Indian share markets ended on a negative note yesterday.
Benchmark indices exhibited a lacklustre performance as caution prevailed among investors globally amid concerns about the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
At the closing bell yesterday, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 91 points (down 0.2%).
Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 20 points (down 0.1%).
Eicher Motors and Bajaj Auto were among the top gainers.
SBI and ITC, on the other hand, were among the top losers.
The BSE Mid Cap index ended on a flat note, while the BSE Small Cap index ended up by 0.4%.
Sectoral indices ended on a negative note with stocks in the metal sector, power sector and banking sector witnessing most of the selling pressure.
Healthcare stocks, on the other hand, witnessed buying interest.
Shares of Minda Industries and Metropolis Healthcare hit their respective 52-week highs.
Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX were trading down by 0.3% at Rs 47,877 per 10 grams at the time of closing stock market hours yesterday.
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Among the buzzing stocks today will be Bajaj Auto.
Bajaj Auto has announced an investment of Rs 3 bn and commenced work at a brand-new unit at Akurdi for manufacturing electric vehicles (EVs).
This unit will have a production capacity of 5 lakh EVs per annum. Akurdi (Pune) is also the site of the original Chetak scooter factory that made Bajaj Auto a household name in India. It is spread over half a million square feet and will employ nearly 800 people.
Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Bajaj Auto said,
The new unit will have robotic and automated manufacturing systems for everything including logistics and material handling, fabrication and painting, assembly and quality assurance.
The systems have been designed for flexible product mix. The investments made by Bajaj Auto will be supplemented by a number of vendors, who will invest a further Rs 2.5 bn. The first vehicle from this unit is expected to roll out by June 2022.
Amara Raja Batteries share price will also be in focus today.
Amara Raja Batteries on Wednesday said it plans to invest in InoBat Auto, a European technology developer and manufacturer of premium innovative batteries for e-mobility.
The initial investment will give the company a key foothold in the thriving European EV ecosystem, where multiple battery gigafactories are being set up to support the region's determined EV push, the company said in a statement.
Amara Raja, however, did not share the financial details.
InoBat specialises in the pioneering research, development, manufacture, and provision of premium innovative electric batteries custom-designed to meet the specific requirements of customers within the automotive, commercial vehicle, motorsport, and aerospace sectors.
It is currently developing a battery research and development centre and production line in Voderady, Slovakia.
The next phase of the project will focus on a manufacturing scale-up through a number of gigafactories planned across Europe and globally.
It is backed by a strong consortium of partners, including CEZ, one of the major European Utilities and Rio Tinto, the global mining giant, who have made an investment in the company.
The companies will jointly explore future opportunities together to adapt the advanced battery technology developed by InoBat for markets served by Amara Raja.
Paras Defence has been selected by Defence Research Development Organization (DRDO) as one of the companies for handing over technology of border surveillance systems.
The technology is as developed by instruments research and development establishment (IRDE) and DRDO. This technology has been transferred by a licensing agreement for transfer of technology for border surveillance systems entered between the company, IRDE and DRDO.
The system will provide all weather surveillance for day and night monitoring of the border areas, it will consist of radar, EO sensors etc., mounted on Pan Tilt platforms.
With this ToT Paras shall be serving the requirement of the armed forces of the nation, the company said.
Paras Defence IPO has given multibagger returns to investors with the company rallying over 330% to Rs 754 from its issue price of Rs 175 per share.
Shares of domestic pharmaceutical companies gained yesterday as the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approved the Anti-Covid-19 pill Molnupiravir for emergency use in the country on Tuesday.
Strides Pharma will launch the capsule immediately while other homegrown pharma companies such as Aurobindo Pharma, Natco Pharma, Dr Reddy's and Cipla have announced rolling out their generic versions of the drug shortly.
According to the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, 13 companies in India will manufacture the drug approved for restricted use under emergency situation for treatment of adult patients with Covid-19 and who have high risk of progression of the disease.
Six companies - Cipla, Sun Pharma, Emcure, Torrent Pharma and Viatris (earlier called Mylan), led by Dr Reddy's have formed a consortium to conduct a five-month collaborative trial to test the safety and efficacy of the drugs which received approvals.
All the six companies have entered into a non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreement with Merck Sharpe Dohme (MSD) to manufacture and supply Molnupiravir in India and to over 100 low and middle-income countries (LMICs).
None of the companies have announced the pricing of the drug, reports said adding that Dr Reddy's will soon launch its molnupiravir capsules 200mg under the brand name Molflu across India.
How this pans out remains to be seen. Meanwhile, stay tuned for more updates from this space.
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