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

Benchmark indices witnessed a sharp selloff in the afternoon session owing to weakness in FMCG stocks and index heavyweights Reliance and Bharti Airtel.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 344 points (down 0.6%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 69 points (down 0.4%).

Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, and Asian Paints were among the top gainers today.

Nestle, Bharti Airtel, and Reliance Industries on the other hand were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 17,012 down by 100 points, at the time of writing.

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 power sector, and the metal sector witnessing most of the buying.

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

Shares of Cummins India, and Petronet LNG 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 positive note.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei ended flat, while the Hang Seng rose 1.5%. The Shanghai Composite ended higher by 0.6%.

The rupee is trading at 82.6 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading 0.3% lower at Rs 57,320 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading down by 0.5% at Rs 66,650 per kg.
 

Why Paras Defence share price is rising

In news from the defense sector, shares of Paras Defence gained 5% today after the company announced that it has agreed with Israel-based CONTROP Precision Technologies.

The company entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on 14 March 2023 with CONTROP Precision Technologies, to create new opportunities and expand business in the Indian and global defense sectors.

As per the pact, the companies will form a Joint Venture Company in India for manufacturing Electro-Optic Systems for various applications, aligning with the Government of India's Make in India initiative.

Paras Defence is a leading player in India's Defence and space industry and one of the very few Indian companies with specialized technology competencies like Optics and EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) protection.

Speaking of the defense sector, note that the government's Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan has emphasized the need for self-reliance in security space.

Given the increasing focus on self-reliance, the Ministry of Defense (MoD), has set a target of doubling defense production to US$ 25 bn by 2025.

We believe the defense sector could produce the next set of multibagger stocks over the long run.
 

TCS partners Envestnet Data and Analytics

Moving on to news from the IT sector, TCS on Wednesday partnered with Envestnet Data and Analytics as the latter to expand its technology ecosystem and to continue bringing comprehensive financial wellness solutions more efficiently to its clients.

This partnership will deliver a holistic data platform that aims to transform client experiences across banking, payments, lending, and wealth products.

This will enable users to augment current data sets with new data from alternate sources and create insights for potential new portfolio strategies.

Additionally, TCS will leverage its customer-specific contextual knowledge to envision and provide custom-designed analytics solutions to its clients in the banking and financial services industry, leveraging the Envestnet D&A platform.

TCS has remained an investor's favorite stock for a long time.

This is because it has created phenomenal wealth for its shareholders since its listing in 2004 and has always been among the most admired companies in India.

If you had invested Rs 1 lakh in TCS shares at the issue price of Rs 850 in the IPO in 2004, the value of that investment today would be around Rs 3,176,000, a return of almost 3,000%.

With revenue growth of 10% in 5 years, it is the top IT company in India by revenue.
 

Vedanta's US$ 100 million repayment

Moving on to news from the mining sector, Vedanta on Wednesday repaid US$ 100 million (m) to Standard Chartered Bank via release of encumbrance on 10 March 2023.

On 8 September 2022, Twin Star Holding, Vedanta Resources & Welter Trading, Standard Chartered Bank Singapore, and Standard Chartered Bank agreed for availing of a facility of an aggregate amount of US$ 100 m.

The firm has been in focus recently with some of the rating agencies flagging the group's inability to raise funds to pay back its scheduled debt repayment later this year.

In reaction to that, shares have been under pressure over the last few weeks.

However, this isn't the only reason for Vedanta shares reeling under pressure...check out our editorial for more - Why Vedanta share price is falling.

While miner Vedanta has been tumbling, Vedanta Resources will be bolstered by its associate firms' investment in areas like semiconductors, display glass, renewables, optical fiber, and transmission.

By forming a recent joint venture with Foxconn to manufacture semiconductor chips, the company has made its space among India's top 5 semiconductor stocks.

Also as China tries to move up the technology supply chain with advanced chips, the US is getting wary, which makes semiconductors the top Indian megatrends.
 

3 Adani Stocks hit lower circuit

Moving on, shares of three Adani Group companies, Adani Total Gas, Adani Transmission, and Adani Power, slipped to their lower price bands for the second consecutive session on Wednesday.

The weakness in a majority of Adani stocks came despite the group saying that it has prepaid margin-linked share-backed financing worth US$ 2.15 billion (bn) as part of its debt repayment plan.

Adani group stocks came under the spotlight again on 14 March 2023 amid the ruckus over the Adani-Hindenburg saga in Parliament as the second leg of the budget session kicked off on 13 March 2023.

As the session progressed, Adani stocks erased losses and ended in the green.

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