Sensex, Nifty Rise As Dr.Reddy's Boosts Pharma Stocks

Indian shares opened higher on Friday, boosted by pharma stocks after Dr.Reddy's Laboratories Ltd hit a record high, and as broader Asian markets advanced on hopes of more monetary support from central banks.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index rose 0.49% to 11,572.75 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex 0.44% to 39,151.72 by 0350 GMT. Both the indexes closed more than 0.7% lower in the previous session.

Dr.Reddy's rose as much as 4.1% to an all-time high and was among the top boosts to the Nifty 50 after the company settled a patent litigation with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co over cancer treatment Revlimid.

That helped the Nifty Pharma Index rise 2.67%.

Conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd also helped boost the Nifty, gaining as much as 0.9%.

(Reuters)