Defence stocks in focus today: Defence stocks including BEML, Paras Defence, Garden Reach Shipbuilders, Cochin Shipyard and HAL came under selling pressure in Tuesday’s trade, June 24, after having remained in high-flying mode in recent sessions on the Indian stock market amid rising tensions in the Middle East. However, as signs of de-escalation between Iran and Israel appear to be emerging, investors chose to book profits in these counters.
Seventeen out of eighteen constituents in the Nifty Defence index began the session in the red, dropping up to over 5% in early trade. BEML was the top laggard, falling 6.4% to hit an intraday low of ₹ ₹4,481, while Garden Reach Shipbuilders was the second-biggest drag, slipping 5.2% to ₹3,313 apiece.
Other major defence stocks, including Mishra Dhatu Nigam, Astra Microwave, Paras Defence, Bharat Dynamics, Data Patterns, Zen Technologies, Unimech Aerospace, and Cochin Shipyard, also declined over 2%. The broader fall led the Nifty Defence index to crack 2.2%, hitting a day’s low of ₹8,868, marking its second-biggest intraday drop in June so far.
Trump declares ceasefire between Israel and Iran
United States President Donald Trump on Monday announced that Iran and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire. “It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE … for 12 hours, at which point the War will be considered ENDED!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
While Israel has not made a public comment on Trump’s statement, Iran has refuted the claim. Iran’s Foreign Minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, on Monday denied reports that Tehran had agreed to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal with Israel, though he signaled that the country was ready to stop hostilities.
Meanwhile, Iran fired missiles at a U.S. military base in Qatar in retaliation for U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities. However, U.S. defenses intercepted the missiles, and no casualties were reported. This helped global equity markets recover in Monday’s session after being pressured in recent weeks by escalating tensions in the Middle East.
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