Indian share markets witnessed positive trading activity throughout the day today and ended higher.

Benchmark indices held on to their gains and ended higher today, tracking global cues and amid gains in pharma and metal stocks.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 296 points (up 0.6%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 119 points (up 0.8%).

Coal India and UPL were among the top gainers today.

Shree Cements and Britannia, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 14,988, up by 120 points, at the time of writing.

Both, the BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index ended up by 0.9%.

Sectoral indices ended on a positive note with stocks in the metal sector, healthcare sector, and capital goods sector witnessing most of the buying interest.

Glenmark Pharma and Tata Steel hit their respective 52-week highs today.

Avenue Supermarts and HDFC were among the top buzzing stocks today.

Asian stock markets ended on a positive note today.

The Hang Seng ended the day on a flat note, while the Shanghai Composite ended the day up by 0.3%. The Nikkei ended up by 0.6% in today's session.

US stock futures are trading on a positive note today with the Dow Futures trading up by 64 points.

The rupee is trading at 73.35 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading up by 0.4% at Rs 47,930 per 10 grams.

In news from the cement sector, UltraTech Cement was among the top buzzing stocks today.

Shares of UltraTech Cement dipped over 2% after the company announced a 45.2% fall in consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 2021.

Aditya Birla Group company UltraTech Cement on Friday reported a decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 17.7 billion for the fourth quarter ended March 2021 on account of reversal of deferred tax liabilities.

The leading cement producer had posted a net profit of Rs 32.4 billion in the January-March quarter a year ago.

For the fiscal year 2020-21, UltraTech Cement's net profit slipped 5% to Rs 54.6 billion as against Rs 57.5 billion in the previous fiscal.

According to a regulatory filing by the company to the stock exchanges, UltraTech Cement's revenue from operations stood at Rs 144.1 billion in the March quarter.

The company's revenue registered a growth of 32% year-on-year (YoY), as the revenue from operations reported in the same quarter previous fiscal year was Rs 108.5 billion.

However, revenue from operations rose 5.4% to Rs 447.3 billion for the financial year 2020-21. It was Rs 424.3 billion in 2019-20.

UltraTech Cement's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) stood at Rs 37.5 billion for the quarter ended March 2021, compared to Rs 26.5 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.

The consolidated EBITDA for the whole year 2021 stood at Rs 123 billion, up 24%, compared to Rs 99 billion reported in the previous fiscal year.

Total expenses were at Rs 117.9 billion, up 22.9% from Rs 95.9 billion earlier.

According to the statement, UltraTech Cement said that the recovery from Covid-19 led disruptions to the economy during the fiscal year 2020-21 was rapid.

The 'overheads control program', prudent working capital management, and control on cash flows were the main drivers, aided by the quick revival of demand and supply-side restoration.

All of these have resulted in the company's superlative performance, even during such trying times. It achieved effective capacity utilization of 93% during the quarter.

For the year ending March 31, the company's board of directors has recommended an equity dividend of Rs 37 per share.

UltraTech Cement's share price ended the day down by 1.2% on the BSE.

Moving on to news from the auto ancillaries sector...

Amara Raja Batteries Resumes Operations in Andhra Pradesh

Amara Raja Batteries (ARBL) has kick-started production at its manufacturing facilities located at Andhra Pradesh immediately after receiving High Court orders that suspended the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) orders to close its plants.

Global asset management firm Brookfield-backed ARBL was under investors' focus last week after APPCB ordered the company to shut its plants at Nunegundlapalli and Karkambadi at Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.

The company is the second-largest battery maker in India. Batteries and power units produced by it caters to critical sectors like hospitals, defense, and telecom.

With a workforce of over 11,000 employees, it asked its employees to immediately embark to resume production on Friday evening itself.

According to a leading financial daily, ARBL is the second largest supplier of batteries in India and a shutdown could disrupt production for the entire auto sector. In case the closure extends, there is the risk of shortage of batteries, Pan-India, across original equipment manufacturer (OEM), replacement, and industrial segments.

Note that shares of Amara Raja fell more than 10% to close at Rs 780 after the news of plant shutdown hit the market. It had touched a 52-week high of Rs 1,025 in January this year.

Amara Raja Batteries' share price ended the day up by 1.1% on the BSE.

Speaking of the stock markets, the right investing process can help you win in the long term. It might offer some unexpected and undesirable results in the short term but lets you farewell when you average the outcomes.

According to Richa Agarwal, Senior Research Analyst at Equitymaster, any investment process should not be judged based on individual outcomes. Instead, it should have stood the test of the time.

Her smallcap service Hidden Treasure has had its fair share of failures. But sticking to a disciplined process meant that Hidden Treasure's internal rate of return (IRR) increased to 24.38% since inception. This compares favorably to the IRRs of 9.6% for the Sensex, and 8.8% for the smallcap index in the same period (February 2008 - June 2020) as can be seen in the chart below.