Sensex edges higher; Ranbaxy, Sun gain

Reuters Market Eye - The BSE Sensex gains 0.36 percent, while the Nifty is up 0.39 percent. Gains were led by value-buying in blue-chip stocks such as Oil and Natural Gas Corp after the stock fell sharply in the previous session. ONGC gains 1.2 percent after falling 5.8 percent on Thursday.

Shares in Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd are up 4.7 percent and Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd gains 3.65 percent after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the company's generic version of Novartis AG's blood pressure drug Diovan.

The BSE healthcare index hits a record high for the second consecutive day by gaining as much as 2.4 percent to 11,251.51.

 

However, Asian shares were mostly in the red on Friday, weighed down by a weak performance on Wall Street and doubts about the strength of the U.S. economy, which pushed bonds higher.

(Reporting by Indulal PM)