Indian share markets ended on a weak note today tracking Asian peers as investors awaited inflation data due this week for clues on the scale of monetary tightening by central banks, while the rupee opened at a fresh record low.

Looking ahead, investors' focus will be on macro data, which includes India's retail inflation reading due later in the day, as well as the consumer price index from the United States on Wednesday.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 509 points (down 0.9%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 158 points (down 1%).

NTPC, Bharti Airtel, and Bajaj Finance were among the top gainers today.

Infosys, Nestle, and HCL Technologies, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

Ever since IT major TCS released its Q1 results, IT stocks are falling.

TCS share price is falling owing to the mixed numbers it reported, among other reasons.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 16,060, down by 139 points, at the time of writing.

The broader markets also ended in the red. The BSE MidCap index and the BSE SmallCap index ended lower by 0.5%.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note today with stocks in the IT sector, FMCG sector, and metal sector witnessing most of the selling.

While stocks in the realty sector, telecom sector, and energy sector witnessed most of the buying.

Shares of Blue Dart Express and Adani Total Gas hit their 52-week highs today.

Asian share markets ended on a weak note today on growing concerns about a fresh Covid-19 flare-up in China and ahead of the release of US inflation data.

The Nikkei ended the day down by 1.8%. While the Shanghai Composite and the Hang Seng plunged by 1% and 1.3% respectively.

The rupee hit a new record low today and is trading at 79.56 against the US $.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading up by 0.1% at Rs 50,667 per 10 grams.

Despite trading in the green today, gold prices have fallen and have taken quite a knock in recent weeks.

In news from the mining sector, state-run miner Coal India will electrify vehicles used at its sites and set up charging pods.

According to people in the know, Coal India plans to electrify thousands of fuel-guzzling vehicles used at its sites and those at its subsidiaries to reduce carbon emissions.

The transition plan will include setting up charging infrastructure at the sites.

According to experts, electric heavy earth moving machinery will help bring down long-term costs for mining and raise energy efficiency.

Heavy machinery and vehicles used across mining, construction, and agriculture sectors are being electrified globally but are yet to pick up in India, as the government and the industry are currently focusing on passenger and commercial EVs.

Coal India is already exploring the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) instead of diesel for heavy earth-moving machinery.

The company has also diversified its business by foraying into solar and coal gasification and is also looking at aluminium production.

In another development, Coal India on Monday reported a 65% rise in its CAPEX in the first quarter of the financial year 2023 to Rs 30.3 bn.

Coal India's share price ended 0.4% higher on the BSE today.

Have a look at the chart below which shows the massive opportunity in two-wheeler EVs.

Moving on to news from the telecom sector, HFCL was among the top buzzing stock today.

HFCL has bagged a purchase order of Rs 592.2 m from a leading telecom operator for providing services to roll out their fiber to the home network and long-distance fiber network in various telecom circles.

The order of services for the rollout of the fiber will be executed by July 2023.

HFCL, incorporated in the year 1987 is a smallcap company having a market cap of Rs 93.2 bn.

Post the announcement, HFCL's share price ended 5.5% higher on the BSE today.

In other developments within the sector, the Adani group plans to foray into the telecom sector, which has sent telecom shares tumbling.

Bharti Airtel's share price is falling while Vodafone Idea has major concerns to address.

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