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

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 695 points, up 1.4% at 50,260 levels.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading up by 195 points.

IndusInd Bank and HDFC Bank are among the top gainers today. Power Grid Corporation and Grasim Industries are among the top losers today.

Both the BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index are trading up by 0.9%.

On the sectoral front, all sectors are trading in green with stocks from the banking sector, witnessing most of the buying interest.

US stock futures are trading higher today, indicating a positive opening for Wall Street.

Nasdaq Futures are trading up by 31 points (up 0.2%) while Dow Futures are trading up by 72 points (up 0.2%)

The rupee is trading at 73.07 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading down by 0.2% at Rs 48,444 per 10 grams.

Gold prices in India were under pressure in early trade today amid a drop in global rates. On MCX, gold futures were down 0.4% to Rs 48,358 per 10 grams.

Note that despite the recent fall, gold is near four-month highs amid rising inflation expectations and concerns over the resurgence of coronavirus cases in many countries. The extreme volatility in cryptocurrencies this week has also supported gold at lower levels.

To know more about gold, check out our article on how to invest in gold here: How to Invest in Gold?

Moving on to stock-specific news...

Among the buzzing stocks, today is JK Lakshmi Cement.

Shares of JK Lakshmi Cement surged 8% and hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 499.7 on the BSE in intra-day trade today after the company reported a 61.3% increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 1.6 bn for the quarter ended March.

The company had posted a profit of Rs 986.3 m in the January-March period a year ago, JK Lakshmi Cement (JKLC) said in a regulatory filing.

The company's revenue from operations rose 25.2% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 14.3 bn from Rs 11.4 bn in the year-ago quarter.

"Despite the hike in the prices of inputs like Petcoke, Diesel, Fly Ash, Gypsum, JKLC has improved its profitability on account of substantial higher volumes, higher realizations, improved efficiency, improved product mix, etc," the company said in a post-earnings statement.

Total expenses of the company came in at Rs 12.1 bn in Q4FY21, up 18.8% from Rs 10.2 bn in the corresponding quarter last year.

For the year FY21, JK Lakshmi Cement's net profit climbed 66.5% to Rs 4.2 bn vs Rs 2.5 bn in FY20. The company's revenue from operations also grew by 8.3% YoY to Rs 47.3 bn compared to Rs 43.6 bn in FY20.

"This performance is achieved during a pandemic period when we lost nearly 55 days of production and 40-45 days of sales. It is greatly satisfying and speaks greatly of the Team JKLC's passion and commitment," the company's Vice Chairman and Managing Director Vinita Singhania said.

The board of directors of the company has recommended a dividend of Rs 3.8 per equity share of Rs 5 each for the financial year ended March.

At the time of writing, shares of JK Lakshmi Cement were trading up by 8.8% on the BSE.

In news from the software sector...

Mindtree to Buy Nxt Digital Business from Larsen & Toubro

Digital transformation and technology services firm, Mindtree, has entered into an agreement to acquire NxT Digital Business, a start-up set up by the Larsen & Toubro Group, to broaden its digital capabilities for a total cash consideration of Rs 2 bn.

As per a statutory filing by Mindtree, the transaction is being done at arm's length, based on an independent valuation report obtained from a global firm.

The deal would be completed before July, it said.

NxT Digital Business offers deep technology expertise in industrial IoT, artificial intelligence, machine learning and augmented and virtual reality, geospatial and cybersecurity applications.

"There is a huge opportunity ahead as global manufacturers and industrial companies are increasingly adopting Industry 4.0 focused smart solutions, systems, and processes, but are struggling to leverage data and analytics to drive efficiency and competitive advantage," said SN Subrahmanyan, Chief Executive Officer, and Managing Director, Larsen & Toubro (L&T).

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

Speaking of the stock markets, here is an illustration of the four phases that stock goes through during its life cycle. The cycle repeats itself after the stock goes through all these four stages.

This cycle defines everything in markets. If you can master this cycle, then nothing can stop you from making huge profits.