Share markets in India are presently trading on a negative note. Barring energy sector and consumer durables sector, all sectoral indices are trading in red with stocks in the telecom sector, metal sector and power sector witnessing maximum selling pressure.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 120 points (down 0.3%), while the NSE Nifty is trading down by 38 points (down 0.4%). The BSE Mid Cap index is trading down by 0.7% and the BSE Small Cap index is trading down by 0.9%.

Speaking of Indian share markets, there has been a steady rise in direct participation by Indians in stock markets as can be seen in the chart below.

Direct Participation in Stock Markets is Growing Steadily

This increased participation has resulted in not just money flowing into mutual funds, but also in the opening of demat accounts.

In fact, the attractiveness of Indian equities and the fact that investing in demat accounts is now very easy has led to a steady rise in accounts.

What more, this trend is all set to continue, as the Indian stock markets scale new highs in the coming years.

The rupee is trading at Rs 71.67 against the US$.

The rupee depreciated by 48 paise in early trade today ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's policy review meet.

Market participants are tracking IDBI bank share price, GSK Pharma share price, Future Retail share price, and Novartis India share price as these companies are set to announce their December quarter results later today.

You can also read our recently released Q3FY19 results: Reliance Industries, Federal Bank, Infosys, TCS, Trident, HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki, DHFL, Gruh Finance.

In the latest development from the results corner, Titan Company share price is witnessing buying interest today as the company has reported a 46% growth in its net profit in Q3FY19.

Shares of the company hit a fresh all-time high in early trade today on back of the above news.

Net profit was reported at 4.2 billion as compared to 2.8 billion in the year-ago quarter.

The company's total income during the same period grew by 35% at Rs 59.3 billion against Rs 43.8 billion in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal.

Reportedly, Jewellery segment's earnings before interest and tax margin was higher at 13.3% led by higher gross margins, lower discount, inventory valuation loss recovered from the last quarter (Rs 180 million), lower advertising spends in the quarter as well as operating leverage driven by strong revenue growth.

Titan Company share price is presently trading up by 4.8%.

To know more about the company, you can read Titan Company's latest result analysis and Titan Company Annual Report analysis on our website.

Moving on to the news from the finance sector, DHFL share price is in focus today as the company has decided to divest its stake in Aadhar Housing Finance to Blackstone.

Private equity major Blackstone agreed to buy nearly 80% of affordable homes-focused Aadhar Housing Finance from the financially stretched Wadhawan group.

The group's holding company Wadhawan Global Capital (WGC) will be selling its 70% stake in the company, while DHFL will also be exiting its investment, which is reported to be around 9%.

In another news, rating company Care ratings has downgraded ratings on debt worth over Rs 1.2 lakh crore issued by DHFL.

As per an article in The Economic Times, the company revised the rating grade of AAA to AA+ for nonconvertible debentures and long-term bank loans. Commercial papers, short-term debt securities rated as A1+ have been put under credit watch.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

• "The revision in the long-term ratings takes into account moderation in financial flexibility of DHFL as evidenced by the sharp reduction in its share price and significant rise in bond spreads"

Shares of the company fell around 13% in early trade today and are presently trading up by 6.5%.

Last week, shares of the company cracked 24% in Friday's trading session and touched its 52-week low.

As per the news, the company has appointed an independent auditor to investigate allegations of financial mismanagement against the company.

The selling pressure was seen as, on Tuesday, Cobrapost said that DHFL diverted funds to shell companies to buy assets and that firms linked to DHFL's controlling shareholders - the Wadhawan group made political donations beyond mandated levels.

Note that DHFL is also facing questions about its financial health after the IL&FS default pushed up the cost of funds for the mortgage lender and made borrowing difficult.

How this all pans out remains to be seen. Stay tuned to get all the updates from this space.