After opening the day on a flat note, Indian share markets slipped during the afternoon session and ended the day lower amid high volatility.

Markets were on edge as investors braced for a hefty rate hike from the US Federal Reserve and clues on further hikes.

Globally, nervousness persisted among the investors as the Fed is set to announce its decision at the end of a two-day policy meeting later in the day. The US central bank is widely expected to zero down on a 75-basis point hike in the key lending rate.

Meanwhile, India's government is in no hurry to push inflation which is now hovering near 7% and at an eight-year high, back to the central bank's 4% medium-term target.

In news from the engineering sector, KEC International was among the top buzzing stocks today.

Share price of KEC International added 2% after company wins Rs 11.2 bn order.

KEC international, today bagged new order worth Rs 11.2 bn across its various businesses in India.

In the Transmission & Distribution (T&D) business, the company has secured orders for building substations in India.

It includes 400 kV Digital GIS Substation order in India, from Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL). Also, wins 400 kV GIS Substation order in India, from a reputed industrial developer.

While KEC's railways business has secured an order for construction of bridges and associated works for railway lines in the conventional segment in India.

Further its civil business bagged an order for infra works in the hydrocarbon segment.

Apart from this the company's cables business has also secured orders for various types of cables in India and overseas.

Commenting on it, Managing Director and CEO of KEC International, Vimal Kejrial said,

• We are pleased with the new order wins, especially the consistent order inflows in Domestic T&D business. These orders along with the orders announced earlier during the year, have significantly enhanced our order book in T&D and diversified our clientele.
  
  We are particularly enthused by the order in railways, which further consolidates our leadership in the conventional railway segment. The order in civil has strengthened our presence in the growing hydrocarbon segment.

With these orders, the company's order intake has grown by 25% YoY and surpassed Rs 70 bn.

KEC International's shares have been in an uptrend for the last six months. While over a year, the shares have lost around 8.6% due to the prevailing volatility in the market.

(Click on image to enlarge)

Since small-cap stocks interest you, here's a proven approach on investing in small-cap stocks.

In other news from the engineering sector, shares of Swaraj Engines were also buzzing today.

Shares of Swaraj Engines jumped the most today since June 2020 and touched its 52-week high after M&M acquired additional stake in the company.

M&M today agreed to buy a 17.4% stake in the firm from Kirloskar Industries. A total of Rs 2.9 bn was paid as the consideration for the same.

With this acquisition, the M&M's stake in Swaraj Engines will increase to 52.1% from 34.7% previously. This will make M&M majority investor in the company.

The company proposes to acquire 21,14,349 equity shares at a price of Rs 1,400 apiece. The transaction will be complete by 30 September 2022.

SEL is engaged in manufacturing and supplying of diesel Engines in the range of 22 HP to above 65 HP for fitment in tractors to the farm equipment sector of M&M.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood down by 262 points (down 0.4%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 98 points (down 0.6%).

Britannia, HUL, and ITC were among the top gainers today.

Shree Cements, Adani Ports, and IndusInd Bank on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 17,721, up by 74 points, at the time of writing.

The broader markets ended on a negative note. Both, the BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index ended lower by 0.7%.

Barring FMCG sector, all sectoral indices ended on a negative note today with stocks in the power sector, realty sector, and oil & gas sector witnessed maximum selling pressure.

Investors were back to hunting the best FMCG stocks in India as those are considered defensive bets.

Shares of Page Industries, ITC, and Welspun Corp hit their 52-week high today. ITC shares continue to head higher as the company is exploring alternate structures for its hotel business.

Since you're interested in high flying stocks, check out our guide on how to pick the best multibagger stocks in 2022.

Outside the home ground, Asian share markets ended on a weak note.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei ended on a negative note, down by 1.4% while the Hang Seng dived 1.8%. The Shanghai Composite ended lower by 0.2%.

US stock futures are trading on a positive note today with Dow futures trading up by 0.3%.

The rupee is trading at 79.9 against the US$.

Gold prices are currently trading up by 0.6% at Rs 49,175 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading higher by 1.4% at Rs 56,343 per kg.

Speaking of stock markets, Samit Vartak talks about how to pick the right stocks, in the latest episode of Investor Hour podcast.

He talks about the importance of picking the right "businesses" to invest in, about current outlook of India.

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