Asian equity markets are lower today as Chinese and Hong Kong shares fall. The Shanghai Composite is off 0.34%, while the Hang Seng is down 0.78%. The Nikkei 225 is trading lower by 0.48%. The US equities closed slightly higher amid geopolitical worries in their previous trading session.

Meanwhile, share markets in India have opened the day on a flat note. The BSE Sensex is trading up by 33 points while the NSE Nifty is trading down by 5 points. The BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index both have opened the day up by 0.2%.

Barring metal sector and fast moving consumer goods sector, all sectoral indices have opened the day in green with oil & gas stocks and information technology stocks leading the pack of gainers. The rupee is trading at 64.44 to the US$.

Pharma stocks are trading on a mixed note with Elder Pharma and Orchid Pharma Ltd leading the gainers. Ajanta Pharma share price opened the day on an optimistic note after the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) cleared the company’s Dahej plant in Gujarat.

The USFDA inspected its formulation facility last week and cleared it without issuing any Form 483 observations. The Dahej plant is one of the relatively newer plants of Ajanta Pharma set up in 2014 to meet its requirements for the US and emerging markets.

The approval is critical for the company as the US is its fastest-growing geography. Though, of the overall Rs 20 billion revenue estimated for FY17, the US will account for just 10% or about Rs 2 billion, it is crucial for driving future growth.

According to rating agency ICRA, domestic pharma industry’s revenue from the US during for the 2011-15 period, rose at an average 33%. This plunged to 15% in 2015-16 and 12% in the first nine months of the current fiscal.

Surging Exports to the US

The revenue growth for the Indian pharma industry remains moderate with base business in US continuing to face high single digit price erosion, regulatory overhang for select companies and temporary demonetisation effects in India.