Defence Stocks Decline for Third Straight Session; GRSE, Cochin Shipyard, BDL Among Top Losers

Market Performance

Defence stocks continued to remain under pressure for the third consecutive trading session on July 14.

• The Nifty India Defence Index dipped over 0.6%, hovering around 8,457.70 by the afternoon.
• The drop follows sustained profit-booking by investors after a prolonged rally earlier this year.

Main News

Profit Booking Grips Defence Sector

The rally seen in the shares of defence companies has started cooling off. The latest session saw another wave of declines driven by investor profit-booking at higher levels. The broader trend follows easing geopolitical tensions, which initially helped fuel a strong upswing in these stocks.

Key developments that previously supported the rally:

• Operation Sindoor in May created bullish sentiment due to hopes of larger order inflows.
• Russia-Ukraine conflict and Israel-Iran tensions added momentum to defence stock demand.

However, the easing of these tensions has dampened investor enthusiasm.

Company-Wise Share Price Movements

Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) Share Price

• GRSE was the top loser, sliding nearly 4% to trade at ₹2,698 per share.
• Retail shareholding dropped:
  • From 4.04 lakh shareholders in March to 3.97 lakh in June.
  • Percentage ownership declined from 16.72% to 14.89%.
• Domestic mutual funds also trimmed their stake:
  • Down from 1.64% in March to 1.4% in June.
• Notably, HDFC Mutual Fund no longer appears among shareholders, indicating a stake below 1%.
• GRSE has declined over 12% in the past month, after a massive 88% rally in the previous six months.

Cochin Shipyard Share Price

• Cochin Shipyard shares fell by nearly 3% in the same session.

Zen Technologies, Paras Defence, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Share Price

• Zen Technologies saw a decline of over 2%.
• Paras Defence and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders were down nearly 2% each.

Bharat Dynamics & Bharat Electronics Share Price

• According to recent international reports, Brazil has halted negotiations to acquire the Akash missile system from India.
• This missile system is produced by Bharat Dynamics (BDL) and incorporates components from Bharat Electronics (BEL).
• As a result:
  • BDL shares fell over 1%.
  • BEL shares were also trading lower with marginal losses.

BEML and Astra Microwave Share Price

• These two companies defied the downtrend:
  • BEML gained over 1%.
  • Astra Microwave also rose more than 1%.

Data Patterns and Hindustan Aeronautics Share Price

• Both Data Patterns and Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) shares traded marginally in the green.

Company Details Summary

Here's a snapshot of key company share price performance on July 14:

Summary of the Article

Defence stocks such as Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers, Cochin Shipyard, Zen Technologies, Paras Defence, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, Bharat Dynamics, Bharat Electronics, BEML, Astra Microwave, Data Patterns, and Hindustan Aeronautics continued to witness a downturn, mainly due to profit-booking after multi-month rallies.

While GRSE and Cochin Shipyard led the declines, a few names like BEML and Astra Microwave managed to post gains. The shift in Brazil's missile procurement plans also weighed on select stocks like BDL and BEL.

Despite the pullback, the sector has seen strong long-term performance, making current movements a part of natural market corrections rather than any fundamental weakness.