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

Benchmark indices climbed off the record highs logged in the earlier deals in today's session.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 174 points (up 0.3%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 62 points (up 0.4%).

Tata Steel and Coal India were among the top gainers today.

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Larsen & Toubro and HDFC Life Insurance, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 15,820, up by 45 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE MidCap index and the BSE SmallCap index ended up by 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the metal sector, IT sector, and energy sector witnessing most of the buying interest.

Realty stocks, on the other hand, witnessed selling pressure.

Shares of Polycab India and Minda Industries hit their respective 52-week highs today.

Asian stock markets ended on a mixed note today.

The Hang Seng ended up by 0.4%, while the Shanghai Composite ended the day down by 0.2%.

The Nikkei ended on a flat note today.

US stock futures are trading on a positive note today with the Dow Futures trading up by 50 points.

The rupee is trading at 73.07 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading down by 0.1% at Rs 49,165 per 10 grams.

In news from the steel sector, SAIL was among the top buzzing stocks today.

Shares of Steel Authority of India (SAIL) surged over 5% on the BSE in intra-day trade today after the company reported robust March quarter numbers.

SAIL reported a rise of 90.5% in profit after tax (PAT) from Rs 20.2 bn in the financial year 2020 to Rs 38.5 bn in 2021.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, the company reported a PAT of Rs 34.4 bn against Rs 27.3 bn in the same quarter last year, a growth of 26.4%.

For the full year 2021, The turnover of the company was at Rs 684.5 bn.

The company's revenue from operations jumped 17% year on year (YoY) to Rs 232.8 bn from Rs 161.7 bn posted in the same quarter year ago.

The company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) was up by 22.8% during the year at Rs 137.4 bn against Rs 111.8 bn a year ago.

However, EBITDA for the quarter was at Rs 64.7 bn, down by 6.4%, against Rs 69.2 bn in the same period last year.

The EBITDA margin improved to 26.4% in the March quarter compared to Rs 25.6% posted in the December quarter.

In the case of profit before tax (PBT), in the financial year 2021, it surged by 117%, from Rs 31.7 bn in the last year to Rs 68.8 bn.

Soma Mondal, Chairman, SAIL said, 'The production performance and financial performance of the company have improved hand-in-hand during the year.'

She praised the team for their efforts to withstand and face the challenges posed by Covid-19.

Ms. Mondal added, 'The second half saw buoyancy in steel demand on the back of recovering economic activities.'

In line with its focus on reducing the borrowings, the company has reduced its net debt by Rs 161.3 bn to Rs 153.5 bn during the financial year.

SAIL share price ended the day up by 5.1% on the BSE.

Moving on to news from the realty sector...

Gayatri Projects Slips 18% After NHAI Declares Company as Non-Performer

Shares of Gayatri Projects plunged over 18% to Rs 31 per share on the BSE today after the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) declared the company a non-performer and prohibited from participating in the ongoing and future bids for the road projects till defects and deficiencies in one of the company's projects were rectified.

On clarification on the recent NHAI announcement, Gayatri Projects informed the stock exchanges that NHAI officials had found some deficiencies in the Varanasi Sultanpur 4-laning project in UP, where Gayatri Projects is one of the contractors.

In a statement, the company said,

The above project was awarded in January 2016, out of the total 138 Km section, 4-laning has been completed for 129 Km, almost 93% of the project, this project has been beset by the continued delay in handing over of the land by NHAI.

In addition, the land handover has been done in bits and pieces, resulting in overall project delay.

Apart from pending land handover, certain works have been halted due to pending approvals and payments to be released by NHAI.

The company further said it requested for extension of completion time till October 2021 in anticipation of handing over of balance land and clearing of all pending approvals and payments.

How this pans out remains to be seen. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on the latest news from this space.

Gayatri Projects share price ended the day down by 11.9% on the BSE.

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