Volatility plagues Indian indices

Tue, 10 Apr Closing

   Previous Close   

   Pre-Open   

   09:30 am   

   11:30 am   

   01:30 pm   

Indian stock markets had a rather volatile outing today as they oscillated to either side of yesterday's close for a larger part of the trading session. However, the bulls gained the upper hand in the tussle in the final trading hour ensuring a positive close for the indices. While the BSE-Sensex closed higher by around 22 points, the NSE-Nifty closed higher by around 9 points. The BSE Mid Cap and the BSE Small Cap, were not spared however as they closed marginally into the negative. Losses were largely seen in FMCG and auto stocks.

As regards global markets, Asian indices closed mixed today while most European indices have opened in the red. The rupee was trading at Rs 51.47 to the dollar at the time of writing.

Steel stocks closed mixed today. While Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India (SAIL) closed into the red, JSW Steel found favour. As per a leading business daily, As per a leading business daily, Tata Steel has reported a 2.6% rise in crude steel production to 1.82 million tonnes (MT) in the March quarter. Its saleable steel output was up at 1.77 MT. For the financial year FY12, the company sold 6.97 MT, registering an increase of 4.2%. It must be noted that in 3QFY12, Tata Steel reported a 13.8% YoY growth in topline on a consolidated basis and 13.3% YoY growth in topline on a standalone basis. This was due to higher volumes despite steel prices declining in Europe by US$ 43. However net realisations were higher due to increased retail sales and favourable sales mix in long products as well as increased domestic market focus.

Glenmark Generics Inc USA, a subsidiary of Glenmark Pharma, has been granted final approval for their abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Norgestimate and Ethinyl Estradiol Tablets USP. This approval marks Glenmark's tenth female hormonal product authorized for distribution by the USFDA. According to IMS Health for the 12 month period ending December 2011, the tablets garnered total market sales of approximately US$ 88 m.

Glenmark has a number of ANDA's currently pending approval with the USFDA in this therapeutic segment as well as a sizeable concentration of their pipeline in various stages of development. The company's current portfolio consists of 79 generic products authorized for distribution in the US market and 39 ANDA's filed with the USFDA pending approval. Glenmark's net sales grew by 37.7% YoY during the third quarter of FY12. While the growth of the speciality business stood at 34% YoY, the generics business grew by 45% YoY. Within the generics business, the US and the European markets showed good performance with growth of 56% YoY and 58% YoY respectively. The stock closed marginally higher.