Sensex Today Ends 355 Points Higher | Banking & IT Stocks Witness Buying | HCL Tech & Nestle Top Gainers

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On Friday, Indian share markets ended on a positive noted for the second straight day.

Benchmark indices closed higher in a day filled with volatility, tracking a rebound in global equities after a slew of measures to support the global banking system eased worries about a crisis in the financial sector.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 355 points (up 0.6%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 114 points (up 0.7%).

HCL Technologies, Nestle India, and Tata Steel were among the top gainers today.

ITC, Maruti, and NTPC on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 17,162 up by 139 points, at the time writing.

The BSE Midcap index rose 0.3% while the BSE SmallCap index ended higher by 0.7%.

Sectoral indices ended on a positive note with the exception of FMCG sector and auto sector. Stocks in the banking sector, and metal sector witnessing most of the buying.

Shares of Godrej Consumer, and KPIT Technologies hit their 52-week high today.

Now track the biggest movers of the stock market using stocks to watch today section. This should help you keep updated with the latest developments...

Outside the home ground, Asian share markets ended on a positive note.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei ended 1.2% higher, while the Hang Seng rose 1.6%. The Shanghai Composite ended higher by 0.7%.

The rupee is trading at 82.53 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading 0.5% higher at Rs 58,292 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading up by 0.8% at Rs 67,054 per kg.

Speaking of stock markets, we all know how the unique cost focused business model has allowed D-Mart or Avenue Supermart, to stand out amongst its loss making retail peers as a profitable and sustainable growth oriented business.

Similarly, Co-head of Research at Equitymaster Tanushree believes this company has a business model to be the D-Mart of medical procedures. Like D-Mart, even with affordability as its core objective, the business is scalable, sustainable and shareholder friendly.

Tune into the video below to know more:

Gail (India) signs a new memorandum of understanding

On Friday, India's largest gas utility firm, GAIL (India) signed an agreement with Shell Energy India to explore ethane sourcing and other opportunities along the energy value chain. GAIL is planning to import ethane from the US to replace natural gas and naphtha as feedstock at petrochemical plants.

The company last month floated a tender to hire a very large ethane carrier (VLEC) for 20 years starting mid-2026 for importing ethane from the US. The ship with capacity of 80,000 to 99,000 cubic metres is targeted to take deliveries from the US ports of Marcus Hook, Nederland, Morgan's Point or Beaumont and deliver ethane at Dahej or Hazira in Gujarat or Dabhol in Maharashtra.

Gail (India) is one of the top performing large-cap stock of 2023. In 2023 so far (between 1 January 2023 and 17 March 2023), the stock has already rallied 14%.

For more details, see Gail (India)'s fact sheet and quarterly results.

Rail Vikas Nigam bags a new order

Rail Vikas Nigam share price rose 1.4% on Friday after the company announced that it has secured contract for the supply, installation, testing, and commissioning of various 11 KV line-associated works in Singrauli, Sagar, Damoh, Chhatarpur, Panna and Tikamgarh Circles of MPPKVVCL in the Jabalpur company area. RVNL was the lowest bidder.

RVNL director of operations Rajesh Prasad recently said that the company's order book was projected to reach between Rs 75,000 and 1 trillion (tn) in financial year 2024, with 20% of the orders being obtained through bidding.

In January 2023, RVNL and its joint venture partners were selected as the top bidder for a railway project consisting of 200 trainsets at a cost of Rs 1.2 billion (bn) a set.

Why defence stocks are rising today

Shares of defence equipment manufacturers jumped reacting to the news that the defence acquisition council has accepted defence projects worth Rs 705 bn.

Major military modernisation projects amounting to Rs 705.8 bn, including 69 maritime helicopters, 225 BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, and 307 heavy-duty artillery guns, received preliminary approval from the defence ministry on Thursday.

The largest proposal approved was for 60 utility helicopters-marine being constructed by Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), costing Rs 320 bn.

Did you know that HAL is one of the top five defence companies in India by growth?

The company is a dominant supplier of aircrafts, helicopters, engines, avionics, and accessories as well as the main provider of maintenance, repair, and overhaul services to the Indian defence forces.

In the past five years, the company's revenue has grown at a CAGR of 6% while profit has delivered a CAGR of 21% for the same period.

Financial Snapshot of HAL (2008-2022)

Rs m, consolidated	FY18	FY19	FY20	FY21	FY22
Revenue	1,85,197.40	2,00,082.30	2,14,451.60	2,28,823.20	2,46,200.20
Growth (%)	3%	8%	7%	7%	8%
Operating Profit	42,105.20	49,267.70	52,108.10	57,014.30	64,005.30
OPM (%)	23%	25%	24%	25%	26%
Net Profit	19,904.80	23,286.30	28,828.20	32,459.50	50,800.40
NPM (%)	11%	12%	13%	14%	21%
Debt to Equity (x)	0.1	0.3	0.5	-	-
Dividend per share (Rs)	32.2	19.8	33	30	50
ROE (%)	17.9	21.6	22.7	22.6	29.3
ROCE (%)	27.2	29.3	24.5	26.2	30.4

Data Source: Ace Equity

Why Nykaa share price is rising

Shares of Nykaa, rose 3% on Friday after bulk deals totaling 6.57 m shares took place on the bourses.

The buyers and sellers were not known immediately. The stock has been under pressure since pre-IPO investors started exiting the company after the end of the lock-in period on 9 November 2022.

Earlier, Lighthouse India sold around 18.5 m shares worth Rs 3.7 bn, Kravis Investment Partners sold around 36 m shares worth Rs 6.3 bn and TPG liquidated around 54.3 m shares for Rs 9,980 m.

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!

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