Asian stock markets are lower today as Japanese and Hong Kong shares fall. The Nikkei 225 is off 0.1% while the Hang Seng is also down 0.1%. The Shanghai Composite is trading up by 1.1%. Overnight, US stocks closed mixed amid concerns about the US-China trade relations and Italy's mounting debt.
Back home, India share markets opened on a negative note following further depreciation in Indian rupee. The BSE Sensex is trading down by 174 points while the NSE Nifty is trading down by 52 points. The BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index opened the day down by 0.3% & 0.5% respectively.
Barring healthcare stocks and IT stocks, all sectoral indices have opened the day in red with bank stocks and auto stocks witnessing maximum selling pressure.
The rupee is trading at Rs 73.32 against the US$.
2018 has been an eventful year, to say the least. The Sensex touched an all-time high of 38,990 last month.
The rupee touched an all-time low. The crude is going up and gained around 13% in 2018.
The midcap and smallcap indices are feeling the heat. They are down by about 9% and 13% respectively. Whereas, the Sensex is the outperformer with an increase of 12%.
And here's how sectorial indices are performed in 2018.
Pharma and IT Outshine Their Peers
BSE IT index is up whopping 41% in 2018. The BSE Healthcare index also did well and is up 8.5%.
Over the last three months, the BSE Healthcare index rose by 24%.
Whereas, the BSE Auto and the BSE Oil & Gas indices were down 8.6% and 9.1% respectively.
With the rupee breaching the 72 mark, IT and pharma are outperforming all other indices.
In the news from the pharma sector. As per an article in a leading financial daily, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Limited's wholly-owned subsidiary Promius Pharma has sold its rights of Cloderm (Clocortolone pivalate) cream, and its authorized generic to EPI Health, LLC.
Under the terms of the agreement, Promius Pharma is eligible to receive an upfront payment followed by future royalties as the consideration for the Cloderm cream and its authorized generic in the US effective immediately.
EPI group is a privately held company headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
In 2011 Promius Pharma entered a collaborative agreement with Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. to manufacture, distribute and market Cloderm cream in the US by offering an upfront payment and royalties on sale of the product.
The cloderm cream contains a medium potency topical corticosteroid and is used for treating dermatitis and other skin conditions.
To know more about the company, you can access to Dr. Reddy's Q1FY19 result analysis and Dr. Reddy's Stock Analysis on our website.
Dr. Reddy's share price opened the day up by 1.1%.
Moving on to the news from the automobiles sector. TVS Motor Co reported 18% rise in sales at 4,23,978 units in September as against 3,59,850 units in the same month last year.
Total two-wheeler sales grew 17% at 4,10,696 units last month as compared to 3,50,854 units in the year-ago month.
Domestic two-wheeler sales were up 18% at 3,61,136 units last month as compared to 3,07,160 units in September last year, the reports noted.
Scooter sales were at 1,42,562 units last month as against 1,21,601 units in September 2017, a growth of 17%.
Motorcycle sales increased 16% to 1,66,489 units last month as compared to 1,43,923 units in September 2017.
The company's total exports grew 20% to 61,192 units in September as against 50,971 units in the year-ago month, the company stated.
TVS Motors share price opened the day up by 1.8%.
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