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

Benchmark indices gained nearly 1% in today's volatile session after the Supreme Court said that interest waiver cannot be granted and that no direction can be issued to either government or RBI for sector-wise relief.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 280 points (up 0.6%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 78 points (up 0.5%).

UltraTech Cement and IndusInd Bank were among the top gainers today.

ONGC and Power Grid, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 14,925, up by 184 points, at the time of writing.

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

On the sectoral front, gains were largely seen in the banking sector, finance sector and energy sector.

FMCG stocks and metal stocks, on the other hand, witnessed selling pressure.

Shares of UltraTech Cement and Aavas Financiers hit their respective 52-week highs today.

Asian share markets ended on a mixed note tracking Wall Street as bond yields eased, allaying concerns around rising inflation.

The Shanghai Composite stood higher by 1.1% while the Nikkei ended down by 2.1%. The Hang Seng ended lower by 0.3%.

US stock futures are trading lower today indicating a negative opening for Wall Street indices with Dow Futures trading down by 134 points (down 0.4%).

The rupee is trading at 72.45 against the US$.

Near Term Volatility in Sensex Compensated by Long Term Gains

The year-on-year change in the Sensex was hardly predictable but someone who stayed invested multiplied every lakh nearly 14 times.

In news from the commodity space, domestic gold prices fell for the second day in a row amid weak global cues.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading down by 0.3% at Rs 44,920 per 10 grams.

In global markets, gold prices slipped today after an overnight rally in US equities but concerns about a surge in fresh coronavirus cases in many parts of the world capped losses.

In the previous session, gold had inched 0.2% lower while silver fell 1.6%.

Gold has remained in a very narrow range from Rs 44,500 to Rs 45,300 over past two weeks amid mixed cues.

In news from the banking sector, banking stocks rebounded from their intra-day lows today after the Supreme Court rejected the pleas from various trade associations and corporate bodies to extend the six-month loan moratorium period offered by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), adding that a complete waiver of interest during the moratorium cannot be granted either.

The SC said that no direction can be issued to the government or RBI to announce any particular financial packages or reliefs, and held that it cannot issue directions to provide relief to particular sectors over and above others.

Public sector banks (PSBs) were the top gainers with the Nifty PSU Bank index rallying as much as 3.5%, while the Nifty Bank index rose 1.7%.

However, stocks partially pared their gains as the session progressed as the apex court directed that there shall be no interest on interest or penal interest on any amount during the loan moratorium from any borrower.

A three-judge Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, Subhash Reddy and M.R. Shah said the amount taken as compound interest or penal interest should be adjusted with future loan payments.

Moving on to stock specific news...

Adani Ports & SEZ was among the top buzzing stocks today.

Adani Ports today announced that it will acquire a 58% stake in Gangavaram Port (GPL) held by D.V.S Raju and family for Rs 36 billion. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, will take the stake of the private multi-port operator to 89.6% in GPL.

Located in proximity to the Vizag Port, Gangavaram Port is the second largest non-major port in Andhra Pradesh and is in the business of handling several types of dry and bulk commodities comprising iron ore, limestone, sugar, coal, fertiliser, bauxite, alumina, and steel.

Earlier this month, Adani Ports announced the acquisition of Warburg Pincus's 31.5% stake in GPL.

Adani Ports & SEZ share price ended the day up by 2%.

Market participants were also tracking other Adani group stocks today.

Shares of Adani Green Energy crosses the Rs 2-trillion market capitalisation on the BSE, while Adani Gas touched Rs 1-trillion m-cap in intra-day deals.

Adani Green Energy is the first group company to hit Rs 2-trillion market-cap. Shares of the company were locked in the 5% upper circuit band for the third straight day after Adani Renewable Energy Holding Fifteen (AREHFL), a subsidiary of the company, received Letter of Award (LOA) for 300 MW wind project.