Indian shares gain led by pharma stocks; Dr. Reddy's climbs 5%

Indian shares advanced on Tuesday, tracking gains in Asian equities amidst hopes of global growth recovery.

sensex
A man looks at a screen across a road displaying the Sensex on the facade of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India. REUTERS

Indian shares advanced on Tuesday, tracking gains in Asian equities amidst hopes of global growth recovery.

Stocks in Asia recovered some of their recent losses as investors took heart from further evidence of strength in the global economy.

Gains on Wall Street overnight also helped MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rise 0.5 percent and back towards a decade-high struck earlier this month.

The gains offer some relief after global equities fell from record highs for five straight days to last Thursday as investors became wary of stretched valuations and scant progress on U.S. tax cuts that would boost the world's largest economy.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.36 percent at 33,478 while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 0.27 percent to 10,326.

Among the top Sensex gainers, Dr. Reddy's rose 5 percent, Cipla advanced 2.3 percent, Sun Pharma added 4.2 percent while NTPC rose 1.6 percent.

The S&P BSE Healthcare index jumped 1.8 percent and was among the top sectoral gainers.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories was the top gainer after the company said it got establishment inspection report from the U.S. FDA for its Duvvada site in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

Simplex Infrastructures jumped 7 percent after the company said it won an order worth Rs 524 crore from NBCC India to construct buildings for IIT Bhubaneswar and its extended campus.

Quess Corp jumped 5 percent after the company said it will buy 51 percent stake in Tata Business Support Services for Rs 153 crore.

Market breadth was in the favour of gainers, with about 2 stocks advancing to every 1 stock that declined.

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