Delhi HC to hear drug ban case today; pharma stocks under pressure

The Delhi High Court will today hear the pleas of 30 pharma companies challenging the ban imposed by the Health Ministry on various fixed dose combinations (FDCs). Last week on March 21, the Delhi High Court has adjourned the hearing till today, March 28.

Currently, the pharma stocks are trading lower at BSE ahead of the hearing.

The Health Ministry, via a gazette notification on March 10 banned 344 fixed dose combinations (FDCs) drugs.

The BSE Healthcare index is currently trading at 15,289.49 points, down by 159.78 points or 1.03%. The index opened higher at 15,488.95 points as against its previous close of 15,449.27 points. It hit a high and a low of 15,492.89 points and 15,279.85 points respectively.

The sectoral breadth is negative with 45 stocks declined, 17 stocks advanced and one stock unchanged.

GlaxoSmithKilne Pharma is currently trading at Rs. 3,644 (-1.08%), Pfizer at Rs. 1,696.70 (-Rs. 0.92%), Wockhardt at Rs. 943.60 (-1.37%), Piramal Enterprises at Rs. 97.20 (up 0.27%), Abbott India at Rs. 4,730.45 (-0.57%), Coral Lab at Rs. 460 (-1.35%), FDC Ltd at Rs. 177.50 (-1.42%) and Alkem Lab at Rs. 1,365.25 (0.63%).

Sensex slips over 100 points; Metal, Telecom drag

At 11:03 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 25,202 down 136 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 7,685 down 32 points.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading down 0.36% at 10,487, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading down 0.44% at 10,455.

Infosys, Adani Ports, GAIL, TCS, ONGC, ITC, NTPC and Maruti Suzuki are among the gainers, whereas Sun Pharmaceuticals, Axis Bank, HDFC, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and ICICI Bank are losing sheen on BSE.

Some buying activity is seen in IT, consumer durables, teck and utilities sectors, while metal, realty, pharma, banking and auto sectors are showing weakness on BSE.

The INDIA VIX is up 7.44% at 17.5625. Out of 1,802 stocks traded on the NSE, 906 declined, 564 advanced and 322 remained unchanged today.

A total of nine stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trades today, while 17 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

The Indian rupee opened down by 27 paise at 66.90/$ on Monday as against the previous close of 66.63/$. On Wednesday, the rupee extended the weakness, impacted by month end dollar demand for US dollar from the importers.

IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company Ltd stock was higher by 5% at Rs. 47. A joint venture of IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company Ltd and Unitech Power Transmission Ltd has received LoA worth Rs 153.99 crore in Gujarat from Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL).

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and XenoPort, Inc.announced today that they have entered into a license agreement pursuant to which Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories will be granted exclusive U.S. rights for the development and commercialization of XenoPort’s clinical-stage oral new chemical entity, XP23829.   Dr Reddys Laboratories Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 3056.55, up by Rs. 9.3 or 0.31% from its previous closing of Rs. 3047.25 on the BSE.

PVR has announced the launch of the magnum opus of the multiplex industry PVR 'Superplex' at Logic City centre. The stock is currently trading at Rs. 710.1, down by Rs. 3.55 or 0.5% from its previous closing of Rs. 713.65 on the BSE.

Vedanta Ltd stock was lower by 4% at Rs. 92. Vedanta Resources Chairman Anil Agarwal reportedly said the consumption of the metal will rise to 20 million tonnes (mt) from the present 2 mt.

Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd stock was  higher by 4% at Rs. 58. The Securities Issuance Committee-1 of Board of Directors met on March 24, 2016 and on receipt of balance 75% amount (Rs. 60 per Warrant) allotted 1,41,00,000 Ordinary Equity Shares of Rs. 2 each as at a premium of Rs. 78 each in conversion of 1,41,00,000 Equity Warrants of Rs. 80 each to Promoter Group Entity i.e. JAF Products Private Limited on a Preferential basis.

J.Kumar Infraprojects soared 5.1% to Rs.291.50 on BSE. The company experienced a spurt in volumes by more than 14.64 times.

