Coal India slumps as stock goes ex-dividend

Coal India stock fell as much as 8.4 per cent to a near 2-month low as the stock turned ex-dividend on Monday.

At 11.10 am, Coal India shares were trading down 6.57 per cent or Rs 20.95 at Rs 298.10 on the BSE.

The board of directors of Coal India had approved payment of interim dividend for the financial year 2015-16 at Rs 27.40 a share.

Sasken: Best day in a year on settlement with Spreadtrum

At 11.15 am, Sasken Communications shares rose 15 per cent or Rs 47.40 to Rs 363.60 and was set for their best day since March 2015.

The stock had surged as much as 20 per cent earlier, its biggest intraday percentage gain since July 2014.

Sasken said it will receive $45 mln to settle intellectual property case with Spreadtrum Communications.

Sasken is into embedded communications solutions and offers a combination of research and development consultancy

Monday's surge helps narrow year-to-date losses to 3.3 per cent, while the broader market is off 4.1 per cent, year-to-date.

Pfizer, Abbott India shares fall as regulator bans codeine cough syrups

Shares in the Indian units of US-based drugmakers Pfizer and Abbott Laboratories fell as much as 5 per cent on Monday after authorities imposed a ban on their codeine-based cough syrups, saying they posed a health risk.

Pfizer's India unit said in a statement it had stopped selling its Corex cough syrup that contains codeine, a narcotic. Abbott, which sells the syrup under the Phensedyl brand name, did not respond to a request for comment.

The medicines, which are a combination of chlopheniramine maleate and codeine, were among 344 drug combinations India banned over the weekend after a government panel of experts found they had "no therapeutic justification."

The banned combinations had entered the market over the years based on approval from regulators of individual states, rather the central government, as legally required.

The decision on Corex is likely to hit Pfizer's revenue and profit. The brand brought in sales of about Rs 176 crore ($26.29 million) in the nine months ended December 2015, the company said in a statement.

Abbott's Phensedyl accounts for about a third of the Indian cough syrup market, and its sales are estimated to make up more than 3 per cent of the company's $1 billion India revenue.

Pfizer Ltd was down as much as 5.49 per cent at Rs 1,822. Abbott India Ltd had slipped as much as 2.92 per cent before paring its losses. It was trading down 0.44 per cent or Rs 21.20 at Rs 4,830 at about 11.15 am.

NMDC gains after raising iron ore lump prices

Iron ore miner NMDC Ltd rose as much 3.06 per cent after raising iron ore lump prices.

At about 11.15 am, the shares were up 1.56 per cent or Rs 1.45 at Rs 94.35.

The company said the hike is of 8 per cent. This is the first hike since June 2014.

Dalian iron ore prices have rallied sharply from their January lows.

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