Sensex Finishes in Red; Pharma Stocks Continue to Drag

Indian share markets fell in the final hour of trade to finish in the red for sixth straight session. 

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 66 points, while the NSE Nifty finished down by 21 points. The S&P BSE Mid Cap finished down by 0.2% while the S&P BSE Small Cap finished on a flat note. Losses were largely seen in FMCG, IT and capital goods’ stocks.   

Asian markets finished mixed, losing some of the optimism after Dow Jones hit a new record close overnight. The Shanghai Composite gained 1.11% and the Hang Seng rose 0.37%. The Nikkei 225 lost 0.26%. European markets are mixed today. The DAX is up 0.08% while the FTSE 100 gains 0.01%. The CAC 40 is off 0.06%.

The rupee was trading at 67.87 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 53.66 at the time of writing.

Gold imports witnessed a fall of 30.5% to $15.74 billion in April-November of the current fiscal. The total imports of the precious metal in the corresponding period of 2015-16 stood at US$22.64 billion. According to the commerce ministry data, the gold imports however grew for the second straight month in November by rising 23.24% to US$4.36 billion. 

Moving on to news from stocks in pharma sector. According to an article in Livemint, The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has reportedly issued Form 483 observations against Unit I of Aurobindo Pharma in Hyderabad. The plant is used for manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The unit contributes over 20% of the company's total revenues.

Aurobindo Pharma’s share price finished the day down by 1.2%.

Meanwhile, Wockhardt announced that the UK health regulator has confirmed that its manufacturing facility at Chikalthana in Maharashtra complies with good manufacturing practices (GMP). In September, the UKMHRA had completed inspection of Chikalthana plant without any critical observations on the facility.

Wockhardt’s share price finished the trading day down by 1.7% on the BSE.

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