India share markets ended their volatile trading session marginally lower today.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 74 points (down 0.2%) and the NSE Nifty closed down by 37 points (down 0.3%).

Both, the BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index ended the day down by 0.6%.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the metal sector and energy sector witnessing most of the selling pressure. Stocks from the auto sector and IT sector ended on a positive note.

The rupee was trading at 71.67 against the US$.

Asian stock markets finished on a negative note. As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng was down by 0.23% and the Shanghai Composite was down by 0.11%. The Nikkei 225 was up by 0.55%.

European markets were trading on a positive note. The FTSE 100 was up by 0.56%. The DAX was trading up by 0.13%, while the CAC 40 was up by 0.26%.

In the news from the currency markets, the Indian rupee was witnessing selling pressure against the US dollar today. The domestic unit opened on a weak note today and fell 23 paise to 71.66 against the US dollar in early trade.

Most of the losses today were seen amid rising crude oil prices and persistent foreign fund outflows.

Yesterday, the Indian rupee tumbled 29 paise to close at an over six-month low of 71.43 against the US dollar. Losses here were seen amid growing worries over an economic slump and strengthening of the US dollar vis-a-vis other currencies overseas.

Note that Indian rupee became Asia's worst-performing currency this month. For the common man, the falling rupee is going to hit where it hurts the most - the pocket.

In the video below, Vijay Bhambwani explains what's behind the fall in rupee and how much can it fall further:

In the news from the banking sector, Yes Bank share price was in focus today. Shares of the lender witnessed selling pressure after the risk and audit committee of CG Power and Industries said that were some unauthorized transactions carried out by 'certain employees' of the company.

As per the news, the committee said that the above transactions have led to a potential understatement of not only the company's liabilities, but also advances to related and unrelated parties of the company and the group.

Yes Bank, which holds 12.79% stake in CG Power, declined around 6% reacting on the announcement.

Similarly, shares of CG Power tanked nearly 20%.

How this development pans out remains to be seen. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on all the news from this space.

Moving on, in latest developments from the IPO space, the initial public offering (IPO) of Sterling and Wilson Solar made a weak debut today. The stock of the company opened at Rs 700, down 10.25% from its issue price of Rs 780.

The company's Rs 31.3 billion IPO was open for subscription during 6-8th August with a price band of Rs 775-780 a share.

The IPO comprised entirely of an offer for sale (OFS) of 40.3 million shares.

SWSL is an end-to-end solar EPC solutions provider and was the world's largest solar EPC solutions provider in 2018 based on annual installations of utility-scale Photo-voltaic (PV) systems of more than 5 megawatts (MW).

The company provides EPC services primarily for utility-scale solar power projects with a focus on project design and engineering. It also provides operations and maintenance (O&M) services.

The company operates in around 26 countries and is the largest solar EPC solutions provider in each of India, Africa and the Middle East.

As of March 31, the company's order book stood at Rs 77.4 billion, which includes letters of intent worth Rs. 39.1 billion for solar power projects for which it has won the bid but has not yet executed definitive.

Ankit Shah, in his premium newsletter Equitymaster Insider, has shared the detailed note of the company's IPO. You can read more about it and the company here: Sterling and Wilson Solar Ltd IPO: Apply or Avoid?

Speaking of IPOs, the first half of 2019 hasn't seen a lot of activity in the IPO market.

There have been just 8 IPO on the mainboard, raising as much as Rs 55.1 billion, compared with 24 that raised Rs 309.6 billion in the year-earlier period.

Despite the lackluster activity in India's primary markets, there have been attractive money-making opportunities for attentive investors.

Ankit Shah recommended applying to the IPO of Polycab India and the IPO of IndiaMART InterMESH.

Both IPOs were subscribed many times over. And as can be seen from the chart below, both gave handsome double-digit returns on the listing date.

Top 3 IPO Gains in 2019

At Equitymaster, we believe a merit-based selection, primarily including valuation, business, and management quality, is the logical way to go about investing in IPOs.

If it means going against the herd, so be it. And going by recent past, this strategy has been proven to be successful more often.