Sensex Finishes on a Dull Note; Pharma & Banking Stocks Drag

Indian share markets continued to trade flat with negative bias in the afternoon session amid mixed international markets.  

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 67 points, while the NSE Nifty finished down by 22 points. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Mid Cap & the S&P BSE Small Cap finished down by 1.4% and 0.9% respectively. Losses were largely seen in pharma, banking and PSU stocks.   

Asian shares traded mostly higher with the exception of China and Hong Kong as continued capital outflows from the country weighed on sentiment. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.53% after the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady and offered a brighter view of the economy. 

While, the Shanghai Composite & the Hang Seng fell 0.49% and 0.47% respectively. European markets are mixed. The CAC 40 is higher by 0.20%, while the FTSE 100 & the DAX are down 0.21% and 0.06% respectively.

The rupee was trading at 67.90 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 53.23 at the time of writing. 

According to a leading financial daily, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals is planning to spend US$ 100 million each over the three years period towards capital expenditure. The company plans to expand existing units and increase their footprints in the global market.

The company is reportedly spending 9-10% on research and development and now looking at spending 11% of sales in the coming years. The firm is also looking at CAGR of 15-20% topline growth over the next 5 years period. 

Glenmark Pharma’s share price finished the trading day down by 0.6% on the BSE.

In another development, according to an article in Livemint, sales of consumer durables and appliances have declined around 40% since the government withdrew Rs 500 and Rs 1000 banknotes on 9 November. Leading consumer goods firms have postponed new launches and stalled or slashed expenditure on marketing in the December quarter.

Makers of durable goods are launching new schemes to tempt consumers to go cashless. Some of them are also extending discount offers and promotions such as waiver of processing fees and instalment schemes with delayed start of payments. At this stage, no manufacturer will consider raising prices since the market is down.

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