The key equity barometers managed to pare most losses in mid morning trade. The Nifty was trading above the 17,250 mark. Pharma shares rose for the third consecutive session.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 81.81 points or 0.14% to 57,782.12. The Nifty 50 index lost 18.60 points or 0.11% to 17,268.45.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.29% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.91%.
Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 1787 shares rose and 1523 shares fell. A total of 158 shares were unchanged.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Pharma index added 1.35% to 13,728.30. The index has added 3.07% in three sessions.
Aurobindo Pharma (up 6.97%), Alembic Pharmaceuticals (up 3.64%), Granules India (up 3.53%), Pfizer (up 2.98%), Laurus Labs (up 2.75%) and Sun Pharma (up 1.75%) edged higher.
Simultaneously, Alkem Laboratories (up 1.57%), Cipla (up 1.18%), Lupin (up 1.17%), Biocon (up 0.97%) and Dr. Reddy's Labs (up 0.64%) advanced.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals added 3.98% to Rs 461.55. The company said that it has received final approval by the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for its lacosamide tablets. According to IQVIA sales data for the 12 month period ending January 2022, the Vimpat Tablets market achieved annual sales of approximately $1.7 billion.
Zydus Lifesciences was up 0.16% to Rs 373.80. The company received Prior Approval Supplement (PAS) approval from the USFDA to market Mycophenolate Mofetil for Injection USP (US RLD: CellCept injection). Mycophenolate Mofetil is indicated for use in combination with other drugs i.e., cyclosporine and corticosteroids for the prophylaxis of organ rejection in patients receiving renal, hepatic or cardiac transplants.
Wockhardt jumped 13% to Rs 330.25 after the company and Serum Life Sciences UK announced collaboration for manufacturing multiple vaccines in the United Kingdom. Serum Life Sciences UK is a subsidiary of the Serum Institute of India.
Strides Pharma Science jumped 6.11% to Rs 354.50 after the company announced d a sub-license agreement with Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) to commercialize a generic version of Pfizer's COVID-19 oral treatment in 95 low and middle-income markets.
Global Markets:
Asian stocks were trading mixed on Monday, as investors reacted to the release of China's latest benchmark lending rate. Markets in Japan are closed on Monday for a holiday.
China's one-year loan prime rate was kept unchanged at 3.7% on Monday.
Wall Street's three major indexes closed higher on Friday, with the biggest boost from recently battered technology stocks, after talks between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping over the Ukraine crisis ended without big surprises.
