Indian share markets witnessed volatile trading activity throughout the day today and ended lower.
Benchmark indices erased early gains and turned negative after global credit rating company slashed India's 2021 growth forecast to 9.6% from 13.9% earlier, after accounting for the impact of the deadly second covid wave in April-May.
At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 283 points (down 0.5%).
Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 86 points (down 0.5%).
Titan and Maruti Suzuki were among the top gainers today.
Adani Ports and Wipro, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.
The SGX Nifty was trading at 15,699, down by 72 points, at the time of writing.
The BSE MidCap index and the BSE SmallCap index ended down by 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively.
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Sectoral indices ended on a negative note with stocks in the metal sector, oil & gas sector and energy sector witnessing most of the selling pressure.
Consumer durables and auto stocks, on the other hand, witnessed buying interest.
Shares of Godrej Agrovet and Finolex Cables hit their respective 52-week highs today.
Asian stock markets ended on a positive note today after reassuring comments on inflation and monetary policy from Federal Reserve officials bolstered investor sentiment.
The Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite ended the day up by 1.8% and 0.3%, respectively.
The Nikkei ended on a flat note in today's session.
US stock futures are trading on a positive note today with the Dow Futures trading up by 56 points.
The rupee is trading at 74.27 against the US$.
Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading up by 0.2% at Rs 47,100 per 10 grams.
Speaking of the stock markets, India's #1 trader, Vijay Bhambwani shares the best day trading hack, in his latest video for Fast Profits Daily.
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In news from the defence sector, Bharat Electronics was among the top buzzing stocks today.
Shares of Bharat Electronics (BEL) hits over three-year high of Rs 170 per share after rallying 12% on the BSE today after the company reported a strong set of numbers for the quarter ended March 2021.
The stock of the state-owned defence company was trading at its highest level since February 2018.
In the fourth quarter, BEL reported 30.7% year on year (YoY) jump in profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 13.5 bn on the back of healthy revenue growth and operational performance.
Revenues grew 19% YoY at Rs 69.1 bn, on the back of normalising supply chain and execution business operations.
Absolute earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for the quarter came in at Rs 19.7 bn, which grew 32.9% YoY.
While EBITDA margin came in better than estimated at 28.5%, improving around 300 basis points (bps) YoY.
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The company said it has a healthy order book position of Rs 534.3 bn as on 1 April 2021.
Overall, BEL reported a strong all-round performance in quarter four despite a challenging environment.
Robust order inflows at Rs 152.8 bn, up 15.8% on YoY and order book at Rs 534.3 bn for the year provides good revenue visibility for the coming months.
Also, strong balance sheet provides confidence about the continued accelerated business trajectory for the company.
Besides, the company has recommended a final dividend of Rs 1.2 per equity share (120%) of Rs 1 each for the financial year 2020-21.
Bharat Electronics share price ended the day up by 10.8% on the BSE.
Speaking of the defence sector, have a look at the chart below which shows the top 5 military spending countries in the world as of 2019:
According to a SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) report, India was the third largest military spending country in the world in 2019.
Here's what we wrote about it in one of the editions of Profit Hunter:
Co-head of Research at Equitymaster, Tanushree Banerjee keeps a close watch on stocks in the defence space. As per Tanushree, defence will be a big wealth-creating opportunity.
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Back in June 2020, she recorded a video about India's best defence stocks.
You can watch the video here: The Upside in India's Best Bulletproof Defence Stocks.
Moving on to news from the auto ancillaries sector...
Auto components maker Minda Industries said it will acquire 51% stake in Uzbekistan-based automotive lighting manufacture UZ Chasys for around Rs 580 m.
The company has won the bid to acquire a 51% stake in UZ Chasys in Uzbekistan for a purchase consideration of 83.1 bn Kyrgystani Soms (equivalent to Rs 580 m), Minda industries said in a statement.
The Uzbekistan government is moving toward liberalisation of the economy and divesting their stake in some of the government-controlled entities.
As part of this process, the Uzbekistan government is divesting their 51% stake in UZ Chasys through an auction process.
UzChasys specialises in manufacturing automobile headlights and lamps. It is a leading supplier to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in Uzbekistan and has significant exports as well.
The Uzbekistan automotive market is expected to grow significantly in coming years along with the introduction of new models which will benefit UZ Chasys.
The acquisition will further expand Minda's geographical footprints.
How this pans out remains to be seen. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on the latest news from this space.
Minda Industries share price ended the day on a flat note on the BSE.
To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.
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Read the latest Market Commentary
What else is happening in the markets today? Dig in...
CENTRUM CAPITAL share price is trading down by 6% and its current market price is Rs 48. The BSE 500 is down by 0.1%. The top gainers in the BSE 500 Index are GODREJ AGROVET (up 11.8%) and BHARAT ELECTRONICS (up 8.9%). The top losers are CENTRUM CAPITAL (down 5.8%) and DHFL (down 10.0%).
Jun 23, 2021 12:30 pmBSE Sensex is trading down by 67 points, while the NSE Nifty is trading down by 19 points.
Jun 23, 2021 09:30 amIndian share markets open flat. The BSE Sensex opened up by 46 points, while the Nifty is trading higher by 8 points.
Jun 23, 2021 09:35 AMTATA CONSUMER share price has hit an all time high at Rs 765 (up 0.7%). The BSE FMCG Index is up by 0.3%. Among the top gainers in the BSE FMCG Index today are TATA CONSUMER (up 0.7%) and NESTLE (up 0.5%). The top losers include ITC and E.I.D. PARRY (down 0.1%).
Jun 23, 2021 09:35 AMINFOSYS share price has hit an all time high at Rs 1,525 (up 0.5%). The BSE IT Index is up by 0.3%. Among the top gainers in the BSE IT Index today are INFOSYS (up 0.5%) and L&T INFOTECH (up 0.3%). The top losers include HEXAWARE TECHNOLOGIES and FIRSTSOURCE SOLUTIONS (down 0.1%).
Jun 23, 2021 09:33 AMGODREJ AGROVET share price is trading up by 6% and its current market price is Rs 610. The BSE FMCG is up by 0.4%. The top gainers in the BSE FMCG Index are GODREJ AGROVET (up 5.7%) and GSK CONSUMER (up 5.1%). The top losers are ITC and E.I.D. PARRY .
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