Key benchmark indices continued to hover in negative zone in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:17 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was off 125.07 points ro 0.49% at 25,405.04. The 50-unit Nifty 50 index was currently off 30.80 points or 0.4% at 7,734.60. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was weak. On BSE, 1,654 shares fell and 1,001 shares rose. A total of 134 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently off 0.58%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently down 0.65%. The decline in both these indices was higher than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms.
Overseas cues were negative. Asian and European stocks edged lower after China reported weak trade data for November 2015. Energy and materials sector stocks led losses for US equities yesterday, 7 December 2015, as global crude oil prices tumbled in the wake of a decision late last week from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to keep crude production running at current levels.
Pharma stocks edged lower. Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 2.53%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 2.33%), Lupin (down 1.05%), Ipca Laboratories (down 1.23%), GlaxoSmithkline Pharmaceuticals (down 0.56%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 0.19%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 0.04%) and Cipla (down 0.39%) declined. Strides Shasun (up 1.87%), Cadila Healthcare (up 1.02%), Divi's Laboratories (up 0.71%) and Wockhardt (up 0.38%) edged higher.
Unichem Laboratories rose 2.87% at Rs 283.50 after the company said it has received final approval from the US drug regulator for a hypertension drug. Unichem Laboratories has received final abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Irbesartan tablets USP. The product will be commercialized from Unichem's Ghaziabad plant. Active pharmaceutical ingredient (APIs) will also be made in house at Pithampur API plant, the company said in a statement.
Auto stocks witnessed mixed trend. TVS Motor Company (down 1.63%), Hero MotoCorp (down 0.39%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 0.86%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.41%) declined. Bajaj Auto (up 1.06%) edged higher.
Tata Motors rose 1.33% at Rs 404.25 after the company's British luxury car unit Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) reported 27% rise in retail sales to 46,547 vehicles in November 2015 over November 2014. Retail volumes in China were down 22% in November 2015 over November 2014, reflecting slowdown in the economy, JLR said.
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Ashok Leyland rose 0.11% at Rs 90.20 after the company announced that it has started its regular operations at its Ennore manufacturing unit near Chennai from 7 December 2015. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 7 December 2015. Earlier, the company had announced stoppage of production activity at its Ennore plant due to heavy rains/floods in Chennai. The company said that it will be able to assess the losses arising from heavy rains and floods only after an assessment is done by the insurance company.
Eicher Motors rose 1.56% at Rs 16,480.70 after the company said it has resumed production of motorcycles at its Thiruvottiyur and Oragadam plants on 7 December 2015. These two units were shut since 1 December 2015 due to heavy rains and flooding in Chennai. However, due to a high rate of absenteeism by the company's employees and issues with its local suppliers, the company will be running at approximately 50% capacity this week and plan to be back up to 100% capacity by next week, Eicher Motors said. The announcement was made before market hours today, 8 December 2015.
Eicher Motors said that prima facie, there is no damage to equipment or property due to rains and floods in Chennai and all employees are safe and secure. The company suffered production loss of 7,200 motorcycles due to the closure of both the manufacturing facilities between 1 December 2015 to 6 December 2015, Eicher Motors said. Many parts of the supply chain still continue to be affected due to the aftermath of floods, the company said. Due to the rains, the company lost production of 4,000 motorcycles in November 2015, Eicher Motors said.
Prabhat Dairy lost 2.04% at Rs 148.50 after a bulk deal of 4.15 lakh shares was executed on the scrip at Rs 156.80 per share at 10:48 IST on BSE today, 8 December 2015.
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