Paras Defence, ideaForge, other defence stocks slide up to 5%. What’s triggering the selloff?

Defence stocks fell up to 5% on Monday despite the Defence Acquisition Council approving capital acquisition proposals worth about Rs 52,000 crore. Data Patterns, Paras Defence and ideaForge dropped 5% each, while Bharat Dynamics, Mazagon Dock and Cochin Shipyard declined 2-3%. Brokerage Motilal Oswal retained Buy ratings on HAL (target Rs 5,500), Astra Microwave and Bharat Electronics (target Rs 510), citing expected acceleration in order inflows and execution from the DAC approvals spanning air defence systems, anti-drone tech and unmanned warfare platforms.