New Delhi, May 13: The shares of Zhuzhou Hongda Electronics Corp Ltd, the Chinese defence company that manufactures the PL-15 missile, dropped sharply by 6.42 per cent or 2.56 Yuan to 37.33 Yuan on Tuesday, after India’s air defence system successfully intercepted and destroyed the missile during the conflict with Pakistan.

Over the past month, the company’s shares have declined by 7.37 per cent, or 2.97 Yuan. However, the stock showed a brief 5-day recovery of 7.58 per cent.

The stock plunge came after Indian defence forces confirmed that the PL-15 missile, supplied to Pakistan by China, failed to penetrate the country’s multi-layered air defence system.

On the night of May 9 and 10, Pakistan launched a series of air attacks targeting Indian Air Force bases and military facilities using advanced weaponry, including the Chinese PL-15 missile and Turkish-made Byker YIHA III kamikaze drones.

However, India’s air defence successfully intercepted all threats.

The PL-15, a beyond-visual-range (BVR) air-to-air missile used by Pakistan’s JF-17 and J-10 fighter jets, was neutralised by indigenous defence systems.

This interception has raised questions about the real-world effectiveness of China’s missile technology, possibly triggering the decline in investor confidence in Zhuzhou Hongda.

India’s Director General of Air Operations, Air Marshal A.K. Bharti, displayed images of the intercepted weapons, showcasing how the Indian defence network had destroyed high-tech missiles and drones.

He credited India’s self-reliant defence capabilities, particularly the indigenous ‘Akash’ air defense system, as a crucial factor in neutralising the threat.

The Akash system, alongside vintage systems like Pichora and advanced platforms including MANPADS, short-range missiles, and fighter aircraft, formed a coordinated defense shield under the Integrated Air Command and Control System.

The Turkish Byker YIHA III drone, capable of carrying high-explosive payloads and designed for low-altitude, high-speed attacks, was also intercepted near Amritsar.

This drone was intended to cause significant damage to military or civilian targets, but failed to breach India’s defenses.

Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), explained the multi-layered coordination among the Indian Army, Air Force, and Navy, describing a defence posture that was both measured and impenetrable.

Between May 9 and 10, India’s multi-layered air defence grid was put to the test as waves of drones, launched by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), attempted to penetrate Indian airspace. “Not a single PAF drone could breach the defence shield,” Lt Gen Ghai stated.

Mumbai, May 12: The ceasefire between India and Pakistan has paved the way for a sharp rally in the market and with this, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) are likely to resume their equity purchases in India, analysts said on Monday.

Sensex and Nifty surged more than 2.7 per cent in the morning trade.

According to market watchers, the prime mover of the rally will now be the FII buying, which has been sustained for 16 continuous days except last Friday when the conflict escalated.

“Domestic macros like expectations of high GDP growth and revival of earnings growth in FY26 and declining inflation and interest rates augur well for the resumption of a rally in the market,” said Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

FIIs favour large caps like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, L&T, Bharti, Ultratech, M&M and Eicher. Midcap IT and digital stocks are other segments to watch.

Pharma stocks may come under near-term pressure from US President Donald Trump’s latest announcement regarding reducing prices of drugs in the US.

“There are rumours of impending US deal with China on trade but details are yet to come. If a deal materialises that would be good for the global economy,” said Vijayakumar.

The hallmark of FPI investment in recent days has been the sustained buying by FIIs. FIIs bought equity through the exchanges consecutively for 16 trading days ending 8th May for a cumulative amount of Rs 48,533 crore.

“They sold for Rs 3,798 crore on 9th May when the India-Pak conflict got escalated. Now that ceasefire has been declared, FIIs are likely to resume their equity purchases in India,” said analysts.

It is important to understand that FIIs were continuous sellers in India in the first three months of this year. The big selling began in January (Rs 78,027 crore) when the dollar index peaked at 111 in mid-January.

Thereafter, the intensity of selling declined. FIIs turned buyers in April with a buy figure of Rs 4,243 crore.

Mumbai, May 9: India’s mutual fund industry saw a historic surge in systematic investment plan (SIP) contributions in April, with investors pouring in a record Rs 26,632 crore last month, according to data by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) released on Friday.

This marks the highest-ever SIP inflow for any month, the report said.

In April, 1.36 crore SIP accounts were either closed or matured as part of this process. However, investor interest remained strong. The number of active SIP accounts grew to 8.38 crore in April, up from 8.11 crore in March, showing that people are still keen on building long-term wealth through mutual funds.

April also saw the creation of 46 lakh new SIP accounts, higher than the 40.19 lakh new accounts opened in March.

AMFI said the spike in account closures was due to a planned clean-up and is likely to reduce sharply from May onwards.

“The sustained inflows underscore improving investor sentiment, supported by strong corporate earnings, resilient macroeconomic fundamentals, and a continued tilt towards equities as the preferred asset class,” said Himanshu Srivastava, Associate Director, Manager Research, Morningstar Investment Research India.

Notably, the absence of any major new fund launches during the month indicates that investors largely allocated capital to existing schemes — a testament to their confidence in the long-term growth prospects of Indian equity markets, he added.

The record-breaking investment came even as the industry undertook a large clean-up of inactive accounts.

Despite a slight dip in inflows into equity mutual funds, the overall mutual fund industry continued to grow rapidly.

Total assets under management (AUM) reached an all-time high of Rs 70 lakh crore in April.

This is a big jump from Rs 65.74 lakh crore recorded in March — showing strong investor confidence in the market.

Large-cap mutual funds, which had faced outflows in recent months, bounced back with net inflows of Rs 2,671.46 crore in April.

This was a slight increase from Rs 2,479.31 crore in March. According to the report, this suggest that investors are regaining interest in these relatively stable funds.

Mid-cap funds attracted Rs 3,313 crore during the month, a minor drop from Rs 3,438.87 crore in March.

Meanwhile, small-cap funds continued to perform steadily, drawing Rs 3,999.95 crore in April, only slightly lower than the Rs 4,092 crore they received the month before.