDA. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 21 April 2017. The Prometrium brand had US sales of approximately $153 million MAT for the most recent twelve months ending in February 2017, according to IMS Health.
Drug major Sun Pharmaceutical Industries was down 0.16%. With respect to news article titled "FDA issues 11 observations for Dadra unit," Sun Pharmaceutical Industries clarified that company's Dadra facility underwent an inspection by USFDA recently. This inspection was completed on 13 April 2017. A Form-483 observation letter was issued by the USFDA post the inspection, listing 11 observations. The company is currently in the process of responding to the said letter to the USFDA within the stipulated timeline of 15 days. The announcement was made on Saturday, 22 April 2017. It added that Sun Pharma and its subsidiaries have many facilities which supply products to the US market. These facilities undergo periodic routine inspection by the USFDA in normal course of business. As indicated above, the company is in the process of responding to the USFDA for the Form-483 observation letter issued for the Dadra facility. If there are any material developments related to this inspection, the company will promptly inform the stock exchanges.
Drug maker Divi's Laboratories was down 0.07%. The company has updated that the USFDA has issued a warning letter for the company's unit-II at Visakhapatnam. The company responded to the USFDA inspection observations with an appropriate remediation process to overcome the deficiencies observed. As part of the company's commitments, it also provided periodic updates to the USFDA. In the import alert issued, USFDA has exempted several products manufactured at the company's unit-II at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The company will continue to supply these active ingredients to meet its obligations to customers. Divi's Labs, along with external consultants and subject matter experts, are working to address the concerns of the USFDA and is making all efforts to fully meet the compliance requirements. The company will respond to this warning letter with a detailed plan within the stipulated time. The announcement was made on Saturday, 22 April 2017.
Overseas, Asian shares rose on improved risk appetite after centrist Emmanuel Macron took the lead in the French presidential election. A snap Ipsos survey late on Sunday, 23 April 2017, indicated that the pro-growth centrist Macron would win by 62% to 38% for Le Pen, who wants to take France out of the euro and clamp down on immigration. The two candidates will now face off in a 7 May 2017 runoff.
Tension on the Korean peninsula, however, concerned investors. North Korea reportedly arrested an American citizen in Pyongyang. The hermit state also indicated that it was prepared to sink a US aircraft carrier to showcase its military prowess.
US markets ended Friday's session lower ahead of the French vote, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average shedding 0.15% and the S&P 500 Index losing 0.30%.
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