Most defence counters recorded a decent spurt in Tuesday's trading session. It all started with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) securing a clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for an order worth Rs 26,000 to procure 240 aero engines for Sukhoi SU-30 MKI aircraft.
Shares of Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) Ltd, Cochin Shipyard Ltd and HAL have surged up to 9 per cent during today's session.
Also, the entire pack has been under focus after a few reports suggested that the Defence Ministry's acquisition council (DAC) would likely meet today to discuss proposals of mega projects worth around Rs 1.2 lakh crore for approval.
On the stock-specific front, Mazagon Dock's stock surged 8.58 per cent to hit a day high of Rs 4,560. GRSE shares climbed 7.85 per cent to hit Rs 1,974.40.
Cochin Shipyard moved 5.24 per cent higher to Rs 1,947.80. And HAL shares jumped 5.10 per cent to Rs 4,925.
A few other counters, such as Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) and Bharat Electronics Ltd (BDL), rose 4.01 per cent and 1.48 per cent, respectively.
Meanwhile, Indian equity benchmarks were trading slightly lower as losses in banks and financials countered gains in consumer and pharma shares.
Nine out of the 16 sector gauges -- compiled by the NSE -- were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services were underperforming the NSE platform by falling as much as 0.13 per cent and 0.20 per cent. In contrast, Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty Pharma rose 1 per cent and 0.71 per cent, respectively.
However, the overall market breadth was strong as 2,051 shares were advancing while 1,777 were declining on BSE.