​​​​​Indian share markets witnessed positive trading activity throughout the day today and ended higher.

Benchmark indices edged higher in today's session as a lesser than expected rise in June retail inflation helped put stimulus pullback worries at ease amid a rally in global stocks.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 397 points (up 0.8%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 120 points (up 0.8%).

ICICI Bank and Grasim Industries were among the top gainers today.

Adani Ports and HCL Technologies, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 15,832, up by 144 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE Mid Cap index ended on a flat note, while the BSE Small Cap index ended up by 0.5%.

Sectoral indices ended on a positive note with stocks in the banking sector, finance sector, and metal sector witnessing most of the buying interest.

IT stocks, on the other hand, witnessed selling pressure.

Shares of Minda Industries and Finolex Cables hit their respective 52-week highs today.

Asian stock markets ended on a positive note today.

The Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite ended the day up by 1.6% and 0.5%, respectively.

The Nikkei ended up by 0.5% in today's session.

US stock futures are trading on a flat note today with the Dow Futures trading down by 32 points.

The rupee is trading at 74.49 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading up by 0.1% at Rs 47,810 per 10 grams.

In news from the pharma sector, Shilpa Medicare was among the top buzzing stocks today.

Shares of Shilpa Medicare surged over 3.4% to Rs 623.5 on the BSE today on the back of the transfer of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) business to the subsidiary.

The board of Shilpa Medicare approved the transfer of API business consisting of Unit-1 and Unit-2 situated at Raichur, Karnataka by way of slump sale to a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company.

API business is being spun off into a separate company which would be a wholly-owned subsidiary (to be incorporated) of Shilpa Medicare to be engaged in the business of manufacturing active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates.

The board of directors of the company has approved the proposed transaction on 12 July 2021 including the authority to officers of the company to enter into the business transfer agreement to give effect to the transaction which will be executed in due course.

The sale is expected to be completed on or before 30 September 2021.

The transaction will be between related parties as the seller and buyer would be holding company and wholly-owned subsidiary respectively.

The transaction is proposed to be carried out for consideration and would be at arm's length.

The slump sale will result in operational synergies and lead to overall cost optimization.

It will also result in a focused approach with the desired management bandwidth and operational plans for each business of the company separately.

It will provide greater flexibility in pursuing long-term growth plans and strategies.

Also, it will help the management to efficiently exploit the available funding opportunities for each business independently.

Shilpa Medicare share price ended the day down by 0.5% on the BSE.

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

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 long-term average of 0.43 times.

Moving on to news from the mining sector...

NMDC to Reduce Iron Ore Price from 10 July 2021

State-owned NMDC said it has reduced the prices of lump ore and fines by Rs 200 per tonne each.

Iron ore is the key raw material for steel making. Any change in its prices has a direct impact on the rates of steel.

After the price revision, a tonne of lump ore or high-grade iron will cost Rs 7,450 a tonne while the buyers will get iron ore fines or inferior grade ore for Rs 6,360 per tonne, NMDC said in a BSE filing.

The revised prices exclude royalty, district mineral fund (DMF), national mineral exploration trust (DMET), cess, forest permit fee, and other taxes, the company said.

It added that the new rates are effective from 10 July 2021.

On 6 June 2021, NMDC had fixed the rates for lump ore at Rs 7,650 a tonne and for fines at Rs 6,560 a tonne.

NMDC, under the Ministry of Steel, is India's single largest iron ore producer, presently producing about 35 m tonnes (MT) iron ore annually from its three fully mechanized mines located in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.

Besides, the company is also involved in the exploration of other minerals like copper, rock phosphate, limestone, dolomite, and gypsum.

NMDC's share price ended the day up by 3.8% on the BSE.

We will keep you updated on the latest news from this space. Stay tuned!

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