Indian equity markets started the day on a negative note but rebounded from their four-month lows to end with marginal gains on value buying at lower levels. Auto and Metal stocks were the biggest gainers. While the BSE-Sensex closed higher by 49 points, the NSE-Nifty closed higher by 21 points. The BSE Mid Cap and the BSE Small Cap indices closed on a positive note.
As regards global markets, Asian indices closed in the red. European indices have opened in the green. The rupee was trading at Rs 62.4 to the dollar at the time of writing.
Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd has announced its results for the quarter ended December 2013. India's biggest generic drugmaker by revenue posted a narrower net loss in the latest quarter helped by ramped-up sales of two acne drugs in the US. The company's net sales increased by 7% YoY while net loss narrowed to Rs 1.59 bn as compared to Rs 4.92 bn in the same quarter last year. However, Ranbaxy will be hard pressed to repeat the feat in the March quarter as the US, which accounts for 40% of revenue, has banned the import of products from Ranbaxy's India factories because of quality concerns. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prohibited imports from two factories in 2008, one in September last year, and one last month for falling short of good manufacturing practices.
Services, the biggest sector of India's economy, contracted for the seventh month in a row in January, as shown by HSBC purchasing managers' index (PMI). However, PMI for services showed an uptick, moving up to 48.3 points in January from 46.7 in the previous month. The reading below 50 shows decline in activities, including output, and higher score shows expansion. While the reading is the highest in seven months, it has been stuck below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction for just as long. In contrast to the services PMI, a sister survey on Monday showed Indian factories had a good start to 2014 with activity growing at its quickest pace in nearly a year.
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