Reliance Communications (RCom) dropped marginally to Rs. 51.65 after the opening bell on Monday. RCom has extended the exclusivity period with Maxis Communications Berhad (MCB) and Sindya Securities and Investments Private Limited, the shareholders of Aircel Limited by 60 days to May 22, 2016, to consider the potential combination of the Indian wireless business of RCOM and Aircel and mutually derive the expected substantial benefits of in-country consolidation, including opex and capex synergies and revenue enhancement.

Shares of Indo Rama Synthetics (India) were trading higher 4.9% at Rs. 30.95 on BSE today. Around 34.9 lakh shares were traded in a multiple block at Rs. 29.75 on the BSE.

NALCO was down by 2% at Rs. 37. The company had been allotted Utkal-D & E coal blocks, near the company's Captive Power Plant in Angul district of Odisha, as per a report.

PNC Infratech Ltd stock was higher by 6% at Rs. 516.PNC Raebareli Highways Pvt Ltd has commissioned the two-laning project of Raebareli-Jaunpur section of NH-231 more than 3 months.

MRPL Ltd stock was lower by 3% at Rs. 61. The company will shut a crude unit that can process 180,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) for about a week from April 1 for maintenance, according to reports.

Natco Pharma Ltd stock was lower by 8% at Rs. 426.Natco Pharma has updated that an inspection was conducted by the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) in two of its manufacturing facilities recently the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) manufacturing facility at Manali, near Chennai, and the Pharmaceutical Formulations facility at Kothur, near Hyderabad, during early February and March, 2016, respectively.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc., USA (Glenmark) has been granted final approval by the United States Food & Drug Administration {U.S. FDA) for Drospirenone and Et hinyl Estradiol Tablets USP, 3 mg/0.03 mg, the generic version of Yasmin Tablets of Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc. { Bayer) and for Levonorgestrel Tablet, 1.5 mg, the generic version of Plan B One-Step Tablet of Teva Branded Pharmaceutical Products R&D, Inc., for over-the-counter ( OTC) use as recommended in the submitted labeling. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 829, up by Rs. 6.9 or 0.84% from its previous closing of Rs. 822.1 on the BSE.

Nifty slips below 7700

At 9:55 PM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 25,274 down 64 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 7,699 down 17 points.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading down 0.35% at 10,487, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading down 0.26% at 10,474.

Infosys, Adani Ports, GAIL, TCS, ONGC, ITC, NTPC and Maruti Suzuki are among the gainers, whereas Sun Pharmaceuticals, Axis Bank, HDFC, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and ICICI Bank are losing sheen on BSE.

Some buying activity is seen in IT, consumer durables, teck and utilities sectors, while metal, realty, pharma, banking and auto sectors are showing weakness on BSE.

The INDIA VIX is up 7.58% at 17.5850. Out of 1,783 stocks traded on the NSE, 658 declined, 716 advanced and 409 remained unchanged today.

A total of eight stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trades today, while 11 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

The Indian rupee opened down by 27 paise at 66.90/$ on Monday as against the previous close of 66.63/$. On Wednesday, the rupee extended the weakness, impacted by month end dollar demand for US dollar from the importers. 

Rate sensitives would remain in focus in anticipation of what the RBI may do next week. Later in the week, auto numbers would add to the swing on auto-related counters. Pharmaceutical companies will be eyed on Monday as the Delhi High Court stayed the ban on 344 fixed-dose drug combinations till March 28.

Gujarat has ranked second in terms of share in total outstanding investments attracted by manufacturing sector in India followed by Karnataka (11 per cent), Jharkhand (nine per cent) and Chhattisgarh (seven per cent)noted the study titled ‘Impact analysis of delay in investment implementation in manufacturing,’ conducted by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

The 9th edition of Defexpo India, a biennial exhibition on Land, Naval and Internal Homeland Security Systems is being organized by Defence Exhibition Organisation of Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence from 28-31 March 2016 at Naqueri Quitol, Quepem Taluka, South Goa, Goa. The exhibition will be inaugurated by Raksha Mantri, Manohar Parrikar.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and All India Bullion Jewellers & Swarnkar Federation (AIBJSF) said on Sunday that they will not withdraw their strike till the Centre withdraws the proposed 1 per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery.