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

Benchmark indices edged higher by 1.6% today, clocking gains for the third straight day, helped by sharp gains in banking and finance stocks.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 790 points (up 1.6%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 212 points (up 1.4%).

Bajaj Finance and IndusInd Bank were among the top gainers today.

Britannia and Hindalco, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 14,851, up by 192 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index ended up by 1% and 0.7%, respectively.

On the sectoral front, gains were largely seen in the banking sector, finance sector, and auto sector.

Shares of TVS Motors and Bajaj Finserv hit their respective 52-week highs today.

Axis Bank and Info Edge were among the top buzzing stocks today.

Asian stock markets ended on a positive note today.

The Shanghai Composite and the Hang Seng ended the day up by 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively.

The Nikkei ended up by 0.2% in today's session.

US stock futures are trading on a negative note today with the Dow Jones Futures trading down by 41 points.

The rupee is trading at 74.35 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading down by 0.9% at Rs 46,871 per 10 grams.

Bajaj Finance Shares Surge After Q4 Results

In news from the finance sector, Bajaj Finance was among the top buzzing stocks today.

Bajaj Finance (BFL) reported a 42% year-on-year (YoY) jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 13.5 billion for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ended March 2021.

The company's net profit stood at Rs 9.5 billion in the January-March period of the preceding fiscal year 2019-20.

For the full year 2020-21, net profit dropped 16% to Rs 44.2 billion as against Rs 52.6 billion in 2019-20.

The consolidated figures of BFL include results of wholly-owned subsidiaries Bajaj Housing Finance and Bajaj Financial Securities.

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The new loans booked during Q4 FY21 fell to 5.5 million as against 6 million in the same quarter a year ago, Bajaj Finance said in a regulatory filing. New loans booked in FY21 fell 38% to 16.9 million as against 27.4 million a year ago.

Total income fell by 5% to Rs 68.6 billion for the fourth quarter, compared to Rs 72.3 billion earlier. However, total income during the year, rose 1% to Rs 266.8 billion as against Rs 263.9 billion.

The company's assets under management as of 31 March 2021 increased by 4% to Rs 1,520 billion as against Rs 1,470 billion.

The gross and net non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at 1.8% and 0.8% respectively by end of March 2021, as against 1.6% and 0.7% earlier.

The company has a provisioning coverage ratio of 58% on stage 3 assets (NPAs) and 181 basis points on stage 1 and 2 assets as of 31 March 2021.

Loan losses and provisions for FY21 were Rs 59.7 billion as against Rs 39.3 billion in FY20. During the year, the company has done accelerated write-offs of Rs 35 billion of principal outstanding on account of COVID-19 related stress and advancement of its write-off policy.

The company holds a management overlay and macro provision of Rs 8.4 billion as of 31 March 2021.

In a statement, Bajaj Finance said its board of directors has recommended a dividend of Rs 10 per equity share for FY21.

Bajaj Finance's share price ended the day up by 8.5% on the BSE.

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

Moving on to news from the FMCG sector...

Britannia Industries Net Profit Declines in the Fourth Quarter

Leading biscuits manufacturer, Britannia Industries reported a consolidated profit of Rs 3.6 billion in the January-March quarter of the financial year 2020-21, registering a 3.3% decline in profit YoY, compared to Rs 3.7 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

According to a regulatory filing by the firm to the BSE, the company's consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 31.3 billion in the quarter ended March 2021.

The company's total revenue from operations witnessed an increase of 9.2% YoY in the March quarter, compared to Rs 28.7 billion in the year-ago period.

The company's CEO, Varun Berry said, "Despite the adverse conditions, we managed to deliver good results in terms of topline growth, profitability improvement, and market share gains. During the last quarter of the year, we implemented three transformational digital projects an Online Dealer Management System, an Integrated Vendor Management System, and S4 HANA''.

The company has incurred higher expenses in the fourth quarter at Rs 27 billion as compared to Rs 24.9 billion in the corresponding period the previous year. The cost of materials consumed stood at Rs 15.3 billion during the quarter as against Rs 13 billion in the corresponding period previous fiscal.

Varun Berry added, "The commodity cost front, packing material, palm oil, as well as dairy products registered steep increases, while strategic buying helped the company manage the cost increases in a better way".

Britannia Industries' share price ended the day down by 1.8% on the BSE.

Speaking of the FMCG sector, have a look at the chart below which shows the performance of BSE Sensex and BSE FMCG index since 2009:

While the Sensex has offered 393% returns since 2009, the BSE FMCG index has gone up a staggering 532% returns over the same period.

Richa Agarwal, lead Smallcap Analyst at Equitymaster, believes this outperformance could continue for many years.

With a rising population and standards of living, Indian's consumption demand for FMCG products will skyrocket over the coming years.