Share markets in India are presently trading on a strong note.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 333 points, up 0.6%, at 53,238 levels.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading up by 86 points.

L&T and HCL Technologies are among the top gainers today. ONGC and Eicher Motors are among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.3%.

The BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.5%.

On the sectoral front, stocks from the software sector, are witnessing most of the buying interest.

On the other hand, stocks from the energy sector, are witnessing most of the selling pressure.

US stock futures are trading mixed today.

Nasdaq Futures are trading up by 19 points (up 0.1%) while Dow Futures are trading down by 100 points (down 0.3%).

The rupee is trading at 74.53 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading up by 0.4% at Rs 48,498 per 10 grams.

Gold prices today edged lower in Indian markets after a sharp gain in the previous session. On MCX, gold futures were down 0.1% to Rs 48,265 per 10 grams after posting a nearly 1% gain in the previous session.

In global markets, gold rates were flat at US$ 1,824.8 per ounce after hitting a four-month high of US$ 1,829.6 in the previous session.

Moving on to stock-specific news...

Among the buzzing stocks, today is L&T Technology Services.

Shares of L&T Technology Services (LTTS) zoomed 15% on the BSE in intraday trade today after the company reported better than expected results for the June 2021 quarter.

The company reported an 84% year-on-year (YoY) jump in its net profit at Rs 2.2 bn, largely on widening margins.

It had posted a net profit of Rs 1.2 bn in the same period last year.

The overall revenue of the company increased by 19.4% to Rs 15.6 bn for the reporting quarter, while its operating profit margin widened 5.2% YoY to 17.3%, its highest ever.

Deal traction was healthy during the quarter with six deal wins of total contract value (TCV) of over US$ 10 m. This includes two deals with TCV of over US$ 25 m.

The management said the last four consecutive quarters of operating margin improvement has been a result of a gradual portfolio shift towards more digital engineering as well as operational efficiency initiatives around hiring, cross-skilling, productivity improvement, and cost optimization.

We will keep you posted on more updates from this space. Stay tuned.

At the time of writing, LTTS shares were trading up by 17.9% on the BSE.

Moving on to news from the FMCG sector...

Marico Buys 60% Stake In Ayurveda Brand Just Herbs

Marico has acquired a 60% stake in Apcos Naturals, the wonder of Just Herbs in an all-cash deal as it continues to expand its online reach.

The company will acquire a 52.4% stake in the company by 31 July and the remaining 7.6% 31 March 2023 in the online-focused brand, Marico said in an exchange filing.

It didn't disclose the financial details of the transaction.

Saugata Gupta, managing director, and chief executive officer at Marico said,

• The investment is in line with Marico's strategy to accelerate its digital transformation journey through building scalable digital-first brands, either organically or inorganically, as well as to premiumise its play in personal care.
  
  Just Herbs has built a healthy consumer franchise on the back of the quality and efficacy of its offerings.
  
  The digital presence it has built-in a short span of time is impressive and we strongly believe in its potential to reach critical mass over the next couple of years.

Apcos Naturals reported a revenue of Rs 80 m in the financial year 2020 and Rs 175 m in the year 2021, according to the filing.

Marico targets to build a portfolio of at least three Rs 1 bn digital brands in the next three years.

In 2017, it acquired a 45% stake in men's grooming brand Beardo, and in June last year bought the remaining 55%.

Arush Chopra, chief executive officer, and co-founder at Apcos Naturals said in the statement,

• We believe that Marico's evolved capabilities, processes, and systems will complement our ambition to scale up online as well as offline.

How this pans out remains to be seen. Meanwhile, stay tuned for more updates from this space.

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:

While Sensex has offered 393% returns since 2009, the BSE FMCG index has gone up a staggering 532% returns over the same period.

Richa Agarwal, the lead Smallcap Analyst at Equitymaster, believes this outperformance could continue for many years.

With a rising population and standards of living, Indian consumption demand for FMCG products will skyrocket over the coming years.