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

The key benchmark indices extended losses on Friday as investors preferred to stay on the sidelines ahead of the key inflation data Monday.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 365 points (down 0.6%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed down by 115 points (down 0.6%).

HCL Tech, Reliance, and Titan were among the top gainers today.

NTPC, UPL, and IndusInd Bank 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 19,487, down by 52 points, at the time of writing.

Broader markets ended on a negative note. The BSE Midcap index ended marginally lower, and the BSE SmallCap index fell 0.3%.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the capital goods sector and consumer durables sector witnessing most of the buying.

On the other hand, stocks from the auto sector and finance sector witnessed selling pressure.

Shares of Bharat Forge, Raymond, and Coforge 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 0.9% lower while the Shanghai Composite fell 2%.

The rupee is trading at 82.86 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading 0.2% higher at Rs 58,957 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading flat at Rs 70,000 per kg.
 

Zydus Lifesciences Q1 results

In news from the pharma sector, Zydus Lifescience today reported a 109% growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 10.9 bn for the April-June quarter of the financial year 2023-2024.

The pharma company had reported a net profit of Rs 5.2 bn in the year-ago period.

Revenue for the quarter came in at Rs 51.4 bn, 29.6% higher than Rs 39.6 in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.

The Ahmedabad-based company reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) at Rs 15 bn, up from Rs 8.3 bn in the year-ago period. The EBITDA margin was at 29.3%, up from 20.5% in the year-ago quarter.

US formulations contributed 48% of the revenue during the reported quarter. The company filed 4 ANDAs (Abbreviated New Drug Applications) and launched 4 new products during the quarter in the US market.

Branded formulations business in India delivered 10% growth YoY. This segment contributed 24% of the revenue reported in this quarter.

Consumer Wellness business contributed to 14% of the revue of this quarter. Unseasonal rains during the first half of the quarter impacted the off-take of Glucon-D. The rest of the wellness portfolio posted near double-digit growth.

The company spent Rs 32.4 bn on research and development (R&D), which was 6.3%of revenues in the April-June quarter.

In 2023 between 1 January 2023 and 10 March 2023, the stock has gained 13%, making it among the top-performing Largecap stock of 2023 so far.
 

Why HCL Tech share price is rising

Moving on to news from the IT sector, today was one of the best days for shareholders of HCL Technologies in the last 14 months, with the intraday gains scaling a high of Rs 1,186.95, a day after it announced a deal with Verizon Business.

HCL Tech announced signing a US$ 2.1-bn deal with the US telecom major.

Through the strategic global partnership, HCL Tech will become the primary managed network services (MNS) collaborator for Verizon Business in all networking deployments for global enterprise customers.

While the Noida-based global technology services major will take the lead on post-sale implementation and ongoing support, Verizon will lead all customer acquisitions, sales, solutions, and overall planning and development with its customers.

The Indian artificial intelligence sector could potentially produce the biggest wealth creators in the next few years. HCL Tech is one of the popular AI growth stocks to add to the watchlist.

HCL tech has recently bet on the semiconductor space. 
 

Why Apollo Tyres shares price is falling

Moving on to news from the tire sector, shares of Apollo Tyres Limited tumbled over 5% today despite recording a robust set of numbers for the April-June quarter.

The tire major reported a two-fold rise in consolidated net profit for the first quarter to Rs 3.9 bn, driven by robust sales across multiple markets.

Both Apollo and CEAT yielded negative returns last month, but MRF stayed in the green with a 4% gain.

During the quarter under review, Apollo Tyre's total revenue increased 5.1% to Rs 62.4 bn from Rs 59.4 bn last year. On the operational aspect, EBITDA increased by 52.4% to Rs 10.5 bn from Rs 6.9 bn.

The EBITDA margin for the reporting quarter stood at 16.8%, an increase from the 11.6% recorded in the corresponding period last year.

The company attributes the surge to its European operations outperforming the market under a tough scenario, while in India, the focus remained on higher-margin products and markets.

Apollo Tyre is one of the top 5 tire companies in India by growth.

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