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Sensex Trades on a Negative Note; IT Stocks Witness Selling Pressure
Fri, 3 Mar 01:30 pm

After opening the day flat, Indian share markets have gone on to trade marginally below the dotted line. Sectoral indices are trading on a mixed note with stocks in the realty sector and oil & gas sector witnessing maximum buying interest. Auto stocks are trading in the red.

The BSE Sensex is trading down 116 points (down 0.4%) and the NSE Nifty is trading down by 32 points (down 0.4%). Meanwhile, the BSE Mid Cap index is trading down by 0.3%, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading flat. The rupee is trading at 66.83 to the US$.

In news from stocks in the pharma sector, Cadila Healthcare share price announced that the company received three observations from The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its formulation facility at Baddi, Himachal Pradesh.

The drug major further clarified that the observations were related to a pre-approval inspection (PAI) for a specific product filed. The product in question is yet to be manufactured or marketed in the US.

USFDA inspected the facility from 20 February to 1 March, 2017 and issued a Form 483 with five observations.

Form 483 relates to certain critical observations issued to a company at the end of an inspection if there were any violations of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act and other related acts of the US Government.

Companies that receive its observations must respond in writing with a corrective action plan and implement it quickly. If the company fails to meet the USFDA's expectations, a warning letter may be issued.

Cadila said it is already in the process of responding to the PAI observations.

The company clarified that apart from product related observations, there were no observations related to current good manufacturing practices.

Cadila recently cleared a USFDA re-audit for its Moraiya plant in Gujarat without observations indicating a successful resolution of the warning letter.

At the time of writing, Cadila Healthcare share price was trading up by 0.4%.

The Indian pharmaceutical industry has come under a lot of regulatory pressure in the past few years. The sector has faced great volatility over the years.

Volatility in the Pharma Sector

Volatility in the Pharma Sector

Bhavita Nagrani, our pharma sector analyst has explained the current predicament of Indian pharma companies in one of the premium editions of the 5 Minute WrapUp:

  • Over the past few years, risk in the US markets has increased. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has become stricter on products entering US borders. Surprise inspections have increased and companies are being issued warning letters. This has impacted the business and earnings of Indian pharma players, causing major volatility for the sector.

Give it a read to form a better understanding of the current scenario in the Indian pharma sector.

Moving on to news from stocks in the metals sector. Aluminum major National Aluminum Company Limited (Nalco) announced its plans to augment production of cast metal by 12% in the next financial year as the aluminum market has started firming up.

Nalco posted 16.8% growth in its bauxite production in the April-February period of this fiscal, achieving a volume of 6.56 million tonne.

Bauxite production till February is Nalco's highest since its inception.

Similarly, the hydrate production at the company's refinery has also registered an increase of 6.8%. The hydrate production till February 2017 was 1.9 million tonnes as against 1.8 lakh tonnes for the same period in the previous year.

Cast metal production too, grew by 3.8%, while aluminum metal sales grew by 2.7%.

Nalco plans to net a capacity of over 7.3 million tonnes this fiscal. Up from about 6.8 million tonnes previously. The company plans to capitalize on the high growth rate and hence is pushing for additional capacity.

Nalco share price was trading up by 0.6%.

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