Stock In Action - 23 November 2012

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has raised a demand of Rs 130 crore from Claris Lifesciences and Intas Pharma for overcharging on the price of medicines as against the ceiling fixed by the regulator. The regulatory body controls the pricing for 74 bulk drugs which amount to 60 per cent of Claris’ drugs. This would result in a downward pressure in the stock price of Claris Lifesciences.

The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) fixed the base price for the 4 per cent divestment in Hindustan Copper at Rs 155 a piece, said media reports. The share sale is to be launched today. Following this announcement, the share price of Hindustan Copper increased by 11.33 per cent yesterday. The stock is likely to remain volatile today as well with the directional trend likely to be on either side. The stock could either extend gains or see some downside due to profit booking.

DHL Express (Singapore) is set to sell 6.03 per cent of its stake in Blue Dart Express today. Since SEBI’s mandate of limiting promoter shareholding to 75 per cent, DHL has announced its decision to offload its stake. This resulted in the stock price of Blue Dart Express hitting the upper circuit yesterday. The stock is likely to remain volatile today as well with the directional movement likely to be on either side. The stock could either extend gains or see some downside due to profit booking.

The winter session of the parliament began yesterday and closed on quite a stormy note. There are approximately 25 pending bills or amendments awaiting the green signal, some of them being related to FDI in multi-brand retail, insurance, banking laws, companies, pension fund regulation and development authority. On account of this, there would be volatility in the prices of stocks in the sectors of banking, retail and insurance, among others. Investors can keep an eye on these stocks to benefit out of intra-day movements and price fluctuations.