It was a volatile trading session for Indian share markets today.

After opening the day on a negative note, Indian share markets extended losses during the first half.

However, most of the losses were recovered in the last hour of trade as banking stocks rallied.

While pharma and IT stocks weighed on the sentiment, banking stocks rose and ended higher.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 38 points.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 12 points.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, L&T, and Tata Consumer were among the top gainers today.

Dr Reddy, Wipro, and BPCL on the other hand were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 18,004, up by 36 points, at the time of writing.

Broader markets ended on a positive note. The BSE Midcap index climbed up by 0.4% while the BSE Smallcap index ended higher by 0.3%.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the realty sector and power sector witnessing maximum buying.

On the other hand, stocks in the IT and oil and gas sectors witnessed selling interest.

Meanwhile, Hindustan Zinc cooled off today after rising earlier this week. This could be a good time to keep Hindustan Zinc on your watchlist as it may be a direct beneficiary of the zinc squeeze.

Shares of Eicher Motors, Solar Industries, and Adani Enterprises hit their 52-week highs today.

Adani group stocks are rising, continuing their momentum.

ICICI Bank, Reliance, and Bharti Airtel were among the most active shares on the BSE today.

Asian stock markets ended on a negative note. The Nikkei ended the day lower by 0.9%, while the Hang Seng inched lower by 0.8%. The Shanghai Composite ended 0.4% lower.

The rupee is trading at 79.6 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading up by 0.4% at Rs 51,773 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading flat at Rs 56,918 per 1 kg.

Of late, gold prices are falling while silver isn't far behind. Silver price is also falling as industrial demand for silver is under pressure while a stronger US dollar is adding to worries.

Once the Fed signals an end to the rate hikes (or hints at it) and when investors are confident the US economy will emerge from the recession, that's when we see gold and silver prices recovering.

In news from the commodity space, gold price today neared its one month low.

Gold traded on a flat note today after a sharp fall over the last two days.

Gold was up 0.3% to Rs 51,773 per 10 grams but still hovered near two-week lows after falling Rs 1,000 in the previous two sessions.

Meanwhile, the silver price was trading flat at Rs 56,918 per kg.

Gold inched higher from recent lows as the dollar and treasury yields pulled back slightly after US Federal Reserve minutes hinted the less aggression on future rate hikes.

Take a look at the chart below which shows how the safe haven metal has performed since 1 Jan 2020.

Gold Price Since January 2020

 If you are an "investor" in gold, looking for a return, the performance of gold in the last couple of years, could perhaps, be termed as disappointing.

In news from the defense sector, shares of Hindustan Aeronautics inched higher as the company set up a new office.

Hindustan Aeronautics signed an agreement to set up an office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The office in Malaysia will assist in seizing new business opportunities for the Fighter Lead-in Trainer (FLIT) LCA and other requirements of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), including Su-30 MKM and Hawk upgrades.

The company can support RMAF in upgrading its Hawk fleet as well. Other HAL platforms like HTT-40, Do-228, Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), and Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) have the potential to be inducted by RMAF in the future.

The company today in its statement said:

It will reinforce the commitment of India in supporting the Malaysian Defence Forces and industry for sustainable aerospace and defence landscape in Malaysia.

Considering the above factors, HAL's office in Kuala Lumpur will take up the market promotion of HAL's range of products and services not only in Malaysia but in the entire South East Asia.

It submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Defense (MINDEF), Malaysia, in October 2021 for the supply of 18 FLIT LCAs against a global tender issued by RMAF.

Note that defense stocks have been on fire in 2022 and HAL is taking the charge in leading the rally. It continues to rise in falling markets and is presently trading at its all-time high level.

It appears that there's nothing but blue skies ahead for HAL.

Moving on to the news from the engineering sector, shares of Power Mech Projects jumped 4% intraday today.

Power Mech Projects has bagged a large order for five Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) projects from the Adani group. FGD is used to remove Sulfur Dioxide from exhaust flue gases of fossil-fuel power plants.

As per the exchange filing by Power Mech Projects, the monetary value of the order is Rs 61.6 bn.

The scope of work includes 15 FGD retrofits to coal base units, whose sizes range between 330 MW and 660 MW.

These five projects would be implemented at Adani Group's coal-based power plants in Mundra, Tiroda, Kawai, and Udupi where Power Mech has already worked on other projects.

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