Indian equity markets continued to trade strong during the post noon trading session. Barring stocks from the consumer durables, FMCG and capital goods sectors; all the sectoral indices are trading in the green. The most noticeable upward movement has been witnessed in the stocks of oil & gas and pharma sectors.
BSE-Sensex is up by 268 points and NSE-Nifty is trading up by 82 points. While BSE Mid Cap is trading up by 0.26%, BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.28%. The rupee is trading at 60.18 to the US dollar.
Mining stocks are trading mixed with MOIL and Hindustan Zinc being the major gainers while MMTC and Gujarat NRE Coke are the major losers. As per a leading financial daily, mining major Coal India (CIL) has decided to prepay its Japanese loan of Rs 3-4 bn. This decision comes in light of the steep depreciation in rupee against the dollar. Additionally, the company has a World Bank loan of Rs 4-4.5 bn but the loans terms do not have provision for pre-payment. Reportedly, these loans were taken by CIL for development and modernization. The stock of CIL is currently trading down marginally.
Most of the Indian pharma stocks are trading in the green with Sun Pharma and Fresenius Kabi being the major gainers. As per a financial daily, the health ministry of India has suspended two drugs containing Anagilin and Pioglitazone. Anagilin is a pain killer, while Pioglitazone is prescribed to patients having diabetes. The ban of Anagilin has come after 36 years since the drug was banned in the US during the year 1977. Reportedly, higher intake of Anagilin can cause fall in white blood cells in the body. Pioglitazone was banned in France in 2011, due to risk of bladder cancer caused by the intake of this drug. However Pioglitazone continues to be sold in most other major markets, viz., US, UK, Japan and Canada. In India, Pioglitazone is sold by various companies. The brands of Cadila Healthcare and USV are among the known brands in this category. However, the domestic drug industry is protesting this move, as this would force lakhs of patients to opt for expensive alternatives. An industry expert has also added, since the drug has been marketed in the Indian markets, there have been no cases of adverse reaction reported so far. The move by the Indian government is expected to be challenged in courts.
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