Indian bourses maintain upbeat mood in afternoon deals

Indian equity indices maintained their upbeat mood in the early afternoon session, on buying appeared in Telecom, Realty, Banking and Metal stocks. Domestic sentiments remained firm with World Bank’s latest report stating that India has jumped 30 spots to number 100 in the latest Ease of Doing Business report for 2018. The report highlighted that India stands out this year as one of the 10 economies that improved the most in the areas measured by Doing Business. Also, eight core sectors growing to a six-month high of 5.2 per cent in September and positive leads from global market added some thrust on the street. Buying was broad based as both mid and small cap indices were trading up in the range of 0.73%-0.81%. Meanwhile, the rupee was in a sweet spot, strengthening by another 20 paise to 64.54 against the dollar in early trade. In scrip specific development, Strides Shasun was up by over half percent after receiving an approval for the Scheme of Amalgamation for the merger of its WOSs viz., Arrow Remedies, Fagris Medica and Strides Chemicals, with itself.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, on the back of solid economic growth globally, while oil prices extended a bull run on hopes that major oil producers will maintain their output cuts. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33587.08, up by 373.95 points or 1.13% after trading in a range of 33340.62 and 33603.93. There were 22 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.73%, while Small cap index was up by 0.81%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 4.89%, Realty up by 3.23%, Bankex up by 2.01%, Metal up by 1.48% and FMCG up by 1.00%, while IT down by 0.10% and Utilities down by 0.04% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 9.02%, ICICI Bank up by 4.62%, SBI up by 3.17%, Axis Bank up by 2.82% and HDFC up by 1.89%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 2.11%, TCS down by 1.04%, Power Grid down by 0.66%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.38% and ONGC down by 0.21% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the rating agency, CRISIL in its latest report has said that the healthcare sector in India is expected to see 15 percent revenue growth annually over the next three financial years (FY2018-FY2020) on the back of rapid expansion in health insurance coverage through government-sponsored schemes. It also noted that the Rs 4.8 lakh crore healthcare delivery sector in India have been showing very robust demand growth and stable cash flows, and should maintain its momentum despite regulatory hiccups.  

As per the report, while strong demand will necessitate capital expenditure, stable cash flows from existing operations will continue to support credit profiles. However, it said that profitability of hospitals could see some pressure due to regulatory interventions, and they are expected to cope by adjusting cost and pricing structures. Adding further, it revealed that the number of people covered by health insurance has nearly doubled to 42 crore in the past three fiscals. It also noted that large corporate chains with over Rs 400 crore revenue are expected to see increasing capacity by 25% between fiscals 2018 and 2019, entailing an investment of Rs 5,000 crore.

The rating agency further said that credit profiles of hospital firms are likely to stable despite large capex, backed by strong demand growth, stable cash flows from existing beds, and strengthening of business profiles through geographical diversification.  It noted that prudent funding mix and longer loan-repayment tenure will further support credit profiles amid large capex. It pointed out that another factor that supports credit profiles is the measured approach that corporate chains take when undertaking capex to enter new markets.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10437.90, up by 102.60 points or 0.99% after trading in a range of 10383.05 and 10441.60. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 9.19%, ICICI Bank up by 4.63%, SBI up by 4.37%, Axis Bank up by 3.03% and Vedanta up by 2.46%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 2.36%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 2.18%, UPL down by 2.10%, HCL Tech. down by 1.45% and TCS down by 1.36% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Jakarta Composite increased 9.43 points or 0.16% to 6,015.21, Shanghai Composite was up by 10.97 points or 0.32% to 3,404.31, Taiwan Weighted rose 12.56 points or 0.12% to 10,806.36, KOSPI Index added 33.04 points or 1.31% to 2,556.47, Hang Seng surged 238.95 points or 0.85% to 28,484.49 and Nikkei 225 increased 408.47 points or 1.86% to 22,420.08.

On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 3.88 points or 0.22% to 1,744.04.