After opening the day on a negative note, Indian share markets continued their downtrend as the session progressed and ended lower.

Benchmark indices slipped for the third day in a row on Wednesday dragged by information technology (IT) stocks as sentiment remained weak after a lacklustre start to the quarterly earnings season.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 160 points (down 0.3%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 41 points (down 0.2%).

BPCL, Axis Bank and Bajaj Auto were among the top gainers today.

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

The SGX Nifty was trading at 17,648 down by 74 points, at the time of writing.

The broader indices pared gains and ended on a mixed note. The BSE Midcap index fell 0.2% while the BSE SmallCap index ended flat.

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

On the other hand, stocks from the IT sector, power sector and FMCG sector witnessed selling pressure.

Shares of TVS Motors and Glenmark Pharma hit their 52-week high today.

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

Outside the home ground, Asian share markets ended on a negative note.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei ended 0.2% lower, while the Hang Seng fell 1.4%. The Shanghai Composite ended 0.7% lower.

The rupee is trading at 82.23 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading 1.1% lower at Rs 59,817 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading down by 1.4% at Rs 74,197 per kg.
 

Titan reduces franchisee incentives

In news from the retailing sector, Titan has reduced franchisee incentives for Tanishq stores from Q1 of the financial year 2024, according to media reports.

This indicates management's focus on expanding jewellery EBIT margins or defending margins in the event of any rise in competitive intensity.

For company-owned franchise-operated (COFO) stores, incentives have been reduced by 0.5-0.6% from the 5% levels. COFO stores make up 40-45% of Tanishq's sales.

While for the franchise-owned franchise-operated (FOFO) stores, commissions will be reduced by about 1% from 10-11%.

This development is significant in an increasingly competitive environment, with the added pressure of high gold prices likely weighing on near-term demand.

Speaking of Titan, here is some interesting data, even a tiny investment of Rs 1,000 per month in the stock of Titan since 2002 would have led to mouthwatering returns of Rs 762 m in 2020.

Continuing this momentum, Titan's share price rose around 6% in March 2023, making it the biggest gainer of March 2023.

With strong expansion plans, it is among the top 5 Jewellery stocks in India.

Believe it or not, Titan was a Tata group penny stock two decades ago.
 

Why rice stocks are rising

Moving on to news from the food and beverages sector, shares of rice-producing companies notched strong gains today.

These bulls were seen following a report by research agency Fitch Solutions that the global market for the commodity will log its biggest shortfall in two decades this year.

Rice production has been falling across the globe due to rising temperatures and supply disruptions in the last few years because of the Russia-Ukraine war, while sanctions on Moscow just made matters worse.

Rice prices shot up sharply as a consequence of this. According to the recent Fitch Solutions Country Risk and Industry Research report, rice prices are likely to remain notched around the present highs till 2024.

As India is the top exporter of rice, expectations of high prices sustaining for a longer period have aided the sentiment for domestic rice producers.

As a result, shares of KRBL jumped 8.3% today, while LT Foods and Kohinoor Foods sharply moved higher by 5% in trade today.
 

Why Zomato's share price is rising today

Moving to news from the e-commerce sector, the share price of Zomato rose 5% today after the food delivery firm said that most of its Blinkit stores had reopened after wage protests.

Blinkit's delivery executives have been on strike since 12 April 2023, demanding that recent changes to incentive structures be rolled back. Zomato is trying to shift from a fixed-fee model of Rs 25 a delivery to a hybrid-pricing structure of Rs 15 along with a supplementary incentive based on distance travelled, seen as a considerable cut in potential earnings by the delivery executives.

The disruptions did not have any material impact on the operations and financial performance of the company.

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