Share markets in India are presently trading marginally lower.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 100 points, down 0.2% at 52,223 levels.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading down by 32 points.

Britannia and Tech Mahindra are among the top gainers today. Hindalco and Tata Steel are among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.3%.

The BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.7%.

On the sectoral front, stocks from the software sector, are witnessing most of the buying interest.

On the other hand, stocks from the metal sector, are witnessing most of the selling pressure.

US stock futures are trading mixed today.

Nasdaq Futures are trading up by 25 points (up 0.2%) while Dow Futures are trading down by 41 points (down 0.1%).

The rupee is trading at 72.82 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading up by 0.1% at Rs 49,189 per 10 grams.

Gold prices in India inched lower today amid flat global rates. On MCX, gold futures were marginally lower at Rs 49,131 per 10 grams. In the previous session, gold had inched up by 0.4%.

Note that last week, gold had hit almost a five-month high of Rs 49,700 in Indian markets amid a global rally on lingering worries over inflation. A relatively softer dollar also improved the appetite for gold. Still, gold is down about Rs 7,000 from last year's record high of Rs 56,200.

To know more about gold, check out our article on how to invest in gold here: How to Invest in Gold?

Moving on to stock-specific news...

Among the buzzing stocks, today is Infosys.

IT major Infosys on 7 June announced a collaboration with Archrock Inc., a leading provider of natural gas compression services in the US, to integrate digital technologies and mobile tools for its field service technicians.As part of this engagement, Infosys would leverage its pre-configured accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service Application to streamline and enhance the efficiencies of Archrock's field services and operations. Infosys in a statement said it would integrate the field services platform with backend enterprise resource planning systems.

Meanwhile, Eric Thode, Archrock's Senior Vice- President, Operations said -

• Our collaboration with Infosys is part of a multi-year technology project to further enhance the value proposition to our customers, more effectively manage our assets, reduce our emissions footprint, and yield attractive value for our shareholders.

We will keep you posted on more updates from this space. Stay tuned.

At the time of writing, Infosys shares were trading up by 1.8% on the BSE.

Moving on to news from the finance sector...

Indiabulls Housing Finance Enters into Co-Lending Partnership with Central Bank Of India

Indiabulls Housing Finance (IBH) and Indiabulls Commercial Credit (ICCL) has entered into a strategic co-lending partnership with the Central Bank of India to offer secured retail loans and secured MSME loans respectively at competitive rates.

IBH and ICCL will originate loans as per credit policy jointly drawn up with the Central Bank of India.

These loans will then be securitized to the Central Bank of India on a back-to-back basis in line with the provisions of RBI's Co-Lending Model.

IBH/ ICCL will retain 20% of the loan on their books while 80% will be on the Central Bank of India's books. IBH/ ICCL will service the loan account throughout the life cycle of the loan.

The co-lending tie-up with the Central Bank of India will be a key partner in IBH's new balance-sheet light growth business model.

Moreover, technology-led co-lending will help IBH offer a convenient and seamless experience to its customers as well as help expand its reach to Tier III and IV towns of the country apart from strengthening its foothold in Tier I and Tier II towns.

How this pans out remains to be seen. Meanwhile, stay tuned for more updates from this space.

Speaking of the current stock market scenario, note that the BSE Smallcap index touched a lifetime high recently.

Despite the index being up more than 157% since the March 2020 lows, Richa Agarwal, lead Smallcap Analyst at Equitymaster, believes smallcap stocks are set for a massive up move in 2021 and beyond.

Here's why...

As per Richa, the smallcap to Sensex ratio is a good metric to gauge while coming to some conclusions about relative valuations.

So, what is this indicator suggesting now?

As you can see from the chart below, the ratio currently stands at 0.46 times, as compared to a long-term average of 0.43 times.