Indian share markets ended on a negative note today fueled by fears about the economic outlook, owing to the weakening of the rupee.

Benchmark indices plunged tracking weak global cues as Wall Street indices and Asian markets fell on anxiety over higher interest rates.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex dipped 365 points, ending 0.7% lower.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty was down 109 points, ending at 16,302.

Power Grid, Infosys, and HCL Technologies were among the top gainers today.

Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, and Tata Steel were among the top losers today.

The broader markets ended deep in the red as the BSE Mid Cap index plummeted 1.9% while the BSE Small Cap index dipped 1.7%.

Barring IT, all sectoral indices ended in red with stocks in the FMCG sector, metal sector, energy sector, and banking sector witnessing most of the selling.

Shares of Power Grid and Coromandel International hit their 52-week high today.

Outside the home ground, Asian share markets fell today tracking a fall in US markets amid concerns over higher interest rates. While the Hong Kong stock market was closed today on account of National Day, the Nikkei 225 plunged 2.5%. The Shanghai Composite ended on a flat note.

The SGX Nifty was trading 0.9% lower at the time of writing.

The rupee is trading at 77.45 against the US$.

Gold prices are currently trading down by 0.4% at Rs 51,118 per 10 grams while silver is also down 0.9% at Rs 61,979 per kg.

Speaking of gold, have a look at the chart below to see how gold has inched up ever since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Gold Prices Inching up since Russia Invaded Ukraine

In news from the engineering sector, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has bagged a huge order from the Jharkhand government for irrigation.

The project is expected to provide water to the Culturable Command Area (CCA) in the Dumka district of Jharkhand by way of pumping water from the Sidheshwari River.

The scope includes survey, design, and construction of a 158 m long barrage across the Sidheshwari river.

The scope also includes survey, design, procurement, installation, testing, and commissioning of intake and intermediate pump houses, delivery chambers, MS, Dl & HDPE pipelines of various diameters, and pipeline distribution networks with all allied works.

The multinational company is already executing a similar lift irrigation project in Jharkhand's Garhwa district.

According to the company, the contract is valued at Rs 10 - 25 bn and is a significant order.

Larsen & Toubro share price ended 0.4% lower on BSE.

Moving on to news from the IT sector, the merger of Mindtree with L&T Infotech was announced after market hours on Friday, 6 May 2022.

The merged entity, LTIMindtree, becomes the sixth-largest listed IT service provider in the country with revenues of US $3.5 bn.

During the announcement, the management of the company said:

Big-scale benefits are foreseen from this union with chances to expand across verticals and geographies. The merged entity's potential to get large deals also becomes better.

LTI's strength in banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) and Mindtree's strength in communications, media, and technology will mean more diversified offerings.

LTIMindtree will also benefit from synergies in both revenue and cost. This will aid operating margin expansion in the long term and help LTIMindtree achieve industry-leading growth.

The merger is expected to complete within nine to twelve months. Until then, both the entities would function independently.

Though alignment of work cultures is not expected to be a big challenge considering their common parentage, the exit of LTI's chief executive officer Sanjay Jalona would cause some near-term volatility.

Jalona is seen as a driving force behind the rapid growth of LTI since its listing and his resignation is a damper.

L&T Infotech's share price ended 3.4% lower while Mindtree slipped 5.3% on BSE.

Moving on to news from the IPO space, LIC's mega IPO, which was kept open for subscription on the weekend, was subscribed 2.83 times as of the final day.

Policyholders' category received the maximum interest as their reserved portion was subscribed 5.93 times, followed by employees who bid 4.28 times the allotted quota.

The portion for retail investors was subscribed 1.93 times.

Non-institutional investors have put in bids 2.61 times the portion set aside for them, while the portion reserved for qualified institutional buyers sailed through on the last day and was subscribed 2.81 times.

How the IPO performs on the listing day remains to be seen. The grey market premium of LIC, which stood at Rs 36 today, has been dipping as the market sentiment has dampened.