The equity benchmarks reversed trend and hit a fresh intraday low in mid-afternoon trade. Pharma shares extended gains for the fourth day. The Nifty slipped below the 14,350 mark.
At 14:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 209.95 points or 0.44% to 47,739.47. The Nifty 50 index lost 37.35 points or 0.26% to 14,322.10.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index, both advanced 0.80%.
Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 1765 shares rose and 1051 shares fell. A total of 159 shares were unchanged.
Numbers to Track:
In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee rose to 74.7525 compared with its previous closing of 74.87.
Pharma Shares Gain On Higher Demand For Medicines As Covid-19 Cases Rise Pharma Shares Gain On Higher Demand For Medicines As Covid-19 Cases Rise Rising Covid-19 cases in the country is leading to higher demand for medicines which is driving up the share prices of drugmakers, analysts said.
Updated: April 12, 2021 12:30 pm IST
Shares of pharma companies were outperforming in an otherwise weak market session as rising demand for medicines amid rising Coronavirus infections in country led to investors buying shares of pharma companies.
The gauge of pharma shares on the National Stock Exchange rose 1.4 per cent massively outperforming the Nifty 50 index which was down 3.58 per cent.
Key equity indices came off the day s low in mid-afternoon trade. Pharma shares were in demand. The Nifty, however, was trading below the 14,850 mark.
At 14:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 113.98 points or 0.23% to 49,632.23. The Nifty 50 index lost 31.60 points or 0.21% to 14,842.20.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 0.02% while The S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.58%.
Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 1561 shares rose and 1280 shares fell. A total of 174 shares were unchanged.
Numbers To Track:
In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee fell to 74.8450 compared with its previous closing of 74.5875.
Pharmeasy parent enters unicorn club at $1.5 billion valuation
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Pharmeasy’s $350 million funding round comes at a time when Reliance, Tata Group and Amazon are looking to tap the online pharmacy business by way of acquisitions.
ETtech
Pharmaeasy is the seventh startup unicorn this year, after Cred, Meesho, Digit Insurance, Innovaccer, Infra.Market and Five Star Finance. (Illustration: Rahul Awasthi/ETtech)
Bengaluru: Prosus Ventures and US-based private equity firm TPG Capital are leading an investment of $350 million (about Rs 2,570 crore) in API Holdings, the parent company of Mumbai-based online pharmacy Pharmeasy.
Prosus Ventures (previously Naspers Ventures) is the venture investing arm of South African technology and media conglomerate Prosus, which is one of the largest investors in Indian technology startups including Swiggy, Byju s and Meesho.
Raining unicorns
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India’s startup unicorn club saw one new entrant in January, two in February, one in March, and three in the first six days of April, including two just yesterday. PharmEasy and Cred are the latest members.
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Pharmeasy is India s 7th unicorn of 2021
Last October we reported that South Africa’s Naspers and US private equity firm TPG Capital were in talks to invest in Mumbai-based online pharmacy PharmEasy. That funding materialised yesterday with Prosus Ventures a subsidiary of Naspers and TPG leading an investment of $350 million (Rs 2,570 crore) in API Holdings, Pharmeasy’s parent company.