10:05 am Market Check:

Equity benchmarks and broader markets continued to gain in morning trade, backed by banks, metals, FMCG and oil stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 105.88 points at 31,630.56 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 45.45 points to 9,882.85.

About two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

ICICI Bank, ONGC, Tata Steel, Coal India, ITC, TCS and Axis Bank rallied up to 2 percent while Reliance Industries and HDFC gained 0.4 percent.

Infosys remained under pressure, down 2.5 percent after CLSA maintained underperform call on the stock and downside risks to guidance for FY18/19.

9:55 am USFDA nod: 

Aurobindo Pharma shares rallied as much as 1.6 percent in morning trade on tentative approval from USFDA for Dolutegravir, Lamivudine & Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate tablets.

“…. received tentative approval from the US Food and Drug Administration under the US President’s emergency plan for AIDs relief for new drug application for Dolutegravir, Lamivudine & Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate tablets,” the healthcare firm said in its filing.

This product is used for treatment of HIV-1 infection along as a complete regimen in adults and pediatric patients weighing 40 kg and greater.

The reference listed drugs of the approved combination product are ViiV Healthcare’s Tivicay (Dolutegravir) and Epivir (Lamivudine) and Gilead Science’s Viread (Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate).

Aurobindo said the company and ViiV Healthcare signed a licensing agreement in 2014 that allows it to supply Dolutegravir 50mg in 92 licensed countries.

The triple combination product is expect to be launch in sub-Saharan Africa in Q3FY18.

9:40 am FII View:

 “While investors have been willing to forgive downgrades to consensus EPS in India in the past, we highlight that the scale of the downgrades appears to be getting larger,” Sakthi Siva of Credit Suisse said.

With 53 companies in India having reported, current year consensus EPS has been downgraded by 5.3 percent since June 30, she added.

Credit Suisse reiterated underweight call on India.

While India is the only market in the Expensive 4 to outperform in 2017 so far, the research house reiterated underweight call as implied return on equity rises to 18.5 percent versus current return on equity of 13.1 percent, Siva said.

9:25 am Buzzing:

 Shares of Laurus Labs rose 3.5 percent in morning trade on the back of completion of USFDA inspection.

The company has completed the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) inspection of its API facilities in Units 1 and 3 at Parawada, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh with two observation which are only procedural in nature.

This is a regular surveillance audit by USFDA, and no data integrity issues were observed in the inspection.

9:15 am Market Check:

The market bounced back with moderate gains amid volatility on Monday after Friday’s sell-off.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 7.61 points at 31,532.29 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 12.75 points to 9,850.15. About two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

Hindalco, Vedanta, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra, Eicher Motors, BPCL, UltraTech Cement, Aurobindo Pharma and HCL Technologies gained up to 2 percent while TCS, Bharti Infratel and HDFC Bank were losers.

Infosys lost 3 percent to Rs 896 despite announcement of buyback of up to Rs 13,000 crore.