It’s a rather quiet day for the markets after the hectic sell-off in the past few days. The Nifty is holding steady above 24,600 while the Sensex has clocked about a 500-point gain in afternoon trade. That said, individual stocks are seeing sharp price action. 

Here is a look at the top movers and shakers at this hour

Defence stocks – BEL, Mazagon Dock, Cochin Shipyard

The defence sector stocks are seeing brisk buying in trade today. The share price of BEL is up 4% in afternoon trade. Other key counters like the Mazagon Dock share price is up 10% while Cochin Shipyard shares gained 6%. The Nifty Defence Index is up nearly 3%. The ongoing conflict across West Asia has shifted investor focus to the defence sector stocks. The escalation of strikes by US-Israel and counterattacks by Iran has led to an increased in investor demand for these stocks. 

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Gujarat Gas

The share price of Gujarat Gas is down over 5%. This is after the company invoked force majeure as a result of the shortage in LNG supply from Qatar. Gujarat Gas will cut daily contracted gas supply to industrial customers starting March 6. This is after the Qatar State run energy firm has announced plant shut dpwn as the crisis across the region escalated in magnitude and intensity. 

Nalco

The Nalco share price gained 6% on higher aluminum prices as well as a shutdown of a smelter in West Asia on account of the rising conflict in Middle East. The Aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) have hit their highest levels since 2022. This is beneficial for primarily aluminium manufacturers for Nalco. 

Coal India

The share price of Coal India rallied 4% for the second day. The surge in crude prices has led to expectations for a higher demand for coke. This is the key factor that led to the sharp appreciation of the stock prices over the near term.

Coforge

In the IT pack, one stock that’s taking significant selling pressure is Coforge. The share price of Coforge is in focus as Kotak Institutional Equities highlighted that they are expecting “higher Gen AI-driven revenue deflation in FY28e, noting increasing risks even as the current adoption rates align with our expectations.” Among the midcap IT stocks, Kotak has mentioned that Coforge, along with Hexaware, is among their preferred picks.