Sensex inches towards 29000, Nifty firm; pharma stocks rally

1:50 pm Neuland shares spike:After shares of Neuland Labs zoomed 20 percent, the company has now declined to comment on the link between the share zoom and Teva getting priority review status for its experimental drug SD-809.

“Please note that the approval for the aforesaid product, is not received by Neuland Laboratories and therefore the Company cannot give any comments on the development,” the company said in a statement to exchanges.

1:40 pm Buzzing stock: Shares of Jindal Stainless (Hisar) rose over 4 percent intraday on Wednesday as investors cheered the company’s new agreement with the country’s defence body.

The stainless steel maker entered into a licence agreement with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which entails transfer of technology to manufacture high nitrogen steel (HNS) for Armour applications, according to a notification filed to the exchanges by the firm.

The company claims that the use of HNS will replace Armour steel, an existing material which is mostly imported. This, it says, will result into 50 percent cost efficiency in material acquisition.

1:25 pm Wipro buyback? After TCS, Wipro now is also likely to announce a share buyback, say sources close to the development.

The proposal will be put before the board soon. The company wants to use 25-30 percent of its cash reserves as shareholders return over the next three years.

The company had undertaken a buyback of 40 million shares (1.62 percent of capital) in April 2016.

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The market strengthened its position during the afternoon session, riding on better-than-expected GDP data as well as a rally in banks and pharma stocks.

The 30-share Sensex was up 182.14 points at 28925.46, while the Nifty was up 51.65 points at 8931.25.

Banks and pharma stocks drive up indices even as the market breadth was seen narrowing; midcaps were trading strong.

Pharmaceutical majors such as Aurobindo Pharma, Dr Reddy’s and Sun Pharma saw a spike in the afternoon trade. Aurobindo Pharma was trading higher on the back of a product approval by the US FDA.

Wipro was also on investors’ radar after sources told CNBC-TV18 that the firm may be considering a proposal for share buyback.