Indian share markets ended on a positive note today and had their best week since mid-March.

Benchmark indices extended the rally for the sixth straight day boosted by gains in banking and auto stocks on the back of strong earnings expectations.

FIIs seem to be returning to the Indian markets, lifting investor sentiment.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 390 points (up 0.7%).

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

Ultratech Cement, HDFC twins, and Axis Bank were among the top gainers today.

Infosys, NTPC, and Wipro, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 16,725, up by 108 points, at the time of writing.

The broader markets ended on a mixed note. The BSE MidCap index ended lower by 0.2% while the BSE SmallCap index ended higher by 0.2%.

Barring the pharma and IT sector, all sectoral indices ended on a strong note today with stocks in the FMCG sector, banking sector, and realty sector witnessing most of the buying.

Shares of Bajaj Auto and Adani Enterprises hit their 52-week highs today.

Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, and SBI were amongst the most active shares on the BSE today.

Asian share markets reversed early losses and emerged above water to end on a mixed note today, following a surprise aggressive rate hike by the European Central Bank.

The Nikkei ended the day up by 0.4%, while the Hang Seng inched higher by 0.2%. The Shanghai Composite ended 0.1% lower.

The rupee fell and is trading at 79.86 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading up by 0.4% at Rs 50,570 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading down by 0.1% at Rs 55,352 per 1 kg.

Of late, gold prices are falling while silver isn't far behind. Silver price is also falling as industrial demand for silver is under pressure while a stronger US dollar is adding to worries.

Take a look at the chart below:

(Click on image to enlarge)

 The ratio chart above indicates the slope has turned northwards. Thus, it's time for the small-cap index to outperform the Nifty.

In news from the aerospace sector, Aditya Birla Group's metals flagship Hindalco Industries and Aequs have entered into a strategic pact for long-term collaboration and joint business development in the commercial aerospace space.

In an exchange filing, Hindalco said:

Aequs has executed strategic partnership agreement for supply of raw materials including, billets and extrusions by Hindalco Industries through its manufacturing units and/or its subsidiary, Hindalco Almex Aerospace to be ultimately consumed by commercial aerospace original equipment manufacturers.

Given the size of Hindalco, the quantity of raw materials to be supplied to Aequs under the pact is minuscule, the company added.

The move will strengthen the commercial aerospace business of Aequs.

Aequs is a diversified contract manufacturing firm providing vertically integrated product solutions across the aerospace, toys, and consumer durable goods industries.

Aequs operates the largest aero machining facility in the country with over 1 million machining hours delivered per year from the company's Belagavi Cluster.

Post the announcement, Hindalco Industries' share price ended 1.7% higher on the BSE today.

Note that the Indian space tech ecosystem is large enough to attract billions in funding and innovate to make India a commercial space tech hub.

Mind you, the ecosystem is brand new and much bigger than that of electric vehicles.

Moving on to stock-specific news, Ultratech Cement was among the most buzzing stock today.

Ultratech Cement, the largest cement manufacturer in India, has reported a 6.8% decline in net profit at Rs 15.8 bn for the quarter ended June 2022 as against Rs 17 bn it recorded a year back.

On a sequential basis, the company's profit has gone down 35.6% from Rs 24.6 bn earned in the January-March period.

The consolidated revenues for the company rose 28.2% YoY to Rs 151.6 bn from Rs 118.3 bn posted last year.

On a sequential basis, the revenue is marginally lower by 3.8% from the revenue of Rs 157.7 bn recorded in the previous quarter.

The volumes witnessed strong traction over the low base of last year and the price hikes taken by the company enabled improvement in realizations which fueled revenue growth.

However, the profitability got impacted by the rise in power and fuel costs.

Sequentially, the demand was impacted due to a moderation in demand from the real estate sector for higher commodity prices.

Ultratech Cement is among the 3 Indian stocks that pass the Warren Buffet filter.

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