Firmness persisted on the bourses in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 171.41 points or 0.58% at 29,503.57. The Nifty 50 index was up 33.05 points or 0.36% at 9,119.35. Gains on the bourses were led by ICICI Bank, ITC and State Bank of India.
Domestic stocks extended gains in morning trade after opening with a slightly positive bias. Indices held firm and hovered in a small range in the positive terrain later during the session.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.24%, underperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.61%, outperforming the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,445 shares rose and 1,291 shares fell. A total of 199 shares were unchanged.
Pharma shares saw mixed trend. Cadila Healthcare (up 1.32%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 0.27%), Lupin (up 0.03%), Alkem Laboratories (up 0.47%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 1.03%) rose. Wockhardt (down 0.6%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 0.54%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (down 0.65%) fell.
Cipla declined 0.55%. In its clarification on media reports titled "USFDA issued import alert on Cipla's Tadalafil drug made at Bhagwanpur unit," Cipla during market hours today, 24 March 2017 said that the company niether directly or indirectly imports for sale or sell Tadalafil tables in US market nor has not authorised any third party for it. Cipla is not associated with referenced import alert of Tadalafil product or its source at Bhagwanpur site at Uttaranchal for the US market, the company said. Accordingly, this event has no impact on Cipla, it added.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rose 0.52% after Almirall S.L, and the company announced the validation of the regulatory filing of tildrakizumab with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) by Almirall. Tildrakizumab is an investigational IL-23p19 inhibitor being evaluated for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. The announcement was made during market hours today, 24 March 2017.
In July 2016, Almirall entered into a licensing agreement with Sun Pharma for the development and commercialization of tildrakizumab for psoriasis in Europe. Under the terms of the signed agreement, Sun Pharma will continue to lead other indications, for which Almirall will have the right to primary negotiation. In addition, Almirall will be able to lead European studies, and participate in larger Global clinical studies for psoriasis.
Most IT stocks fell. Tech Mahindra (down 1.36%), TCS (down 0.64%), Infosys (down 0.67%), HCL Technologies (down 0.26%), MindTree (down 0.13%) and Hexaware Technologies (down 0.63%) fell. Wipro (up 0.68%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.09%) and MphasiS (up 0.53%) rose.
PNC Infratech rose 1.61% after the company was declared the lowest bidder in two hybrid annuity highway projects of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for an aggregate bid project cost of Rs 2720 crore. Upon securing of the above two projects, PNC Infratech has won total four hybrid annuity highway projects so far. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 24 March 2017.
Sintex Industries rose 1.47% after the National Company Law Tribunal approved the proposed composite scheme of arrangement between Sintex Industries, Sintex Plastic Technology, Sintex-BAPL and Sintex Infra Projects. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 24 March 2017.
On the economic front, India's current account deficit (CAD) at $7.9 billion (1.4% of GDP) in Q3 of FY 2017, was higher than $7.1 billion (1.4% of GDP) in Q3 of FY 2016 and $3.4 billion (0.6% of GDP) in the preceding quarter. The data was released by government after market hours yesterday, 23 March 2017.
Despite a slightly lower trade deficit on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, the CAD widened primarily on account of a decline in net invisibles receipts. Net services receipts moderated on a y-o-y basis, primarily owing to the fall in earnings from software, financial services and charges for intellectual property rights.
Overseas, European stocks were trading lower while Asian stocks were trading on a mixed note as investors await a delayed vote on US health care reform, which is seen as a proxy for the success of US President Donald Trump's pro-growth agenda. Meanwhile, data showed that German private sector growth hit its strongest level in nearly six years.
US stocks closed slightly lower yesterday, 23 March 2017 as a delay in a closely watched health-care vote raised questions about the President Donald Trump's administration's ability to win passage of its ambitious legislative agenda.
The vote to dismantle the Affordable Healthcare Act, which was previously set for Thursday, 23 March 2017, is now expected to occur today, 24 March 2017. Traders see the success or failure of the legislation as a bellwether for Trump's ability to deliver on tax reform and infrastructure spending plans.
Investors are also grappled with mixed economic data. Filings for unemployment benefits rose to a seven-week high, while purchases of new homes increased in February to a seven-month high.
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