After opening the day at record high levels, Indian share markets erased gains to end on a flat note led by a decline in automobile and FMCG stocks.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 20 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty ended down by 7 points.

In intraday trade today, the Sensex rallied over 400 points to hit a fresh record high while the Nifty rose above 15,250.

Asian Paints was among the top gainers today. M&M, on the other hand, was among the top losers today.

SGX Nifty was trading at 15,112, down by 14 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE Mid Cap index ended down by 0.2%. The BSE Small Cap index ended lower by 0.3%.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the consumer durables sector witnessing buying interest.

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

Asian stock markets ended higher today after a record-setting day on Wall Street. The Nikkei ended up by 0.4% while the Shanghai Composite zoomed 2%. The Hang Seng ended up by 0.5%.

Crude oil prices hit 13-month highs, helped by rising optimism about a return in fuel demand.

US stock futures are trading flat. Nasdaq Futures are trading down by 14 points, while Dow Futures are trading down by 30 points.

The rupee is trading at 72.85 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading up by 0.7% at Rs 48,189 per 10 grams.

In news from the power sector, rating agency Moody's on Monday upgraded the outlook on the power sector to stable from negative, citing the fifth consecutive month of generation growth in January.

"We have changed the outlook for the power sector to stable from negative, recognizing the better prospects for the sector as a result, amid an improved macroeconomic backdrop," Moody's said in a note.

The agency also said it does not expect any further material deterioration in the cash conversion cycle for power companies from current levels, which also supports the outlook.

The Central Electricity Authority last week reported a 3.1% year-on-year (YoY) growth in power generation in January, making it the fifth consecutive month of generation growth after six months of decline driven by coronavirus pandemic.

For the first 10 months of fiscal 2021, power generation growth declined 2.9% YoY, compared to earlier expectations of a minimum 4-5% decline.

However, renewable energy generation (excluding hydropower) grew 4.3% during the same period and wind the weakest down 12%.

We will keep you updated on the latest developments in this space. Stay tuned.

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

This is abysmally low by global standards. This shows that there is a big upside in the market share of power exchanges in India.

In news from the chemicals sector, Balaji Amines was among the top buzzing stocks today.

Shares of the company zoomed 20% to hit a new high of Rs 1,514 after its profit more-than-doubled to Rs 701.6 million in the October-December quarter (Q3FY21) on the back of healthy revenue. The specialty chemicals company had posted a profit of Rs 267.3 million in the year-ago quarter.

Total income increased 63.7% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 3.7 billion as sales volume jumped 34% YoY.

EBITDA was at Rs 987.7 million, up 116% YoY. Meanwhile, the EBITDA margin improved 647 basis points (bps) to 26.9% from 20.5% in the previous year quarter.

The improvement in operating margins was primarily on account of improvement in operating leverage due to an increase in volume offtake and better price realization.

The company's management said the trend of increased demand across the company's product portfolio continues as there is sustained growth of the Indian pharma industry on account of the 'China Plus One' business strategy being adopted by Western companies.

Balaji Amines' share price ended the day up by 14.2%.

Moving on to news from the automobile sector, shares of Balkrishna Industries slipped 10% today as investors booked profit after the company announced a capital expenditure plan of up to Rs 19 billion, which will be funded by internal accruals and debt if required.

The board at its meeting approved the Capex plan, which includes the Brownfield project at Bhuj to increase tire capacity, increase carbon black capacity including advance carbon black and power plant at Bhuj, and modernization, automation, and technology up-gradation Capex at existing facilities.

Further, the company's board has decided to shelve the US Greenfield tire project of 20,000 MTPA capacity with an estimated outlay of US$ 100 million previously approved by the board at its meeting held on August 10, 2019.

As per media reports, the announced Capex is ahead of expectations and shall consume a large part of post dividend cash accretion at the company.

The company posted robust December quarter results with 46% YoY growth in standalone profit after tax at Rs 3.2 billion.

Revenue increased by 27% YoY to Rs 15 billion as sales volume jumped 26% YoY.

Balkrishna Industries' share price ended the day down by 9.9%.