Sensex, Nifty remain higher in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks remained higher in late morning session, on the back of positive cues from other Asian markets. Domestic sentiments were positive, as a top official from the International Monetary Fund has said that the successful macroeconomic management of the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a strong recovery of India’s economy because of which the country is in a better position to face the economic fallout of the current Ukrainian crisis. Adding more optimism among traders, retirement fund body EPFO said it added 14.12 lakh subscribers in February 2022, 14 per cent more than 12.37 lakh enrolled in the same month a year ago.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after Taiwan's export orders increased more than expected in March. The data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed that export orders rose 16.8 percent year-on-year in February.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57736.13, up by 698.63 points or 1.22% after trading in a range of 57311.86 and 57801.77. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.85%, while Small cap index was up by 1.20%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.48%, TECK up by 1.39%, Capital Goods up by 1.36%, Consumer discretionary up by 1.26% and Consumer Durables up by 1.21%, while Metal down by 0.49% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 2.68%, Reliance Industries up by 2.15%, TCS up by 2.12%, Infosys up by 1.96% and Bajaj Finserv up by 1.70%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.57% and Power Grid down by 0.53% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that domestic hospital industry revenue growth is likely to moderate in FY23 due to the large base in the previous fiscal, although income and profit margins are expected to remain healthy ahead. While occupancy is expected to slightly moderate in FY23 given the ongoing capacity addition, average revenue per occupied bed (ARPOB) is expected to expand steadily going forward.

The rating agency said the performance of its sample set of hospital companies remained strong in Q3 FY22 on the back of continued momentum of elective procedures and strong ARPOB. It noted that with most patients reporting mild infections on account of Omicron, pent-up demand and market share gains for organised players in the high-end/complex surgery space supported healthy occupancy levels for the sample set, and added that hospitals also witnessed an additional uptick in patient visits at metro centres on the back of a surge in international patients.

According to the report, benefits from improving scale and strong ARPOB levels, cost-optimisation efforts, and ancillary revenues from COVID-19 have supported margin improvement for industry players in FY2022. Given the favourable demand outlook for the industry, it said several large hospital players have recently announced sizeable capacity expansion plans across the country. It said with the threat from the pandemic seemingly over, players are now looking at adding bed capacity within their existing infrastructure, while some players have announced new greenfield projects.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17332.30, up by 195.75 points or 1.14% after trading in a range of 17215.50 and 17350.65. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 2.81%, Asian Paints up by 2.75%, TCS up by 2.30%, Reliance Industries up by 2.22% and Infosys up by 2.08%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.71%, JSW Steel down by 1.35%, Cipla down by 0.84%, Hindalco down by 0.60% and ONGC down by 0.57% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 315.06 points or 1.16% to 27,532.91, Jakarta Composite soared 36.42 points or 0.5% to 7,263.78, Straits Times advanced 15.40 points or 0.46% to 3,350.72 and KOSPI rose 12.65 points or 0.47% to 2,731.34. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted dropped 30.20 points or 0.18% to 17,118.68, Shanghai Composite declined 50.31 points or 1.6% to 3,100.74 and Hang Seng decreased 364.01 points or 1.74% to 20,580.66.