Share markets in India are presently trading on a positive note, on account of strong global sentiments.
Benchmark indices tracked gains from their global counterparts that were buoyed by positive macroeconomic numbers in the US and China.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address the nation today at 4 pm.
India will be entering 'Unlock 2.0' from July 1 for which guidelines were issued by the Union Finance Ministry on Monday night, further easing the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
The BSE Sensex is trading up by 91 points, up 0.3%, at 35,000 levels. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading up by 32 points.
The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.5%. The BSE Small Cap index is trading on a flat note.
On the sectoral front, gains are largely seen in the realty sector and metal sector.
Healthcare stocks, on the other hand, are witnessing selling pressure.
The rupee is trading at 75.49 against the US$.
Gold prices are trading up by 0.1% at Rs 48,269 per 10 grams.
In news from the steel sector, Tata Steel and Jindal Steel are among the top buzzing stocks today.
Shares of Tata Steel climbed over 4% today, a day after the company posted a consolidated pre-tax loss of Rs 15 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2020.
The company had logged a profit before tax (PBT) of Rs 42.5 billion in the corresponding period last year.
Tata Steel said the loss was due to weak revenue and a slew of exceptional items, which further dented the earnings of the company.
For Q4FY20, the company's top line stood at Rs 328.7 billion, down 20% year-on-year (YoY) due to weak demand amid the slowing economic growth which impacted domestic as well as overseas operations.
However, the company's margin improved on the back of stronger performance in the early part of the quarter.
Tata Steel Europe showed a turnaround in performance with positive EBITDA for the quarter, said T V Narendran, chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD).
Tata Steel's share price is presently trading up by 3.4%.
Moving on to news from the defense sector, shares of Bharat Dynamics zoomed over 15% today after the company's net profit more-than-doubled to Rs 3,097.2 million in the March quarter (Q4FY20) on the back of strong operational income.
The state-owned defense company had logged a profit of Rs 1,241.2 million in the year-ago quarter.
The company's revenue from operations during the quarter under review rose 64% to Rs 14.4 billion from Rs 8.8 billion in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.
The company said it did not have any significant impact on the sales and operations of the company for the financial year 2019-20 on account of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The board of directors of the company recommended a final dividend at Rs 2.55 per share (face value of Rs 10 each) for the year ended March 2020.
In the past four trading days, shares of the company have surged about 34%. Presently, the stock is traded near its 52-week high level of Rs 365.
Speaking of the defense sector, for long, India has been known as a military power. But much of it is due to India's military personnel rather than the arsenal they have at hand.
On a per-capita basis, India's military spending is quite low. This is evident from the chart below:
Scope for Increase in India's Defence Spending?
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