After opening the day in the red share markets in India witnessed choppy trading activity and are presently trading well below the dotted line. Sectoral indices are trading on a mixed note, with stocks in the realty sector and stocks in the capital goods sector witnessing selling pressure. While stocks in the are leading the gains.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 130 points (down 0.4%) and the NSE Nifty is trading down by 48 points (down 0.5%). Meanwhile, the BSE Mid Cap index is trading down by 0.7%, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading down by 0.9%. The rupee is trading at 65.06 to the US$.

In news from stocks in the pharma sector. Sun Pharma share price is among the most active stocks today after the company received a US Food and Drug Administration approval for its novel psoriasis drug TildraKizumab, the first new drug approval for India's largest drug maker.

The drug, which will be sold under brand name Ilumya, is expected to treat adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, an auto immune disease. Illumya was a molecule that Sun Pharma acquired from US drug maker Merck in its early stage of development to strengthen its potential in the speciality drug business.

The market size for plaque psoriasis in the US is around US$ 7 billion, of which the market for Ilumya (Interleukin-based) is between US$ 2.5 billion and US $3 billion

At the time of writing, Sun Pharma share price was trading up by 1%.

The sector has faced great volatility over the years.The Indian pharmaceutical industry has come under a lot of regulatory pressure in the past few years.

Is the Worst Over for all the Pharma Stocks?

The list of pharma sector woes is long. So, is there light at the end of the tunnel? Girish Shetty, Research Analyst thinks there is.

As per him, it doesn't make sense to paint all pharma stocks with the same brush. The leaders of the industry will certainly survive this phase. There are interesting, niche pharma stocks that are worth your attention.

Facing pricing pressures in the domestic and export markets, currency fluctuations, as well as manufacturing issues related to their plant, there is a transformation happening in the overall sector as to how business is done and will be done in the future.

Moving on to news from stocks in oil and gas sector. Oil India share price is in focus today after the company entered into an agreement with Government of Assam and Assam Petro-Chemicals for methanol and formaldehyde project.

Oil India said that Assam Petro-Chemicals (APL), engaged in the business of manufacture and sale of methanol and formalin is in the process of implementing the 500 TPD (tonne per day) methanol and 200 TPD formaldehyde project.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Government of Assam, Oil India and APL which envisages setting up of a 500 TPD methanol plant at Namrup, Assam and a 200 TPD formalin plant at Boitamari in Bongaigaon district of Assam.

The total cost of this project will be Rs 13.4 billion. Oil India's contribution will be Rs 2.4 billion for 49% equity participation in APL.

Meanwhile, Oil retailer' share prices were under pressure toda after the sharp rise in oil prices overnight due to surprise decline in the US crude inventories.

The buoyancy in oil prices was led by falling US crude inventories as well as ongoing supply cuts led by OPEC, although a relentless rise in US oil output threatens to undermine efforts to tighten the market.

At the time of writing, Oil India share price was trading up by 2.5%.