Indian share markets shed early morning gains and were trading flat during the last two hours of trade. Sectoral indices traded mixed with consumer durable and energy stocks being the top gainers and PSU and banking stocks being the top losers.
The BSE-Sensex and NSE-Nifty are both trading flat at the moment. BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices are trading up by 0.2% and 0.4% respectively. The rupee is trading at 55.33 to the US dollar.
Indian Pharma stocks are trading in the green led by Wockhardt Limited and Natco Pharma. As per a leading daily, the cabinet has approved the pharma pricing policy and accepted the Group of Ministers (GoM) recommendations on the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy without making any changes. As per the revised policy, pries of 348 essential drugs will now be capped. The prices would be calculated by taking the arithmetic average of prices of all drugs in a particular segment with more than 1% market share. The policy also calls for periodic review of the prices. With this, 30% of pharma market would be under price control now as compared to the earlier 17%. Companies like GSK Pharma, Cipla, Ranbaxy, Cadila, Abbott and Pfizer are expected to get affected the most.
Private banking stocks are trading weak led by City Union Bank and ICICI Bank. According to a leading financial daily, the scountry's largest private sector bank HDFC Bank has opened 36 new branches in the state of Haryana of which 26 are in the rural regions. These branches were inaugurated by the Haryana Chief Minister Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda. With this, the total number of HDFC bank branches increased to 163 in Haryana. The bank plans to open 30 more branches in the state. As per the management, the move is in line with HDFC Bank's objective of facilitation of financial inclusion across the country.
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