Indian share markets continued to trade flat in the afternoon session amid continued caution about global risk factors such as North Korea. At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex closed higher by 25 points and the NSE Nifty finished up 5 points. The S&P BSE Mid Cap finished down by 0.4% while & S&P BSE Small Cap too finished down by 0.2%. Gains were largely seen in capital goods’ stocks, FMCG stocks and metal stocks. Realty stocks and PSU stocks witnessed majority of the selling pressure.

Asian stock markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Hang Seng gained 0.53%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 was off 0.63%. Shares in China were unchanged.

The rupee was trading at Rs 63.86 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 48.88 at the time of writing.

Biocon share price rallied 5% before finishing up by 2.1% at the closing bell after the company said its Malaysian arm Biocon Sdn Bhd has received compliance certificate from the Health Products Regulatory Authority of Ireland for its insulin manufacturing facility.

Meanwhile, Dr Reddy’s share price plunged 3% after the company said a German regulator has made six major observations about its Duvvada drug making facility in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Reportedly Germany and the United Kingdom contribute the most to Dr. Reddy’s revenue from Europe, which rose 28% to Rs 2.08 billion (US$32.57 million) in the June quarter.

Notably, foreign health regulator’s alerts on Indian pharma companies have increased over the past few years. Regulators used to visit the plants every two years. Now they come every eight months.

Increasing inspections has led to a total of 41 import alerts in the past eight years. This clearly signifies increased USFDA scrutiny on Indian pharma firms. If that wasn’t enough, increasing pricing pressure in the generics segment has dented realizations.