Indian share markets witnessed positive trading activity throughout the day today and ended on a strong note.
Benchmark indices witnessed sharp buying ahead of the Union Budget presentation, as investors eyed pro-reforms, pro-growth measures from the annual document.
This comes after the Economic Survey said that the Indian economy is well placed to take on the challenges of the fiscal 2022-23.
Further the survey report said that with the vaccination program having covered the bulk of the population, economic momentum building back and the likely long-term benefits of supply-side reforms in the pipeline, the Indian economy is in a good position to witness gross domestic products (GDP) growth of 8-8.5% in FY2022-23.
Also, global markets turned positive backed by gains in the US market as investors ignored geopolitical disturbances and turned their eye towards strong earnings numbers from tech firms.
Photo by Big G Media on Unsplash
At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 814 points (up 1.4%).
Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 238 points (up 1.4%).
Tech Mahindra and Tata Motors were among the top gainers today.
IndusInd Bank and Kotak Mahindra, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.
The SGX Nifty was at 17,345, up by 253 points, at the time of writing.
The BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index ended up by 1.8% and 1%, respectively.
Sectoral indices ended on a positive note with stocks in the realty sector, consumer durables sector and IT sector witnessing buying interest.
Shares of Bank of Baroda and Bharat Dynamics hit their respective 52-week highs today.
Asian stock markets ended on a mixed note today.
Both, the Hang Seng and the Nikkei ended the day up by 1.1%, while the Shanghai Composite ended down by 1%.
US stock futures are trading on a negative note today with the Dow Futures trading down by 67 points.
The rupee is trading at 74.61 against the US$.
Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading down by 0.1% at Rs 47,550 per 10 grams.
In news from the FMCG sector, Britannia Industries was among the top buzzing stocks today.
Food major Britannia Industries reported consolidated sales of Rs 35.3 bn with a growth of 14% for the quarter ended 31 December 2021, on the back of a robust topline growth and consistent gain in market share.
The company also reported a volume growth of 5%, handily beating estimates of 1-2%.
The company's consolidated net profit for the quarter stood at Rs 3.7 bn. On a 24-month basis, for nine months ended December quarter, the consolidated sales and net profit grew 21% and 11%, respectively.
The company said increasing inflation and rising commodity and fuel prices forced it to pass on the cost to the consumer.
Varun Berry, Managing Director of Britannia said,
- We delivered a high single-digit volume growth significantly ahead of the market and a resilient double-digit topline growth of 14%, driven by superlative performance across divisions and channels.
While the rural markets across FMCG witnessed significant slowdown, we were able to maintain a significant competitive advantage through our focus to enhance rural footprint and our diligent market practices. We are confident that our resilient brands and strategic growth initiatives will hold us on a path of sustainable & profitable share gain in the future as well.
The company reported an inventory turnover ratio of 40.2%, while its operating margin stood at 13.7% and its net profit margin was at 10.2%.
They also reported earnings per share (face value Rs 1 each) of Rs 154.1 m against Rs 159.5 m in the previous quarter. Its paid-up debt equity capital stood at Rs 25.3 bn against Rs 28.3 bn in the September quarter.
Britannia Industries share price ended the day up by 1% on the BSE.
Speaking of the FMCG sector, have a look at the chart below which shows the performance of BSE Sensex and BSE FMCG index since 2009:
(Click on image to enlarge)
While the Sensex has offered 393% returns since 2009, the BSE FMCG index has gone up a staggering 532% returns over the same period.
Moving on to news from the telecom sector...
Airtel Buys 25% Stake in Bengaluru-Based Startup Lavelle Networks
Telecom major Bharti Airtel has acquired nearly 25% stake in Bengaluru-based technology startup Lavelle Networks for an undisclosed amount.
Lavelle Networks specialises in software-defined wide area network solutions and it serves a range of industry segments. Its platform has connected several thousands of Indian enterprises from the nation's largest financial institutions to e-commerce networks, Airtel said in a filing.
The agreement is subject to applicable statutory approvals.
Ajay Chitkara, Director and CEO of Airtel Business said,
- We are pleased to support Lavelle's growth journey and excited to collaborate with them to take their world-class solutions to enterprise customers in the fast-growing Indian NaaS market. With our end-to-end solutions play and brand trust, we are uniquely positioned to serve the needs of India's fast growing digital economy.
Airtel Business' Network as a service (NaaS) is a digital platform, which is built to address the emerging connectivity requirements of enterprises as they go through the cloud and digital adoption and acceleration journey.
As part of its NaaS portfolio, Airtel will offer software defined connectivity solution from Lavelle Networks and co-create a host of innovations as part of its NaaS platform.
Bharti Airtel share price ended the day up by 1.8% on the BSE.
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