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After opening the day flat, Indian share markets remained subdued throughout the session and ended the day lower.

Benchmark indices gyrated in a narrow trading band on Tuesday, amid alternate bouts of buying and selling.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 107 points (up 0.2%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 27 points (down 0.1%).

Cipla and Wipro were among the top gainers today.

Hindalco and M&M were among the top losers today.

Check out the NSE Nifty heatmap to get the complete list of gainers and losers.

The Gift Nifty was trading at 19,730, down by 50 points, at the time of writing.

Broader markets ended on a positive note. The BSE Midcap index and the BSE SmallCap index rose 0.2%.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the banking sector and finance sector witnessing most of the buying.

On the other hand, stocks from the metal sector and telecom sector witnessed selling pressure.

Shares of Lupin and Grasim hit their 52-week highs today.

Now track the biggest movers of the stock market using stocks to watch today section. This should help you keep updated with the latest developments...

Asian share markets ended on a mixed note. The Hang Seng ended 1.8% lower while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.3% and Nikkei ended 0.4% higher.

The rupee is trading at 82.85 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading flat at Rs 59,435 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading lower by 0.2% at Rs 71,131 per kg.
 

Why GAIL share price is rising

In news from the energy sector, GAIL's share price rose 2% today.

The share price jumped after GAIL announced that Pune Commissioner (Appeals) dropped the entire customs duty demand of Rs 9.4 bn with a direction to assessing authority to reassess the Bill of Entries.

This was done considering the exemption of Special Additional Duty (SAD) on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and levying custom duty on the final invoice value instead of the Bill of Lading quantity.

GAIL has preferred to appeal before Commissioner (Appeals) Pune, against the aforesaid orders.

The customs authority in Pune had demanded Rs 9.3 bn from GAIL for September 2017-March 2022.

In the last year, GAIL's shares have zoomed 18% despite falling crude prices and windfall gain tax.

The transition from grey to green hydrogen is happening at a faster pace than expected. GAIL is contributing to this transition, making it among India's Top Green Hydrogen Stocks.
 

BEL targets Rs 20,300 crore turnover

Moving on to news from the defense sector, State-run Bharat Electronics has set a target of Rs 203 bn for the financial year 2023-24 as demand for indigenous products is driving growth for the company.

The order book of the Navratna PSU under the Ministry of Defence stands at around Rs 648 bn as on 1 August 2023 this year.

The Bengaluru-headquartered company has plans to start marketing offices in Brazil, Armenia, and Kazakhstan.

The export sales target for 2023-24 is US$ 90 million (m).

BEL achieved a turnover of about Rs 173 bn in the previous financial year, a 15% growth.

Srivastava pointed out that defense business in any country is closely linked to government policies that are based on factors like the geopolitical scenario, security threats, and economic growth of the nation.

The Government of India, he noted, is focussing on self-reliance to encourage domestic industry and has imposed restrictions on the import of certain categories of defense equipment.

To increase indigenization and value addition, BEL, a technology-oriented company, has been investing approximately six to seven percent of its turnover in research and development.

It is among the top 5 PSU companies in India by growth.

Defense stocks are being hailed as multibagger stocks of the future. And the reasons are compelling. BEL stands among the five defense companies in India by growth.
 

HPL Electric Power Order win

Moving on to news from the engineering sector, shares of HPL Electric and Power were locked at the 5% upper circuit on 8 August 2023 after the company entered into a deal with the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) for the deployment of an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) project.

The AMI project will be funded by the World Bank and will be executed in coordination with WBSEDCL. This project will connect approximately 5 lakh consumers in Kolkata, and the gross value of this project is Rs 4.2 bn.

In July, the company bagged orders worth Rs 903 crore for the supply of smart meters.

A meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled on 9 August to consider and approve the unaudited (standalone and consolidated) financial results for the June 2023 quarter.

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