Indian share markets continued to trade in the red in the post-noon trading session. Sectoral indices are trading mixed with banking and consumer durables stocks being the biggest gainers. Capital goods and FMCG stocks are the biggest losers today.
BSE-Sensex is down 17 points and NSE-Nifty is trading 4 points down. Each of the BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices are trading up by 0.7%. The rupee is trading at 62.05 to the US dollar.
Majority of the food & tobacco companies are trading positive with Tata Global Beverages and Agro Tech Foods being the biggest gainers. As per a leading daily, biscuit companies are increasingly launching premium products to capitalize on the growing consumer preference for better quality biscuits. Parle Products is upping its ante in both cookie and cream biscuit segments through launches such as Milano chocolate chip cookies, Golden Arcs, Monaco Cream, Happy Cream and Black Bourbon. Britannia, which is a strong player in the cookie segment, has launched three cookies in the last three months namely Tiger Butter Krunch, Nutrichoice Heavens and Good Day Chunkies. ITC, on the other hand, is a large player in creams and has been widening its cream portfolio under the Dark Fantasy Brand. Reportedly, Parle Products is the biggest player in the combined cookie & cream biscuit market with a 30% market share followed by Britannia and ITC having shares of 24% and 15%, respectively. However both Britannia and ITC have been working towards gaining shares in segments where they have been lagging. While Britannia is trading up 0.3%, ITC is trading down 0.9%.
Most of the domestic pharma stocks are trading in the green led by Panacea Biotech and Natco Pharma. As per a leading financial daily, Cadila Healthcare has become the first company to launch biosimilar version of Adalimumab drug. The drug marketed under the brand name Exemptia will be used in the treatment of auto immune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and Ankylosing Spondylytis. The innovator drug is still under patent in the US and other markets. The patent will expire in 2019 in the US and earlier in the other markets. The drug would be priced at around 20% of what it is priced in the US where a vial costs around $1,000. The company expects to garner Rs 1 bn in revenues from the product in three years. Cadila Healthcare stock is trading up by 1.3%.
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