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Informist, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025

 

By Anjana Therese Antony

 

MUMBAI – The government's revision of nearly 2,000 medical procedures under the Central Government Health Services scheme has sparked upside bets in healthcare stocks, including the recently-added Nifty 50 constituent Max Healthcare Institute. Premiums on deep out-of-the-money call options more than doubled, while those on puts almost halved, indicating the potential upside in the near term. 

 

Brokerage firm Macquarie said this is a 'meaningful' price revision, a first in 15 years, Moneycontrol reported. The broking house expects procedure rates in key therapy areas of cardiology, neurology, oncology, and orthopedic to rise 5-30%. The rates have been revised based on parameters such as accreditation status, hospital type, city classification, and ward entitlement, and will be effective from Oct. 13. Earlier, the rates were the same across outpatient department and inpatient department consultation, cities and wards, media reports said. 

 

For the quarter ended June, Max Healthcare had reported a consolidated net profit of INR 3.08 billion on revenue of INR 20.28 billion. Its average revenue per occupied bed during the quarter had increased to INR 78,000 from INR 77,100 in the year-ago quarter. 

 

The stock closed almost 7% higher at INR 1,139.70 on the National Stock Exchange and was the top gainer in the Nifty 50. The near-term support for the stock is seen at INR 1,120-INR 1,060 and resistance at INR 1,180-INR 1,220, a senior technical and derivatives analyst at a domestic broking firm said. 

 

Premiums on out-of-the-money call strikes at INR 1,240-INR 1,360 expiring on Oct. 28 rose 78-161% while those on put options INR 1,120-INR 1,060 declined 66-72%. The highest addition of open interest was at INR 1,240 call and INR 1,120 put contracts and the maximum concentration of open interest was at INR 1,200 call and INR 1,060 put options. 

 

Traders also added long positions to the October futures series of Max Healthcare. The contract closed over 6% higher at INR 1,142.40 and open interest rose almost 3% to 18.94 million. 

 

Gains in the stock contributed to almost 0.1% rise in the Nifty 50 index, which closed 0.7% higher at 25077.65 points. The September quarter earnings season, scheduled to kick-start this week, will provide cues for equity investors in the near term. They will also closely watch for US policies about tariffs and trade, among others. 

 

--Nifty 50 October closed at 25181.10, up 174.50 points; 103.45-point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 November closed at 25302.30, up 164.90 points; 224.65-point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 December closed at 25468.00, up 177.30 points; 390.35-point premium to the spot index

 

HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, BSE, Tata Consultancy Services, Vodafone Idea, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Tata Motors, Trent, State Bank of India, One 97 Communications, Fortis Healthcare, Max Healthcare Institute, Maruti Suzuki India, Bharat Electronics, Bank of Baroda, and Sammaan Capital were the most active underlying stocks on Monday.  End

 

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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