Indian equity markets trade volatile

Fri, 17 Oct 11:30 am

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   09:30 am   

   01:30 pm   

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After opening firm, the Indian Indices slipped into red. However, the buying activity soon picked up and the key indices are trading above the dotted line during the morning trading session. Sectoral indicies are trading mixed with, stocks from banking and capital goods sectors being among the leading gainers and stocks from IT and auto being the leading losers in the pack.

The BSE-Sensex is trading up by 39 points. The NSE-Nifty is trading up by 13 points. However both midcap and small cap stocks are witnessing selling pressures. The BSE Mid Cap index is trading down by 0.31% and the BSE Small Cap index is trading down by 1.05%. The rupee is trading at 61.47 to the US dollar.

Stocks of both Indian pharma companies are trading mixed while that of MNC pharma companies are trading firm. Abbott India and Merck Ltd are among the leading gainers among the MNC companies, while Divis laboratories and Piramal Enterprise are among the leading gainers in the Indian pharma pack. Stocks Natco pharma and Dishman pharma are the leading losers. As per the financial daily, the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) have delayed decision of compulsory licensing for the cancer treatment drug Dasatinib. Bristol Myers Squibb is the patent owner of this drug. One should note, the government can allow generic sale, by issuing a license to a company known as compulsory license of any patented drug without the innovator or patent holder's permission. Approx two years back, Natco pharma was the first company to get compulsory license for Baxter's Nexavar. Post this order, many drugs were expected to come under compulsory licensing purview considering the need of the drug to the patients of a country. Reportedly, as per the letter of DIPP, it was mentioned - The probability of this type of cancer is just 0.001% and there is no visible incidence of an increase in the trend and sought the rationale for dubbing it a 'national emergency' or 'extreme urgency'. The recent ruling of postponing the approval is some sought of good news for MNC pharma companies who are already facing various challenges.

Telecom stocks are trading mixed today. While Idea Cellular is leading the gainers; Tata Communications is among the top losers. As per a leading financial daily, GSM mobile operators have added 61.2 lakh users in September 2014. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has released the monthly numbers and the month-on-month growth in GSM subscribers over August 2014 is 0.82%. Reliance Jio has also formally joined the body but has not yet started operations. Idea Cellular has added the maximum subscribers (1.72 m) in September with an 18.99% market share. Vodafone India added 1.35 m users with a market share of 22.99%. Bharti Airtel added 1.022 m users with a market share of 27.98%.