The equity benchmarks further extended losses and hit the day's low in mid-morning trade. The Nifty slipped below the 14,500 mark. All the sectoral indices on NSE were trading in the red. Rising coronavirus cases across US and Europe weighed on investors' sentiment.
At 11:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 452.71 points or 0.91% to 49,131.45. The Nifty 50 index lost 141 points or 0.97% to 14,454.60.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.74% each.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 905 shares rose and 1794 shares fell. A total of 128 shares were unchanged.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,076.62 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 188.10 crore in the Indian equity market on 14 January, provisional data showed.
COVID-19 update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 93,076,925 with 1,993,146 deaths. India reported 213,027 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 151,918 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
As per reports, China has placed over 22 million people on lockdowns after a new COVID wave has hit the country.
Economy:
The government said that over 545 lakh tonnes of Paddy have been procured during the ongoing Kharif Marketing Season. This is an increase of 26.48% against the last year corresponding purchase of around 431 lakh tonnes. Agriculture Ministry said, government continues to procure Kharif crops at its Minimum Support Price from farmers as per its existing MSP Schemes. The Ministry said, more than 73 lakh paddy farmers have been benefited from current Kharif Marketing Season Procurement Operations with MSP value of over one lakh three thousand crore rupees.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Pharma index slipped 1.18% to 13,076.30. The index had advanced 0.84% to end at 13,232.55 yesterday.
Aurobindo Pharma (down 1.65%), Cipla (down 1.64%), Cadila Healthcare (down 1.54%), Biocon (down 1.37%), Lupin (down 1.29%), Torrent Pharma (down 1.28%), Dr. Reddy's Labs (down 1.28%), Divi's Labs (down 1.08%) and Sun Pharma (down 0.89%) declined.
Strides Pharma Science shed 0.41% to Rs 917.55. The company said that its wholly owned subsidiary, Strides Pharma Global, Singapore, has received approval for Emtricitabine and Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate tablets, 200 mg/300 mg from the United States Food & Drug Administration (US FDA).
The drug belongs to class of medications called nucleoside and nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors. The combination of Emtricitabine and Tenofovir slows down the spread of HIV in the body and is used along with other medications to treat HIV in adults and children.
According to IQVIA MAT November 2020 data, the US market for Emtricitabine and Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate tablets, 200 mg/300 mg is approximately $2.4 billion.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Bharti Airtel added 3.04% to Rs 597.85 after global index provider MSCI on Thursday said it will take a decision on increasing the weightage of Bharti Airtel at upcoming index review in February.
Trident rose 2.16% to Rs 14.69 after the company said it secured a patent for 'Fabric and Method of Manufacturing Fabric' by European Patent office. It further said that the present invention comprises a method of producing a fabric by subjecting the fabric to a special treatment, thereby obtaining increased air space in the resultant fabric.
Global Markets:
Asian stocks were mixed on Friday as investors regionally reacted to the release of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package.
US President-elect Joe Biden unveiled a $1.9 trillion coronavirus plan Thursday to end "a crisis of deep human suffering" by speeding up vaccines and pumping out financial help to those struggling with the pandemic's prolonged economic fallout.
Biden proposed $1,400 checks for most Americans, which on top of $600 provided in the most recent COVID-19 bill would bring the total to the $2,000 that Biden has called for. It would also extend a temporary boost in unemployment benefits and a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures through September.
Shares of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi plunged in Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump's administration placed the firm on a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies.
In US, stocks fell slightly on Thursday, with tech shares declining the most. Donald Trump became the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice when the House voted 232-197 on Wednesday to charge him with inciting riots at the Capitol.
Meanwhile, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said an interest rate hike is coming "no time soon" and pushed back against suggestions that the central bank might start tapering its bond purchases any time soon.
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