Indian equity markets pared their early gains and finished below the dotted line amid selling activity in oil & gas, PSU, realty and metal stocks. At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex closed lower by 90 points, the NSE Nifty finished lower by 33 points. The S&P BSE Midcap & the S&P BSE Small Cap finished down by 0.6% and 0.5% respectively.
Asian markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.68% and the Hang Seng rose 0.66%. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.35%. European markets are mixed in early trade. The FTSE 100 is up 0.31% while the DAX gained 0.03%. The CAC 40 is even.
The rupee was trading at 67.10 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 46.59 at the time of writing.
Pharma stocks finished on a weak note with Ajanta Pharma and Glenmark Pharma leading the losses. According to a leading financial daily, Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC) and its parent Sun Pharma have entered into a licensing pact for its Elepsia tablets in the US market for an upfront payment of US$10 million. Elepsia tablets is used in the treatment of epilepsy. As per the agreement, SPARC will license Elepsia XR to a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sun Pharma for the US market.
It is also eligible for certain additional milestone payments and defined royalties linked to any future sales of Elepsia XR. Elepsia XR was approved by the USFDA (Subscription Required) in March 2015. The script of SPARC and Sun Pharma finished up by 1.1% and 0.7% respectively.
In another development, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories has launched Omeprazole and Sodium bicarbonate capsules, 20mg/1100mg and 40mg/1100mg, a therapeutic equivalent generic version of ZEGERID (omeprazole/sodium bicarbonate) capsules in the United States market. The same has been approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (USFDA).
As per the reports, the Zegeride brand and generic had U.S. sales of around US$306.7 million MAT for the most recent twelve months ending in May 2016.
Moving on to news from automobile sector. According to a leading financial daily, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the Road Transport Office (RTO) of Delhi to de-register all diesel vehicles over 10 years old.
De-registration of older vehicles would mean that these vehicle owners will now look to buy new vehicles thus triggering more demand for new cars. Reportedly, Delhi and NCR account for 6-8% of diesel cars and commercial vehicles demand in the country.
This is an encouraging news for auto makers. This comes at a time when vehicle sales are already looking up due to reducing interest costs, good monsoon and expected benefits of seventh pay commission dole outs.
In another news, Tata Motors is planning to raise Rs 30 billion in the next 12 months through non-convertible debentures (NCDs) or rupee denominated non-convertible foreign currency bonds on a private placement basis. In this regard, the company will be seeking approval of shareholders at its upcoming AGM to be held on 9 August.
Automobile stocks finished the day on a positive note with Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors DVR leading the gains.
For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!
Read the latest Market Commentary
Equitymaster requests your view! Post a comment on "Post Noon Sell-Off". Click here!
Comments are moderated by Equitymaster, in accordance with the Terms of Use, and may not appear
on this article until they have been reviewed and deemed appropriate for posting.
In the meantime, you may want to share this article with your friends!