Led by persistent buying, Indian stock markets are trading strong on the back of favorable inflation data in the post noon trading session. Among the sectoral indices, stocks from the oil and gas and PSU sectors were among the leading gainers, while stocks from IT and consumer durables were the top losers.
BSE-Sensex is up by 155 points and NSE-Nifty is trading up by 57 points. While BSE Mid Cap is trading up by 0.6%, BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.7%. The rupee is trading at 54.62 to the US dollar.
As per a leading financial daily, inflation based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI) declined to three-year low of 5.96% in March 2013 as compared to 6.84% in the preceding month and 7.69% in the year-ago month. The inflation figures for March 2013 are also considerably lower than Reserve Bank's projection of 6.8% for the month. The easing in the inflation rate was on account of steep drop in vegetable prices. The inflation in vegetables reached -0.95% in March from 12.11% in the previous month. Consequently inflation in the food articles, with a 14.3% share in WPI basket, dropped to 8.73% in March from 11.38% in February. With inflation cooling off and industrial production remaining sluggish at 0.6% for February, expectations have risen for a rate-cut by RBI in its annual monetary policy on 3rd May.
Most of the domestic pharma stocks are trading in the green with Elder Pharma and Fresenius Kabi Oncology being among the leading gainers. Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd, has announced that the USFDA (United States Food and Drug Administration) has given two tentative approvals for the generic version of sitagliptin 25mg, 50mg and 100mg tablets and metformin hydrochloride (HCl) 500mg and 1,000 mg extended release tablets. Sitagliptin tablets are therapeutic equivalents of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corporation's Januvia tablets. The drug has branded annual sales of US$ 2.7 bn in the US. Metformin HCl Extended-release tablets, are therapeutic equivalents of Santarus Inc.'s Glumetza tablets. The branded sales of the drug are around US$ 140 m in the US. Both the drugs are indicated to patients suffering from Type II diabetes. The stock of Sun Pharma was trading up by 1%.
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