Asian stock indices are higher today as Japanese and Hong Kong shares show gains. The Nikkei 225 is up 0.38% while the Hang Seng is up 0.59%. The Shanghai Composite is trading up by 0.33%. Wall Street ended flat yesterday as media stocks slumped while healthcare gained.

Back home, share markets in India have opened the day on a positive note. The BSE Sensex is trading higher by 94 points while the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 29 points. The BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap index opened the day up by 0.3% & 0.5% respectively.

Except energy stocks, all sectoral indices have opened the day in green with stocks from consumer durables sectorand capital goods sector leading the pack of gainers. The rupee is trading at 64.03 to the US$.

Pharma stocks opened the day on a mixed note with Biocon & Dishman Pharma leading the gainers. Biocon share price surged 4.2% after its subsidiary in Malaysia, Biocon Sdn. Bhd., received a certificate of good manufacturing practices (GMP) compliance for its insulin manufacturing facility from the Health Products Regulatory Authority of Ireland.

The certificate reflects that the agency considered the site to be in GMP compliance for active substances, sterile drug products and quality control testing operations.

Biocon's Malaysia facility was inspected by the European Medicines Agency, responsible for the protection of public and animal health through the scientific evaluation and supervision of medicines, in April.

Notably, foreign health regulator's alerts on Indian pharma companies have increased over the past few years. From a visit every two to three years, it has increased to a check every 8-10 months these days. Increasing inspections has led to a total of 41 import alerts in the past eight years. This clearly signifies increased USFDA scrutiny on Indian pharma firms. If that wasn't enough, increasing pricing pressure in the generics segment has dented realizations.

Expediting Drug Approval Process to be a Positive for Industry

In this dull scenario, there appears to be some respite as the USFDA has expedited the drug approval process. Drug approvals for Indian companies have gone up 50% in the period from January to June 2017 compared to the same period last year.

Moving on to news from the economy. As per an article in a leading financial daily, Indian retail industry, growing at 10% may almost double to Rs 85 trillion by 2021 steered by consumer data and technology disruptions.

Reportedly, consumer data and technology disruptions will drive retail and FMCG sectors towards a new phase of growth where consumer experience will be the focal concern for all retailers and brands.

Moreover, consumer retail forms an integral part of the industry with current estimated size of more than Rs 45 trillion. It is further expected to witness a CAGR of over 10% in 2016-21 to reach a size of Rs 85 trillion by 2021.

According to the report, the spend on digital marketing by advertisers would also double in the next 4 years to 24% of total expenses.