Pharma, IT help markets open strong

Wed, 8 Apr 09:30 am

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Asian markets bolstered gains as investor sentiment towards equities grew stronger. The current account data released by the Japanese economy lifted investor sentiments towards the economy. The U.S. economy, however, traded with moderate losses. European markets such as German DAX, French CAC and Euro Stoxx finished yesterday's trading day with gains of 1.3%, 1.5% and 1.4%, respectively. Asian markets such as Japan's Nikkei, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, and Korea's Kospi gained with 0.4%, 2.1% and 0.5% gains. China's Shanghai and Taiwan's markets, however, are trading with losses of 1.2% and 0.6%, respectively. Investors have turned their focus towards Bank of Japan's interest rate decision.

Indian markets opened strong with BSE-Sensex gaining over 130 points and NSE-Nifty gaining over 40 points, crossing 8700 levels in the process. All the sectoral indices have witnessed buying except the oil and gas sector which is trading with minor losses. Today's gains have been led by healthcare and IT stocks. S&P BSE Midcap and S&P BSE Smallcap stocks gained 0.6% and 0.3%, respectively.

Commodity prices gained since the start of the weak but witnessed selling pressure yesterday. Gold prices per 10 grams lost Rs 120 or 0.5% while silver prices cracked over 1.2% or Rs 465 per kilogram. Gold prices traded near Rs 26,870 levels while silver prices traded near Rs 37,700 levels. Crude oil prices gained over 2% after war in Yemen intensified and developed economies showed concerns over rescuing their respective nationals from the war-ridden country. Crude oil prices, per barrel, gained about Rs 70 and are available at Rs 3,323 levels. Dollar value gained marginally by 0.11% or 0.07 and is currently trading at Rs 62.32 levels.

The Government of India decided to sell 5% ownership of Rural Electrification Corporation for a price tag of Rs 315 per share. The government expects to garner about Rs 15.50 bn from this stake sale. The price which has been decided by the government will be available at 2% discount with respect to closing price of Rs 321.65 a share. Of the total lot, as much as fifth of the total planned stake sale will be allotted for retail investors. They will be eligible to bid for Rs 2 lakh worth of shares. Apart from this, a fourth of the planned stake sale will be offered to mutual funds and insurance companies. The Government has a target to achieve Rs 410 bn through the divestment route this fiscal. Companies which are selected for divestment include IOC, NMDC and NALCO.

Pharma sector has gained a lot of traction this week. Apart from Sun Pharma, Dr. Reddy has received a lot of investor attention. Yesterday, Dr. Reddy submitted an application for three new drugs which are used to treat psoriasis, rosacea and migraine. The submission has been presented in front of US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The names of three drugs include DFD-01, DFD-09 and DFN-11. According to the company, these are the first bunch of products that are targeted to particular health conditions. These will likely be used by dermatologist and neurologist.