Indian share markets witnessed volatile trading activity throughout the day today and ended higher.

Benchmark indices recovered early losses and ended on a positive note today after June wholesale price index (WPI) inflation came in at 12.07% compared to 12.94% in May.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 134 points (up 0.3%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 42 points (up 0.3%).

Wipro and Tech Mahindra were among the top gainers today.

Maruti Suzuki and Adani Ports, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 15,867, up by 33 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE MidCap index and the BSE SmallCap index ended up by 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the IT sector and capital goods sector witnessing most of the buying interest.

Realty and oil & gas stocks, on the other hand, witnessed selling pressure.

Shares of Just Dial and Mindtree hit their respective 52-week highs today.

Asian stock markets ended on a negative note today after data showing the biggest jump in US inflation in thirteen years fueled expectations that the Federal Reserve could exit pandemic-era stimulus earlier than previously thought.

The Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite ended the day down by 0.6% and 1.1%, respectively.

The Nikkei ended down by 0.4% in today's session.

US stock futures are trading on a flat note today with the Dow Futures trading down by 32 points.

The rupee is trading at 74.58 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading up by 0.3% at Rs 48,024 per 10 grams.

Speaking of the stock markets, India's #1 trader, Vijay Bhambwani, talks about a recent event that has caused a flutter among Bank Nifty traders, in his latest video for Fast Profits Daily.

The RBI has issued a new 10-year benchmark bond with a higher interest rate. This means banks will have to start attracting deposits at higher costs than before.

NTPC Set to Construct India's Largest Solar Power Park in Kutch

In news from the power sector, NTPC was among the top buzzing stocks today.

Kutch region in Gujarat, the largest salt desert in the country and host to two of India's largest coal-fired power plants, will now add another feather to its cap.

The country's largest power generator, NTPC, through its renewable energy arm, will construct what would be India's largest single local solar power park of 4.75 gigawatts (Gw) in Kutch.

NTPC Renewable Energy (NTPC-REL) has received the approval of the nodal ministry of new and renewable energy, said a company's statement.

The company plans to use this project for the production of green hydrogen, too. Hydrogen produced from renewable sources is called green hydrogen.

NTPC-REL was given the go-ahead under Mode 8 (ultra mega renewable energy power park) of the solar park scheme, the company said in a release.

'As part of its green energy portfolio augmentation, NTPC, India's largest energy integrated company, aims to build 60 GW renewable energy capacity by 2032,' it said.

There are five operational solar power parks in the country, of which Bhadla in Rajasthan (2.2 Gw) and Pavgada in Karnataka (2.05 Gw) are among the world's largest single-location solar plants.

India's first solar power park of 0.75 Gw was fully commissioned in 2019 in the Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh.

NTPC's share price ended the day up by 0.6% on the BSE.

Speaking of the power sector, it's interesting to note the power exchanged in India is about 4.5% of the overall power production, as can be seen in the chart below.

As per Tanushree Banerjee, Co-Head of Research at Equitymaster, India's power sector is currently in transition. It's driven by increasing reliance on short-term contracts and electricity spot markets.

This transition to the short-term market is happening due to quickly evolving industry dynamics.

Tanushree believes the Indian power sector will see a surge in spot power volumes due to certain factors.

Moving on to news from the steel sector...

Shares of Tata Metaliks jumped over 8% after the firm reported a net profit of Rs 947.2 m for the quarter ended 30 June 2021.

The company posted a net loss of Rs 123.6 m in the year-ago quarter, Tata Metaliks said in a regulatory filing.

Total income during the April-June quarter increased to Rs 6.1 bn from Rs 2.1 bn in the year-ago period.

Expenses were at Rs 4.7 bn during the quarter under review, up from Rs 2.3 bn a year ago.

The company's revenue from the Pig Iron segment grew 276% to Rs 5.2 bn in the first quarter of June from Rs 1.4 bn in the same period last year.

Revenue from the Ductile Iron Pipe segment climbed 86.8% to Rs 2.3 bn in June 2022 quarter against Rs 1.2 bn a year ago.

Commenting on the results, Sandeep Kumar, managing director of Tata Metaliks said,

• The company has delivered strong results primarily due to record sales and booming prices of pig iron.
  
  DI pipe business got impacted mainly due to Covid-induced restrictions by state governments.
  
  However, demand for DI pipes continues to remain robust on the back of significantly increased allocation in this year's Union budget for water infrastructure.

Tata Metalik's share price ended the day up by 3.2% on the BSE.

We will keep you updated on the latest news from this space. Stay tuned!