Key benchmark indices settled with small gains after a quiet session of trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 7 points or 0.02% to settle at 38,285.75. The Nifty 50 index rose 19.15 points or 0.17% to settle at 11,570.90. The Sensex and the Nifty, both, attained record high on intraday as well as closing basis.
Domestic stocks reversed intraday gains soon after a gap-up opening pushed the Sensex and the Nifty to record high. Stocks once again regained positive zone in morning trade. A divergent trend was witnessed in mid-morning trade as the Sensex was trading with small losses while the Nifty was trading with small gains. Key benchmark indices were trading a tad below the flat line in early afternoon trade. Stocks thereafter hovered in a small range near the flat line with bouts of rise and fall.
The Sensex rose 7 points or 0.02% to settle at 38,285.75, its record closing high. The index hit high of 38,402.96 in intraday trade, its record high. The index hit low of 38,213.87 in intraday trade.
The Nifty 50 index rose 19.15 points or 0.17% to settle at 11,570.90, its record closing high. The index hit high of 11,581.75 in intraday trade, its record high. The index hit low of 11,539.60 in intraday trade.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.52%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.34%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 1338 shares rose and 1386 shares fell. A total of 169 shares were unchanged.
Coal India (up 2.59%), Axis Bank (up 1.92%), NTPC (up 1.7%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.69%) and Reliance Industries (up 0.94%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.
Tata Steel (down 2.86%), Hindustan Unilever (down 1.3%) and Vedanta (down 1.17%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.
Pharma stocks gained. Cadila Healthcare (up 2.57%), Cipla (up 1.08%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 1.35%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 4.36%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.69%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 0.42%) and Wockhardt (up 0.81%) rose. Alkem Laboratories (down 1.3%) and GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (down 0.73%) fell.
Lupin rose 2.23%. Lupin announced that it has received final approval for its Hydrocortisone Butyrate Lotion, 0.1% from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market a generic version of PreCision Dermatology, Inc.'s (PreCision) Locoid Lotion, 0.1%. The announcement was made during market hours today, 21 August 2018.
Lupin's Hydrocortisone Butyrate Lotion, 0.1% is the generic version of PreCision's Locoid Lotion, 0.1%. It is a corticosteroid indicated for the topical treatment of mild to moderate atopic dermatitis in patients 3 months of age and older. Hydrocortisone Butyrate Lotion, 0.1% had annual sales of approximately USD 13.8 million in the US (IQVIA MAT April 2018).
FDC lost 3.81% after the company said that USFDA has issued Form 483 with 8 observations for its sterile ophthalmic manufacturing facility at Waluj, Aurangabad. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 20 August 2018.
HCL Technologies rose 1.33% to Rs 1,004 after the company fixed Friday, 31 August 2018 as the record date for the purpose of determining the entitlement and the names of the equity shareholders who shall be eligible to participate in the buyback. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 20 August 2018.
On 12 July 2018, HCL Technologies had announced buyback of up to 3.64 crore shares, or 2.61% stake, worth Rs 4000 crore at Rs 1,100 each.
ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company declined 1.21%. The company has launched India's first Artificial intelligence (AI) based technology to facilitate instant health insurance claims approval. As a result, the traditional cashless claim request which takes an average of 60 minutes of processing has been drastically brought down to a minute using AI. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 20 August 2018.
Apollo Tyres rose 0.38%. The company said that the production operations of the its plants located at Perambra and Kalamassery, Kerala have been disrupted due to floods in Kerala. The production loss due to this natural calamity is 1500 MT (approximately) till 20 August 2018. However, consequential loss of profit is not significant. The natural calamity is adequately covered under the Insurance Policy of the company. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 20 August 2018.
NR Agarwal Industries fell 2.24% after the company said that the operations of the company's Unit - I located at Vapi, Dist. Valsad shall be temporarily shut down for a period of 15 days with effect from 27 August 2018 for the purpose of annual maintenance and technological upgradation. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 20 August 2018.
Overseas, Asian and European shares rose on optimism over trade talks between the United States and China. Immediate focus was on the lower-level trade talks due to start this week between the United States and China. However, this week will also see the imposition of 25% tariffs on $16 billion worth of Chinese imports, an action by the Trump administration that China has said it would retaliate against.
US stocks closed higher for a third session Monday as a pair of billion-dollar deals reaffirmed confidence that the US economy continues its steady expansion. Meanwhile, the minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent meeting will be released later in the global day today, which could provide insight into the central bank's thinking in terms of policy changes.
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