Indian shares climbed amid mixed trade in Asian equities as metal makers and energy producers rallied for a second day. Investors were also encouraged by the local currency's strong opening against the U.S. dollar.
The S&P BSE Sensex gained as much as 0.4 percent to 27,233 while the NSE's Nifty 50 index rose 0.4 percent as well to 8,426 in opening trades.
Here are the stocks moving the market this morning:
Ajanta Pharma: Recovers from 9-month low
Shares of the specialty pharmaceutical firm recovered from day's low to trade down nearly 5 percent at Rs 1,698.80 after the company clarified on import alert for its Kamagra drug manufactured at its Aurangabad unit.
Ajanta Pharma's spokesperson told BloombergQuint that its Aurangabad plant was last inspected by the U.S. Food and Drug Administrator (FDA) in March-April 2015 and that the company had already received 16 approvals post the inspection.
The spokesperson also added that Ajanta Pharma does not sell sildenafil citrate in U.S. at all.
Ajanta Pharma said to have received import alert from @US_FDA for Paithan, Aurangabad plant FDA website cites 20 January 2017 date #pharma pic.twitter.com/Mh24m8zK1r
The import alert pertains to the male potency drug, Kamagra manufactured at Paithan facility of Ajanta Pharma. U.S. FDA said in the notes that the product contains sildenafil citrate used to treat erectile dysfunction.
Following the news, the stock fell as much as 14.6 percent to hit a 9-month low of Rs 1,526.65.
Hindustan Unilever: Reacts To Q3 Earnings
Shares of the FMCG firm dropped 1.4 percent to Rs 849.95 after its volumes declined for the second consecutive quarter.
Hindustan Unilever reported a 6.8 percent growth in profit in October to December quarter, helped by an exceptional gain of Rs 153 crore.
The liquidity squeeze triggered by the government's demonetisation decision resulted in reduced trade pipelines and lower consumer offtake, HUL management told reporters at the press briefing in Mumbai.
Asian Paints: Meets Street
Shares of the decorative coatings company fell 1 percent to Rs 955 after its December-quarter profit met estimates.
Net profit rose 1.5 percent to Rs 489.3 crore in the quarter ended December 31 while revenue increased 2.6 percent to Rs 4,354 crore, beats estimates.
Asian Paints said its raw materials costs was 1.6 percent higher in the third quarter while inventory stock reduced 52.3 percent from last year.
Bharti Infratel: Profit Boost
Shares of the mobile tower company rose 1 percent to Rs 349.55 after reporting a 25 percent increase in consolidated net profit.
Net profit rose to Rs 620 crore for the December quarter compared with Rs 495 crore in the same period of last year.
The consolidated revenue of mobile tower arm of Bharti Airtel increased by 10 percent to Rs 3,400 crore during the October- December quarter.
HCL Technologies: Upbeat Profit
Shares of the software maker fell 2.5 percent to Rs 836.05 despite posting 2.3 percent increase in December-quarter profit.
Net profit rose to Rs 2,062 crore in the quarter ended December 31 compared with Rs 2,020 crore median estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg.
The company maintained its revenue guidance for the remaining portion of financial year 2016-17.
IDBI Bank: Senior Officials Arrested
Shares of the lender fell 1 percent to Rs 75.35 after the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested at least four ex-officials of IDBI Bank in connection with the over Rs 900 crore loan sanctioned by the bank to the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
Former chairman and managing director Yogesh Agarwal and former deputy managing director BK Batra are among those arrested, according to news agency PTI. The news report quotes unnamed officials at the CBI office.
The CBI is yet to issue an official statement on the arrests making it tough to gauge what prompted them.
MOIL: Offer For Sale
Shares of the state-owned firm declined 3 percent to Rs 370 after the government initiated the stake sale of 10 percent in manganese miner.
OFS at a floor price of Rs 365 a share, which will fetch around Rs 480 crore to the exchequer.
The floor price is at a discount of 4.63 percent over the closing price of MOIL at Rs 382.70 on the BSE.
Sensex, Nifty Top Gainers/Losers
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