Sensex Opens Marginally Higher; Lupin Gains 1.7% In Early Trade

Asian stocks markets were trading mixed as market focused on the weaker dollar and the upcoming two-day policy meeting of Fed later this week. The Nikkei 225 is up 0.86% while the Hang Seng is up 0.41%. The Shanghai Composite is up 0.18%. US and European markets closed lower in their previous sessions.

Meanwhile, Indian share markets have opened the day marginally higher. BSE Sensex is trading higher by 54 points and NSE Nifty is trading higher by 15 points. S&P BSE Mid Cap and S&P BSE Small Cap are trading up by 0.1% and 0.4% respectively.

Indices Close to Peak Valuations Measured Against Sales

For Indian investors, the upside in corporate earnings has been successful bait. And continues to be. The average profit margins of Indian companies continue to languish near historical lows. But the worry is that the surge in valuations since 2016 has been devoid of profit growth.

Now since earnings are currently unusually low, looking at sales, which are relatively more stable, can give a good sense of how expensive markets are. It turns out the Sensex and the broader BSE 500 indices are close to their peak valuations when measured against sales.

All the sectoral indices have opened the day in green with consumer durables stocks and software stocks leading the gains. The rupee is trading at 64.32 against the US$.

Lupin share price opened the trading day up by 1.7% on the BSE after the company said it successfully completed Prior Approval Inspection (PAI) carried out by the USFDA at its Goa manufacturing facility without any observations.

PAI is triggered when a company seeks approval of an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA), filed for marketing, from USFDA. Around 40-50% of pending ANDAs have been filed from Goa plant.

In news from oil & gas sector, as per an article in The Livemint, ONGC will not be required to make an open offer to minority shareholders of HPCL after buying out government’s 51.11% stake as the deal won’t trigger takeover norms as did the Indian Oil Corp. (IOC)-IBP merger in 2002.