Selling pressure mars indices...

Mon, 9 Feb Closing

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   09:30 am   

   11:30 am   

   01:30 pm   

The Indian markets opened the day's proceedings on a weak note and languished in the red throughout the trading session today. There was no respite in the final trading hour either and the indices closed well below the dotted line. The BSE-Sensex closed lower by about 491 points, while the NSE-Nifty ended lower by about 135 points. Losses were largely seen in banking, auto and metals stocks. The BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index were not spared either and closed lower by about 1% each.

Asian stocks ended the day on a mixed note, while stocks in Europe were also trading mixed. The rupee was trading at Rs 62.05 to the dollar at the time of writing.

Pharma stocks closed mixed today. While Ipca Labs and Dr.Reddy's found favour, Cipla and Lupin closed into the red. Ipca Labs announced results for the third quarter and nine months ended December 2014. The company's revenues fell by 11% YoY largely due to the 22% YoY decline in exports. It must be noted that the US FDA had earlier issued observations (Form 483s) on the company's Ratlam facility after which the company had temporarily suspended its Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) shipments from this facility to the US market. However, in January 2015, the US FDA elevated the action on the plant to an import alert. This means that Ipca will not be able to supply drugs from this plant to the US unless the issues are resolved. In the meanwhile, the domestic formulations business grew at a decent rate of 13% YoY during the quarter. However, the net profits plunged by 70% YoY.

Tata Chemicals announced results for the third quarter and nine months ended December 2014. According to a leading financial daily, on a standalone basis, the company's sales grew by 13% YoY, while growth in net profits was even better at 38.5% YoY. Operating margins also improved and was attributed to the better performance of the consumer and chemicals businesses. On a consolidated business, the company's sales were up by 5% YoY. The company reported a net profit of Rs 2.3 bn as against a net loss of Rs 159 m in the corresponding quarter last year. According to the management, global soda ash demand continued to be positive, while realizations also improved across geographies. Further, the restructuring exercise at Kenya was completed and the operations there reported profits. The stock closed marginally in the positive.