After opening the day on a flat note, share markets in India witnessed selling activity and are trading in the red. Sectoral indices are trading on a negative note with stocks in the pharma sector and stocks in the banking sector leading the losses.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 116 points (down 0.4%), and the NSE Nifty is trading down by 31 points (down 0.4%). Meanwhile, the BSE Mid Cap index is trading down by 0.8%, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading down by 0.5%. The rupee is trading at 65.29 to the US$.

Pharma stocks are net losers in today’s trade as Divi’s Lab share price tanked over 19% after the USFDA issued an import alert for company’s Vishakhapatnam unit II. The unit contributes 60-65% to the company’s total sales and 20-21% to US sales.

In news from the IPO space, D-Mart promoter Avenue Supermarts made a stellar debut on the Indian indices today. Avenue Supermarts share price listed at Rs 604.4 on the BSE – a 102% premium over its issue price of Rs 299 apiece.

Rohan Pinto, our Research Analyst, released the Equitymaster IPO note recently. In this detailed report, Rohan not only evaluates the company’s business performance, but answers the crucial question about valuations. Find the entire report here (requires subscription).

In news from stocks in the banking sector. State Bank of India (SBI), which approved plans to merge with five of its associate banks, announced plans to shut down almost half the offices of these banks, including the head offices of three of them. This process will start from April 24.

The public sector lender plans to retain only 2 of the 5 head offices. Three head offices of the associate banks will be unbound along with 27 zonal offices, 81 regional offices and 11 network offices of the associate bank

The five associate banks that will merge with SBI are: SBBJ (State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur), SBM (State Bank of Mysore), SBT (State Bank of Travancore), SBP (State Bank of Patiala) and SBH (State Bank of Hyderabad).

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