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Benchmark indices continue to trade in a narrow range with Sensex and Nifty swinging between negative and positive zone.
At 10:53AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 47 points at 29,506 and the 50-share Nifty gained 5 points at 8,962.
However, the broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up nearly 1%. Market breadth in BSE remains positive with 1,357 advances and 773 declines.
Among frontline stocks, Sun Pharmaceuticals gained over 2% in intra-day deals after the company said it will acquire the opiates business of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in Australia. GSK’s opiates business, including related manufacturing sites in Latrobe (Tasmania) and Port Fairy (Victoria).
Commenting on the deal, Sarabjit Nangra, vice - president for pharma research at Angel Broking said that Sun Pharma has an established footprint in this market and believes it is well-placed to take the business forward. The global Opiates market holds good potential and the addition of GSK’s Opiates business will strengthen its positioning further.
"The financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed. The transaction closure is subject to customary closing conditions and requisite regulatory and other approvals, and is expected to close by August 2015. Thus, the acquisition will fully reflect in FY2017. We remain neutral on the stock," she added.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 424.79 crore yesterday, as per provisional data. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 180.35 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.
MACROS
On the macro-economic front, annual growth in production of the eight key infrastructure industries declined to at least a year’s low of 1.8% in January compared to 3.7% in the same month last year.
This is likely to have a negative impact on the industrial growth numbers for the month, as these industries have a weight of 38 per cent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
Fiscal deficit rose to Rs 5.68 lakh crore in April-January period, breaching the budget estimate by 107% which may call for harder measures by the government to meet the target of 4.1% of the GDP for full 2014-15 financial year.
GLOBAL MARKETS
Most Asian stock markets edged higher on Tuesday, bolstered by another record day on Wall Street, while a resurgent yen helped knock the U.S. dollar index off an 11-year high.
The Australian dollar jumped after the Reserve Bank of Australia held policy steady, confounding investors who had bet it would deliver a back-to-back interest rate cut instead of holding off for a few months to gauge how the economy digested last month's cut.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added about 0.1%, while Japan's Nikkei stock average erased early gains and slipped about 0.3% after the yen rebounded from a three-week low against the greenback touched earlier in the session.
On Wall Street on Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 both posted fresh record closing highs, while the Nasdaq Composite broke 5,000 for the first time in 15 years.
LEADERS & LAGGARDS
BSE Healthcare index has surged over 1% followed by counters like Consumer Durables, IT and Oil & Gas, all gaining by 1% each. However, BSE Metal index has slipped over 1%.
The main gainers on the Sensex are TCS, Sun Pharma, RIL, Dr Reddy’s Labs and Wipro. On the losing side, Coal India has dipped over 4% after the stock turned ex-dividend for Rs 20.70 per share today.
Further, Coal India's output for the April-February period of the ongoing fiscal was 436.96 million tonnes (MT), missing its target by 2.9%. The other notable losers are M&M, Axis Bank, Tata Motors and BHEL.
Automaker Mahindra & Mahindra today reported 10% decline in total sales at 38,033 units in February.
SMART MOVERS
Natco Pharma has moved higher by 8% to Rs 1,542, extending its previous day’s 4% gain on NSE, after the company announced that it has signed a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences, to manufacture and sell generic versions of its chronic hepatitis C medicines.
Jubilant Life Sciences has soared 6% to Rs 169 on BSE after the pharmaceutical company said it has received final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) for generic Montelukast Sodium chewable tablets used in the treatment of asthma and to relieve symptoms of seasonal allergies.
Hotel Leelaventure has rallied 12% to Rs 23.95 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on heavy volumes after the company said it has engaged JM Financial Institutional Securities Limited for sale of its Chennai and Goa Hotels.
TVS Motor Company has rallied 5% to Rs 286 on NSE after reporting 15% year on year growth in total sales at 204,565 units in February 2015, against 177,662 units recorded in the same month last year.
