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Banks, IT buoy markets
Wed, 23 Dec 12:30 pm

After witnessing a strong start to the day's trades, Indian stock markets gained further ground on sustained buying activity during previous two hours of trade. Currently, stocks from the energy, IT, and power sectors are leading the pack of gainers.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty are trading in the green, up by around 400 points and 105 points respectively. Mid and small-cap stocks too are fueling the buoyancy. The BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices are trading up by 1.2% and 1.5% respectively. The rupee is trading at 46.85 to the dollar.

As per a leading business daily, pharmaceutical major Lupin has settled all its patent litigations relating to its US launch of a copy version of the 'memantine tablets' which are patented by the multinational pharma company Forest Laboratories Inc. The company has not disclosed the settlement amount it has paid for this drug, which is used to treat Alzheimer's Syndrome. However, as per the terms of the settlement, Lupin will be licensed to commercially launch its version in January 2015, or even earlier under special circumstances. It may be noted that Lupin's generic version has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration under Para 4 provision. Forest Labs sells the drug under the brand name Namenda. The company generated sales of US$ 949 m from this drug in the year 2008 and it accounted for 26% of Forest Labs' sales during the year. The stock of Lupin is trading higher on the bourses currently.

As per a leading business daily, ONGC's overseas subsidiary ONGC Videsh (OVL) has raised Rs 19.7 bn (US$ 420 m) via an issuance of bonds. These bonds have been issued by the company with an 8.4% coupon rate and have a five-year maturity. The bonds have been rated 'AAA' by rating agency Crisil and carry a guarantee from OVL's parent ONGC. It may be noted that OVL had earlier this year raised Rs 50 bn by way of 1 year commercial paper. The company's management was looking to refinance OVL's debt. Thus this bond issuance will help the company refinance some of these outstanding rupee borrowings it had taken for its overseas acquisition of Imperial Energy Corp PLC last year. Energy stocks are trading higher with ONGC and RIL both witnessing gains currently.

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