Indian indices hold on to gains

Wed, 21 Jul Closing

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Strong buying activity across index heavyweights throughout today's trading session led the indices to close well above the dotted line. While the BSE Sensex closed higher by around 99 points (up 0.6%), the NSE Nifty gained around 31 points (up 0.6%). Midcap and smallcap stocks also did well as the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap notched gains of 0.5% and 0.4% respectively. While metals, auto and oil & gas stocks found favour, healthcare stocks were at the receiving end.

As regards global markets, Asian indices closed mixed today while European indices have opened in the green. The rupee was trading at Rs 47.26 to the dollar at the time of writing.

Pharma stocks closed mixed today. While Dr.Reddy's and Sun Pharma closed in the red, Lupin and Ranbaxy found favour. As per reports, domestic pharma major Lupin has become the first Asian company to make it into the top 5 in the US generics market in terms of number of prescriptions. This is as per data released by IMS Health, which is a global market research agency. Lupin increased its number of prescriptions by around 40% to 10,192,000 in April 2010. This amounts to around 4.5% of the total prescriptions in the US generic market. It must be noted that Lupin has chalked out a conscious strategy of focusing on niche segments and branded generics in the highly competitive US market. This is keeping in mind that the revenue and profit potential from such products is higher due to limited competition. And these efforts are beginning to bear fruit. Infact, Lupin has a basket of 26 products in the US market, out of which it is the market leader in 13 of them.

Yes Bank announced its 1QFY11 results a while ago. The bank posted a 56% rise in net profit during the quarter aided by higher credit growth which in turn bolstered the interest income of the bank. While credit growth stood at a healthy 107% YoY, net interest margins remained stable at 3.1%. Net interest income rose by 67% YoY during the quarter. The bank's non-interest income comprising transaction banking, financial advisory and third party distribution of products rose 30% YoY. As far as branches are concerned, the bank has chalked out plans of opening 100 new branches within the next 12 months. The stock closed firm today.

The IMF has pegged India's growth rate for 2010 at 9.4%. The Finance Minister's estimate for the year stands at 8.5%. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is not as optimistic as the two and has estimated that India will long in a GDP growth of 8.2% in 2010. The ADB, however, has raised the growth prospects of the Asian economies to 7.9% from 7.5%. Factors that have led the ADB to revise its estimates are better-than-expected results in the first quarter driven by buoyant exports, strong private demand and sustained stimulus policy effects. Having played truant last year, healthy monsoons this year will be critical for the economic growth to reach above 8%.