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

Benchmark indices ended lower, extending losses to the second day in a row amid losses in index heavyweights Reliance Industries and bank stocks.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 308 points (down 0.5%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 79 points (down 0.4%).

HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank were among the top gainers today.

M&M and Bajaj Finserv on the other hand, 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 19,697, down by 69 points, at the time of writing.

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

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the capital goods sector and power sector witnessing buying.

While stocks in the FMCG sector and energy sector witnessed selling.

Shares of MRF and Dr Reddy's Laboratories of India 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 stock markets ended on a mixed note. The Nikkei ended 1.2% higher and Hang Seng ended 2.1% lower. The Shanghai Composite ended 0.1% down.

The rupee is trading at 82.83 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading lower by 0.1% at Rs 59,253 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX are 0.4% lower at Rs 74,710 per kg.
 

ITC Hotel Demerger Approved

In the news from the FMCG sector, ending months of speculation, cigarette-to-hotels major ITC, on Monday, announced that its board approved the demerger of its hotels business.

The move is aimed at unlocking value for 30 lakh shareholders of the multibagger stock, which has been the best-performing Nifty counter in the last year.

The scheme of arrangement shall be placed for approval of the board at its next meeting to be convened on 14 August 2022.

At a board meeting, the directors evaluated and discussed various alternative structures for the hotel business towards crafting the next horizon of growth as also enhancing value creation for all stakeholders.

The board noted that the company's hotel business has matured over the years and is well poised to chart its own growth path as a separate entity in the fast-growing hospitality industry with a sharper focus on the business.

The demerger will help the new entity in attracting appropriate investors and strategic partners/ collaborations whose investment strategies and risk profiles are aligned more sharply with the hospitality industry.

This move by the company also reinforces the sharper capital allocation strategy put in place in recent years, manifesting in the pivot to asset-right strategy in the Hotels Business.

The board has also approved the incorporation of a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, to be named ITC Hotels or such other name as may be approved by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

ITC is one of the best dividend-paying stocks. We did an editorial back in January 2022 listing the best dividend stocks you can count on.

Apart from that, we also covered an editorial a couple of months ago explaining why the prospects for ITC look good. 
 

Canara Bank Q1 net profit rises 75%

Moving on to news from the banking sector, Canara Bank today reported a 74.8% year-on-year (YoY) rise in profit after tax at Rs 35.3 bn in the first quarter of the current financial year, boosted by an increase in net interest income and improvement in interest margins and asset quality.

The state-owned lender reported a net profit of Rs 20.2 bn in the year-ago period.

The Bengaluru-headquartered lender's assets quality improved in the June quarter, with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) ratio at 5.15% against 5.35% in the previous quarter and 6.98% in the year-ago period.

The net NPA ratio stood at 1.57%, better than 1.73% in the previous quarter and 2.48% in the year-ago period.

The improvement in asset quality is beneficial to a bank as fewer risky assets tend to bring down the outstanding risk-weighted assets, saving capital for the lender.

The global deposits of the bank rose 6.6% on-year to Rs 11.9 trillion (tn), while domestic deposits surged 4.9% on-year to Rs 11.1 tn.

In between May 2022 to May 2023, Canara Bank's share price is up 54.7%. Take a look.

Why did Rites shares hit a 52-week high today?

Moving on to news from the engineering sector, Rites stock touched a 52-week high of Rs 496.7 on 24 July 2023 afternoon after the company received a Rs 5 bn order from Mozambique.

The order includes the supply of 10 locomotives and 150 wagons for Rs 5 bn.

Earlier this month, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with TransNamib Holdings Limited, Namibia for the development of railways and related infrastructure, including the supply of rolling stock.

It is a leading player in India's transport consultancy and engineering sector. The company offers consulting for railways, airports, highways, and ports in India and abroad.

Its five-year average dividend payout and dividend yield stand at 59% and 4% respectively, making it among the 5 Smallcap Stocks That Could Announce Big Dividends This Year.

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