Indian stock markets have been trading in the red over last two hours of trade after opening the day on a weak note. Among sectoral indices, all except IT and consumer durables stocks are trading weak.
The BSE-Sensex is trading lower by 107 points and NSE-Nifty is trading down by 31 points. BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices are lower by 0.7% and 0.5% respectively. The rupee is trading at 53.19 to the US dollar.
Indian pharma stocks are trading in the red led by Aurobindo Pharma and Panacea Biotech. As per a leading daily, Cipla has dropped prices for its three key cancer drugs. The company has been able to do this because of economies of scale that it has. The drugs for kidney cancer, lung cancer and brain tumour by Cipla will now be cheaper. In fact, price of Sorafenib, the kidney cancer drug has been slashed from Rs 27,950 to Rs 6,840. This makes it cheaper than similar drugs manufactured by other pharma companies. Other drugs whose prices have been reduced are Gestinib and Temozolamide. Cipla makes Gestinib for lung cancer and Temozolamide for brain tumour.
Energy stocks are trading in the red led by GAIL India and BPCL. According to a leading financial daily, Petronet LNG has signed an agreement to build a 5 m tonne import terminal at Gangavaram Port on the Andhra coast. The company will invest Rs 450 bn for the project. This will be the country's fifth LNG terminal after Dahej, Dahbol, Hazira and Kochi. The LNG terminal at Gangavaram Port will comprise facilities for receiving, storage and regasification of LNG. The terminal at Gangavaram Port would have the provision for further expansion, like the flagship Dahej LNG Terminal of Petronet. The company would import LNG from gas-rich nations like Australia to meet the growing energy demand in Andhra Pradesh and other eastern and central part of India. The construction work on the terminal is expected to start within a year and it should be ready to commence operations by 2016.
