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A Firm Start to the Week
Mon, 29 Aug Closing

Indian Indices rallied smartly amid strong buying activity, thus ending on a positive note. At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex closed higher by 120 points, the NSE Nifty finished higher by 35 points. The S&P BSE Midcap & the S&P BSE Small Cap finished down by 0.5% and 0.1% respectively. Gains were largely seen in auto and capital goods stocks.

Asian markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Nikkei 225 gained 2.30%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was off 0.38%. Shares in China were unchanged with the Shanghai Composite at 3,070.03. European markets are higher today as French and German shares show gains. The CAC 40 is up 0.26% while the DAX is up 0.15%. The British FTSE 100 is closed.

The rupee was trading at 67.15 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 46.99 at the time of writing.

<>Pharma stocks traded mixed with Lupin and Ajanta Pharma leading the losses. As per an article in a leading financial daily, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd has launched Nitroglycerin sublingual tablets in US markets.

USFDA (Food & Drug Administration) granted approval for a therapeutic equivalent generic version of Nitrostat (Nitroglycerin) sublingual tablets in the strengths of 0.3 mg, 0.4 mg and 0.6 mg. These tablets are used for the treatment of certain heart condition (coronary artery disease). It may also be used to relieve chest pain and can be used before physical activities.

According to IMS Health MAT data, Nitroglycerin sublingual tablet brand had U.S. sales of approximately US$108 million for the most recent twelve months ending in March 2016.

In another development, Aurobindo Pharma and Intas are reportedly among the final contenders for the UK and Irish portfolio of Teva. Teva is undergoing a range of divestitures to fulfil anti-trust issues ahead of its US$40.5 billion acquisition of Allergan's generics business. Both the entities have submitted their binding offers of around US$1 billion.

Prior to that, around 80 of Teva's products in the US were sold to drug makers like Sagent, Cipla, Zydus Cadila, Aurobindo and Perrigo. Recently, Dr Reddy's also acquired eight abbreviated new drug applications Teva. Bhavita Nagrani, our pharma sector analyst has shared quick bits on the Teva deal in one of our premium editions of The 5 Minute Wrap Up (Subscription Required).

Dr. Reddy's finished the day up by 0.3% on the BSE.

Moving on to the news from oil & gas sector. According to an article in The Economic Time, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is making a successful foray in diverse areas such as liquefied natural gas business. It is attempting to lift purchases of the fuel to take advantage of a price drop amid a glut.

Reportedly, IOC is planning to buy two LNG shipments per month in the spot market for six months. Previously, IOC imported the commodity directly which equaled to a total of nine spot cargoes it bought previous year.

Notably, India is among buyers seeking more cargoes of the cleaner fuel as spot prices have fallen about 60% since October 2014 amid oversupply. IOC is seeking to increase direct procurement through spot deals. Further, IOC sold 1.93 million metric tons of natural gas during the year through March, up 6.9 per cent from a year ago. Higher imports will help IOC diversify further into natural gas. The government is seeking greater use of the cleaner fuel in the country's energy mix to curtail carbon emissions.

Moreover, India has more than doubled its imports in the past seven years as domestic supplies dried up. The country plans to increase its LNG import capacity to 55 million tons per year from about 21 million now, the reports noted.

IOC ended the day down by 0.3%.

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