Nifty holds 8550; Dr Reddy's up 3%, ITC drags 2%

Moneycontrol Bureau10:55 am FII View: India is the fastest growing large economy with benign inflation that will allow it to endure high valuations, says Adrian Mowat, Managing Director & Chief Strategist for Asian and Emerging Market Equity at JP Morgan. Mowat, a firm believer in India story, says growing auto sales, softer inflation, and a relatively dovish statement by the Reserve Bank (RBI) are some of the positives that makes him relatively confident of India. He sees the possibility of a pick up in earnings from 2016. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, he said investments in Indian infrastructure will continue and so will ongoing inflow in domestic mutual funds. He, however, remains cautious of dramatic rise in midcaps and believes if the RBI keeps rates unchanges even in the second half of this year, market may react negatively. He advises investors to remain with largecap stocks.10:30 am Dr Reddy's hits new high: Dr Reddy's Laboratories has entered into a strategic collaboration with Amgen, the biotechnology company, to market and distribute three Amgen medicines in India in the area of oncology and cardiology.

Under the terms of collaboration, the drug major will perform a full range of regulatory and commercial services to seek approval and launch Kyprolis (carfilzomib), Blincyto (blinatumomab) and Repatha (evolocumab) in India.

Kyprolis was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in July 2015, in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone, for the treatment of patients with relapsed multiple myeloma who have received one to three prior lines of therapy.

Blincyto is an example of immunotherapy, a treatment that uses certain parts of a person's immune system to fight diseases such as cancer. Repatha got approval from European Commission for marketing in July, which is used for the treatment of patients with uncontrolled cholesterol.

Also read - Midcap rally not a bubble; like PSU banks, cap goods: Ratnesh Kumar10:00 am Market Check

The market is flat with the Sensex up 37.58 points at 28260.66. The Nifty is up 8.65 points at 8576.60. About 1156 shares have advanced, 841 shares declined, and 112 shares are unchanged.

Dr Reddy's Labs, Lupin, Sun Pharma, Cipla and Infosys are top gainers while ITC, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Hero and HDFC Bank are among laggards in the Sensex.

Gold struggled to pull away from a 5-1/2-year low after more upbeat US economic data bolstered prospects that the Federal Reserve could lift interest rates as soon as next month.

A surge in US services industry activity to a near-decade high suggested solid economic momentum that strengthens the case for a US interest rate hike this year, the first since 2006.

Investors will be eyeing US nonfarm payrolls data due on Friday, with economists polled by Reuters predicting employment in July to have increased at the same pace as June's 223,000 rise.