Share markets in India are presently trading on a strong note.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 354 points, up 0.6%, at 58,600 levels.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading up by 100 points.

NTPC and ONGC are among the top gainers today. BPCL and HDFC Bank are among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.6%.

The BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.8%.

On the sectoral front, all sectors are trading in green with stocks from the telecom sector witnessing most of the buying interest.

US stock futures are trading higher today, indicating a positive opening for Wall Street.

Nasdaq Futures are trading up by 32 points (up 0.2%) while Dow Futures are trading up by 49 points (up 0.1%)

The rupee is trading at 73.64 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading down by 0.2% at Rs 47,150 per 10 grams.

Gold prices were muted in Indian markets today despite positive global cues. On MCX, gold futures were trading 0.06% lower at Rs 47,231 for 10 grams.

In global markets, gold prices gained after the US government reported lower than expected inflation data and the dollar eased against other currencies.

Moving on to stock-specific news...

Among the buzzing stocks, today is ONGC.

Shares of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) rose over 4% on the exchanges after the company said it is looking to buy out Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services' (IL&FS') stake in Mangalore Special Economic Zone (MSEZ).

IL&FS holds 50% equity in the company.

The deal is likely to be concluded at fair value after ONGC's attempt to buy out the shadow lender's stake in the joint venture (JV) at a deep discount failed.

ONGC currently holds 26% equity in the company, while Karnataka Industrial Area Development Corporation holds 23%.

ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals (OMPL) and Kanara Chamber of Commerce & Industry together hold 1% equity in MSEZ.

In March 2019, ONGC had invoked an 'event of default' clause and sought to buy IL&FS' stake at a deep discount. IL&FS contested the claim on grounds that MSEZ was its green bucket company which had no payment default or overdue.

We will keep you posted on more updates from this space. Stay tuned.

At the time of writing, ONGC shares were trading up by 4.2% on the BSE.

Moving on to news from the software sector...

HCL Technologies Expands Partnership With Finastra

HCL Technologies and Finastra, the largest pure-play software vendor that serves the entire financial services industry, have expanded their partnership to drive digital transformation across South Korea and Taiwan.

As part of the engagement, HCL will use its next-generation digital transformation and service capabilities to bring two of Finastra's strategic products, Fusion Cash Management and Fusion Summit, to the financial services ecosystem in the region. 

Fusion Cash Management powers the digital corporate banking experience for financial institutions around the world while Fusion Summit offers a functionally rich core trading solution for capital markets.

Sanjay Gupta, Corporate Vice President, HCL Technologies said,

• Finastra's strategic solutions coupled with HCL's deep industry experience will help institutions adapt and succeed in the changing ecosystem. This partnership will help HCL further accelerate its strategic presence in South Korea and Taiwan while strengthening its long-standing relationship with Finastra.

HCL Technologies is a leading global technology company. It offers its services and products through three business units - IT and Business Services (ITBS), Engineering and R&D Services (ERS), and Products & Platforms (P&P).

How this partnership pans out remains to be seen. Meanwhile, stay tuned for more updates from this space.

Speaking of stocks, here's a pattern that if you see, you must sell your position. After all, exits are more important than entries.

In the chart below, we can see the head and shoulder pattern - the stock goes up, makes a high, falls a little bit, goes up to a higher high, does not make a higher low, rallies again fails to make a new high, and then starts to break down.

This usually happens in a situation where a stock or index has typically been in a bull trend for a while. Spotting this correctly can help you save money.