Sensex Finishes Marginally Higher; Realty & Power Stocks Gain The Most

Indian share markets recovered marginally in the afternoon session ahead of the expiry of futures and options contracts later in the day.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex closed higher by 84 points and the NSE Nifty finished up 34 points. The S&P BSE Mid Cap finished up by 0.2% while & S&P BSE Small Cap too finished up by 0.8%. Realty stocks and power stocks witnessed majority of the buying activity. Pharma stocks and bank stocks finished in red.

Biocon Ltd share price fell 2% after the company said the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) will take 3 months more to review the application for a biosimilar version of Roche Holding AG’s breast cancer drug Herceptin filed by partner Mylan NV.

Asian stock markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.72%, while the Hang Seng & the Shanghai Composite fell 0.44% and 0.08% respectively. European markets are higher today with shares in London leading the region. The FTSE 100 is up 0.62% while Germany’s DAX is up 0.61% and France’s CAC 40 is up 0.40%.

The rupee was trading at Rs 64.01 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 46.14 at the time of writing.

DCB bank share price finished down by 3.1% after it was reported that the bank is under Reserve Bank of India lens as US fines Pakistan based Habib Bank. Aga Khan Foundation for Economic Development (AKFED), owns 51% stake in Habib Bank that in turn holds 14.22% in DCB Bank. Aga Khan, the promoter of AKFED, is based in France and has a network of financial enterprises globally.

In another development, global credit rating agency, Moody’s Investors Service has said that its outlook on India’s banking system is stable amid improved prospects for asset quality.

Moody’s further said that though the indicators like net new nonperforming loan formation and problem loan ratios suggest a bottoming of the credit cycle, deteriorating asset quality in agriculture, and micro, small- and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) portfolios pose risks.