Indian Markets ended marginally lower on Monday - LuvKush Finserve

Markets ended marginally lower on Monday, snapping four day winning streak, weighed down by pharma shares on worries that the new price control will sharply reduce drug prices thereby impacting growth and profitability. The Sensex ended at 20,224 down 62 points and the Nifty ended at 6,157 down by 30 points.

On the sectoral front, BSE Healthcare index slumped by nearly 2% followed by counters like Consumer Durable, Banks, Oil & Gas and PSU shares, all falling down by 1% each. However, BSE Auto and IT indices gained by nearly 1% each. Shares of pharmaceutical companies were under pressure, declining up to 6% on BSE after the government notification on the new Drug Price Control Order (DPCO).

Financial shares like ICICI Bank, HDFC, HDF Bank and SBI fell between 0.5-2% on account of profit booking. Bharti Airtel was the top Sensex loser, down over 2%. Other notable losers were ONGC, JSPL, NTPC, RIL and Tata Power.

On the gaining side, auto stocks were in demand with M&M, Maruti Suzuki, Hero Moto Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors spurting between 1-2% as reports suggest encouraging sales growth. Infosys gained over 1%. The company said it would challenge a Rs 576.9 crores income tax demand raised by Indian authorities.

Source : Equity Bulls

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