Weak trade continues over Dalal Street

Weak trade continued over the Dalal Street in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading lower, amid mixed cues from other Asian markets and selling at Oil & Gas and Energy counters. Traders got cautious with a private report stating that funding for Indian startups dropped by 33 per cent to USD 24 billion in 2022 as compared to the previous year though it was nearly double the amount recorded in 2019 or 2020. However, indices managed to come off their intraday low points, as traders took support with Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal’s statement that Prime Minister Modi always focused on encouraging the development and economic growth in states thereby providing huge opportunities to the people in the remotest parts of India. He further noted that India is today the 5th largest economy of the world and it is rapidly progressing to become the top 3 economies of the world.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, as China's consumer price inflation accelerated at the end of the year 2022, owing to higher food prices, while factory gate prices continued to fall, albeit at a slower pace. The consumer price index, or CPI, rose 1.8 percent year-on-year in December, as expected, after a 1.6 percent increase in November. At the same time, core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, edged up to 0.7 percent from 0.6 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59861.01, down by 244.49 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 59704.56 and 60290.35. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.13%, while Small cap index was up by 0.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.87%, Industrials up by 0.52%, Power up by 0.28%, Realty up by 0.25% and IT up by 0.21%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.03%, Energy down by 0.96%, Bankex down by 0.83%, Telecom down by 0.58% and FMCG down by 0.48% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 1.37%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.33%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.20%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.59% and HDFC up by 0.44%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 2.22%, Reliance Industries down by 1.68%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.32%, Asian Paints down by 1.19% and ICICI Bank down by 1.08% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, domestic rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that the aggregate occupancy for its hospital industry sample set is likely to remain healthy at 62-64% in FY2023 and FY2024, backed by continued healthy demand for elective surgeries, recovery in medical tourism to preCovid levels; and continued market share gains for organised players.

According to the report, improving payor mix, growth in surgery volumes, price revisions by companies to offset cost inflation and faster throughput in discharges are expected to aid healthy growth of 8-10% in average revenue per occupied bed (ARPOB) for the sample set in FY2023. It also said given the high base, ARPOB growth in FY2024 is estimated to moderate to 2-4%. It said revenue growth is estimated to be 15-17% on YoY basis in FY2023, supported by strong occupancy and higher ARPOB. However, it said growth is expected to slightly moderate to 4-6% in FY2024, given the high base and moderate growth in ARPOB.

The report further said despite high input cost inflation, improving operating leverage, supported by the increasing scale of operations and continued cost optimisation measures, are expected to support a healthy OPM of 20-22% in FY2023 and FY2024. ICRA maintains its Stable outlook on the Indian hospital industry, led by the rising incidence of non-communicable lifestyle diseases, growing per capita spend on healthcare and awareness levels, increasing penetration of health insurance and revival in medical tourism volumes.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17828.20, down by 67.50 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 17780.70 and 17945.80. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 1.40%, HCL Technologies up by 1.34%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.30%, SBI Life Insurance up by 0.84% and JSW Steel up by 0.73%. On the flip side, Divi's Laboratories down by 3.57%, Axis Bank down by 2.15%, Reliance Industries down by 1.77%, BPCL down by 1.73% and Hindalco down by 1.47% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Jakarta Composite soared 68.52 points or 1.04% to 6,652.97, KOSPI rose 5.57 points or 0.24% to 2,365.10, Nikkei 225 surged 3.82 points or 0.01% to 26,449.82 and Shanghai Composite gained 0.42 points or 0.01% to 3,162.26, while Straits Times trembled 14.13 points or 0.43% to 3,257.38, Taiwan Weighted dropped 19.80 points or 0.13% to 14,731.64 and Hang Seng decreased 40.58 points or 0.19% to 21,395.47.