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

Extending the previous session's rally, benchmark indices opened higher tracking positive cues from global peers.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 254 points (up 0.5%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 76 points (up 0.5%).

Bajaj Finance and Sun Pharma were among the top gainers today. ONGC and Kotak Mahindra Bank, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 15,190, up by 56 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index ended up by 0.8% and 1%, respectively.

On the sectoral front, gains were largely seen in the metal sector, healthcare sector, and IT sector.

Oil & gas stocks, on the other hand, witnessed selling pressure.

Market participants were tracking shares of KPR Mill and Graphite India as they hit their respective 52-week highs today.

Market participants were also tracking NALCO share prices. The company's board is scheduled to meet on March 15 to consider interim dividends for FY21.

Asian share markets ended higher today, tracking positive closing at Wall Street in overnight trade, where the Nasdaq closed 4% higher on fresh US stimulus and expanding vaccinations.

The Shanghai Composite stood lower by 0.1% while the Nikkei ended up by 0.1%. The Hang Seng ended higher by 0.4%.

US stock futures are trading higher today indicating a positive opening for Wall Street indices with Dow Futures trading up by 120 points (up 0.4%).

The rupee is trading at 72.94 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading down by 0.3% at Rs 44,740 per 10 grams. Meanwhile, silver prices are trading down by 0.6% at Rs 67,096 per kg.

Speaking of the current stock market scenario, note that the BSE Small-cap index broke past the 21,000- barrier earlier this month.

The index had crashed to a multi-year low of 8.6k back in March 2020. Who would have thought that in less than a year, the index will come roaring back and go up a massive 133%?

While caution is indeed warranted, Richa Agrawal, Research Analyst at Equitymaster, thinks there is still a lot more steam left to this smallcap rally.

Despite rallying more than 130% since the March 2020 lows, Richa believes small-cap stocks are set for a massive up move in 2021 and beyond.

Richa believes if you focus on the quality of business, margin of safety in valuations, and an optimum asset allocation, you are likely to create huge wealth for yourself.

In the latest developments from the IPO space...

The initial public offering (IPO) of Easy Trip Planners was subscribed more than 148 times so far on March 10, the final day of bidding.

The issue received bids for 2.2 billion equity shares against an offer size of 15 million shares, the subscription data available on exchanges showed.

The reserved portion for retail investors was subscribed 66.9 times, while the portion set aside for non-institutional investors was subscribed 366.4 times. Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) have put in 65.40 times more bids than the reserved portion.

The company has set a price band of Rs 186-187 per share to raise Rs 5.1 billion through the offer for sale. The issue is a complete offer for sale.

Nishant Pitti and Riskant Pitti, the founders of the company with over 49% stake each, are planning to offload shares worth Rs 2.5 billion each through the IPO.

How this IPO performs on a listing day remains to be seen.

Moving on to stock-specific news...

MTNL and HMT were among the top buzzing stocks today.

Shares of two state-owned companies, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) and HMT rallied up to 20% today, hitting their respective fresh 52-week highs, amid heavy volumes.

In the past two weeks, these stocks have zoomed as much as 78% on reports that the Centre has identified real estate and land assets of state-owned telecom services provider to kick off the ambitious PSU asset monetization programme.

In a report citing a senior official, The Economic Times mentioned that MTNL's assets identified for sale will be auctioned through the online e-bidding platform set up by MSTC.

MTNL had identified assets including 36 acres in areas like Vasai Hill, Mulund, and Simpholi in Mumbai, shop-cum-office complexes in Delhi, and residential quarters in Noida, which will be monetized in the first phase, the report suggests.

MTNL share price and HMT share price ended their day up by 20% and 5%, respectively.

Moving on to news from the power sector, the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) today announced strategic divestment of 26% of its equity holding in the Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) to National Stock Exchange (NSE) and additional 5% equity holding to ONGC.

Under the agreement, NSE will purchase 1,92,07,500 equity shares having a face value of Rs 10 each representing 26% stake of IGX from IEX for Rs 192 million.

Further, ONGC will purchase 36,93,750 equity shares representing a 5% stake in IGX from IEX for Rs 36.9 million.

Speaking on the occasion, S N Goel, chairman, and MD of IEX and director IGX said, "Having NSE and ONGC as our partners is a natural choice for us in our endeavor to deepen India's gas markets. We are enthused and delighted about the new partnerships. Both NSE and ONGC bring their unique value proposition and leading-edge in markets and hydrocarbon sector respectively to the table."

Earlier this year, IEX announced the strategic investments of 5% each by leading players in the gas value chain - Adani Total Gas, Torrent Gas, and GAIL (India) in IGX.

Indian Energy Exchange share price ended the day up by 2.3%.