Indian share markets ended today's volatile session on a flat note.

Benchmark indices staged a gap-up opening today tracking an overnight rally in US markets, backed by solid gains in select index heavyweights and IT stocks.

However, equity markets were pulled down by banking, finance, auto, and power stocks during the last hour of trade.

US futures turned negative, which further dampened sentiment.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 49 points (down 0.1%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 44 points (down 0.3%).

Reliance Industries and Infosys were among the top gainers today.

UltraTech Cement and Maruti Suzuki, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 16,600, down by 19 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE MidCap index and the BSE SmallCap index ended down by 1.4% and 1.1%, respectively.

Barring IT and energy, all sectoral indices ended on a negative note with stocks in the power sector, auto sector, and consumer durables sector witnessing most of the selling.

Shares of Ratnamani Metals and Lemon Tree Hotels hit their respective 52-week highs today.

With stocks rising across the board, you must be excited to see that volatility has eased and things are going back to normal. Several Indian stocks have delivered multi-bagger returns in a span of one month.

But remember that not all are worthy. Many could be trading in uncharted territory and may be overvalued.

If you're new and on the lookout for fundamentally strong stocks, check out the debt-free stocks and the ones which pay high dividends.

Also, read about the multi-bagger penny stocks for 2025 to get started in the world of penny stock investing.

Asian stock markets ended on a mixed note today. The Nikkei ended 1.3% higher while markets in China were closed today for a holiday.

European shares opened higher on Friday, with investors awaiting US non-farm payrolls data to make bets about central bank tightening, while also bracing for any change in stance from the European Central Bank at its meeting next week.

US stock futures are trading on a negative note with the Dow Futures trading down by 102 points.

The rupee is trading at 77.62 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading up by 0.1% at Rs 51,290 per 10 grams.

In news from the cement sector, UltraTech Cement was among the top buzzing stocks today.

Cement major UltraTech yesterday approved a new capital expenditure (capex) plan of Rs 128.9 bn to tide increased competition in the sector.

Following this, shares of most cement companies were under pressure today in a firm market.

Cement stocks like Dalmia Bharat, JK Cement, Ramco Cements, and Shree Cement were down in the range of 4% to 6%.

Meanwhile, Grasim Industries, ACC, and Ambuja Cements also ended lower.

UltraTech's capex is aimed to increase capacity by 22.6 m tonnes per annum (MTPA) through brownfield and greenfield projects. With this, it would enable the set-up of integrated or grinding units as well as bulk terminals across the country.

UltraTech Cement has more than doubled its capacity over the last five years and is committed to meeting India's future needs for housing, roads, and other infrastructure.

Speaking of capex, note that in the Budget this year, capex got a boost of 35.4%.

Have a look at the chart below to see the budget capex over the years:

The increased capex is backed by the government's announcements on the production linked incentive (PLI) schemes.

Global supply chains are shifting away from China and India is a key beneficiary of that trend.

In news from the water treatment space, Va Tech Wabag has secured a design, build, and operate order for the 50 MLD (expandable to 100 MLD) Mamelles Sea Water Desalination project from Societe Nationale Des Eaux du Senegal, the national water company of Senegal worth about Euro 146 million.

The project is to be executed in consortium with Toyota Tsusho Corporation and Eiffage Genie Civil.

With this order, Va Tech Wabag marked its entry into the West African region.

Moving on to the latest developments from the IPO space, specialty chemical company Aether Industries made a decent debut on the bourses today after listing at a 10% premium to its issue price.

Soon after debuting, shares of Aether Industries extended gains and were locked in the upper circuit band.

Aether Industries' Rs 8 bn initial public offer (IPO) was subscribed 6.26 times. So a decent listing was on the cards.

Now that Aether has raised funds, it plans to utilize Rs 6.3 bn to fund capital expenditure requirements of Greenfield projects, repayment of outstanding borrowings, and general corporate purposes.