After opening the day on a positive note, Indian share markets pared gains as the session progressed and ended flat.

Benchmark indices succumbed to profit booking as a handful of downbeat earnings from key corporates offset optimism from favorable US inflation data and persistent foreign buying in Indian equities.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 36 points.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed down by 9 points.

HUL and NTPC were among the top gainers today.

Hindalco and JSW Steel, 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 SGX Nifty was trading at 18,349, down by 9 points, at the time of writing.

Broader markets ended on a positive note with both the BSE Midcap index up by 0.4% and the BSE Smallcap index ending higher by 0.7%.

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

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

Shares of Tata Motors and Glenmark Pharma hit their 52-week highs today.

Asian stock markets ended on a negative note. The Nikkei index today ended flat, while the Hang Seng ended marginally lower. The Shanghai Composite ended 0.3% lower.

The rupee is trading at 82.09 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading lower by 0.1% at Rs 61,197 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading lower by 1.4% at Rs 75,636 per kg.

Speaking of stock markets, Tata Motors is a widely held stock among investors.

It was a superstar performer in 2021. In 2022 and early 2023, things were not so positive.

Since April 2023 however, the stock has been showing signs of a major revival.

What do the technical charts say about the stock? Will Tata Motors be the next ITC?
 

Why L&T share price tumbled 5% today

In news from the engineering sector, shares of Larsen and Toubro (L&T) tumbled 5% today after the engineering giant released lower-than-anticipated Q4 earnings and announced the step down of non-executive chairman A M Naik from the post.

For the March 2023 quarter, L&T reported a 10% YoY rise in the revenue to Rs 583.4 bn from Rs 528.5 bn a year back.

Net profit for the quarter increased by 10% YoY to Rs 39.9 bn. This was against a net profit of Rs 36.2 bn in the same quarter last year.

However, the company's operational margins shrank, disappointing the street.

EBITDA margin contracted to 11.7% in the quarter under review, compared to 12.3% in the corresponding quarter last year.

For the financial year 2023, the board of directors recommended a final dividend of Rs 24 per share.

Further, it also announced the step down of its non-executive chairman A M Naik.

Going forward, L&T believes improved tax collections for the Government will support its Capex-led growth aspiration.

With big orders and overall sectoral tailwinds, L&T was one of the top-performing stocks of March 2023.

Also, with bagging a significant order for its hydrocarbon business, shares of L&T hit its 52-week high of Rs 2,329.9 on 11 April 2023.

L&T has been an investor's favorite stock for a long time and also a stock that makes it to the top 5 infrastructure stocks.
 

HG Infra Q4 net profit zooms 44.2%

Moving on, shares of HG Infra Engineering jumped 7% today, hitting a new high on robust Q4 earnings.

HG Infra Engineering for the March 2023 quarter reported a 44% YoY rise in revenue at Rs 15.4 bn against Rs 1.7 bn in the year-ago quarter.

Net profit for the quarter came in at Rs 1.7 bn, up 64% YoY for the March 2023 quarter. The company posted a net profit of Rs 1 bn a year back.

Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) margin for the quarter also improved by 1.2% to 19.3%.

As on 31 March 2023, the company's order book position remained strong at Rs 127.7 bn. Of this total order book, Rs 113 bn orders are off-highway projects and the remaining Rs 14.7 bn are from other sectors.

During the March 2023 quarter, the company declared further orders totaling around Rs 30 bn.

For a fundamental analysis of HG Infra, check out Equitymaster's Indian stock screener, which has a separate screen for top engineering companies in India.
 

Hindustan Copper's fundraising plan

Moving on to news from the steel sector, Hindustan Copper today announced its plans to raise Rs 5.5 bn through various financial routes.

A proposal in this regard will be taken up at the company's board meeting next week on 19 May 2023.

The board will consider a recommendation for seeking approval of shareholders to raise funds by issue of equity shares through the Qualified Institutional Placement method to the extent of 96.9 m equity shares of the face value of Rs 5 each in one or more tranches.

The board will also seek the approval of shareholders to offer, issue, and allot secured or unsecured non-convertible debentures or bonds on a private placement basis up to Rs 5 bn.

Under the Ministry of Mines, Hindustan Copper is the country's only vertically integrated copper producer.

Its mines and plants are spread across five units, one each in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and Gujarat.

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