Indian share markets witnessed buying interest during closing hours and ended today's volatile session higher.

Both the benchmark indices touched their fresh record highs during the day but pared some gains before closing their session.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 194 points (up 0.4%).

The NSE Nifty closed higher by 67 points (up 0.5%).

ONGC and IndusInd Bank were among the top gainers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 12,953, up by 71 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE Mid Cap index ended up by 1.3%. The BSE Small Cap index ended up by 1.4%.

On the sectoral front, gains were largely seen in the IT sector and the oil & gas sector.

Finance stocks and banking stocks, on the other hand, witnessed selling pressure.

Asian stock markets ended on a mixed note. As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng ended up by 0.1% while the Nikkei ended down by 0.4%.

The rupee is trading at 74.03 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading down by 0.2% at Rs 50,114 per 10 grams.

In news from the defense sector...

The government is planning to sell up to a 10% stake in defense PSU Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd (MIDHANI) in the current fiscal ending March. The company got listed on stock exchanges in April 2018 and the government had raised Rs 4.4 billion by selling a 26% stake through IPO.

As per the reports, with the opening of the space sector to foreign investment and bringing the defense sector under automatic route for 74% foreign direct investment (FDI), MIDHANI shares are expected to attract investors.

MIDHANI manufactures special steel and superalloys for use in defense, nuclear, and space sectors.

At the current market price, the government can raise about Rs 3.6 billion by selling a 10% stake in the company.

Note that with big-ticket divestment plans hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the government is readying public-sector companies for minority stake sales in the remaining months of the current fiscal.

So far this fiscal, the government has raised Rs 61.3 billion by selling a minority stake in Hindustan Aeronautics and Bharat Dynamics through an offer for sale (OFS). The government also divested 15.2% in Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders through an initial public offering.

Speaking of the defense sector, have a look at the chart below which shows the top 5 military spending countries in the world as of 2019:

According to a SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) report, India was the third-largest military spending country in the world in 2019.

In news from the steel sector...

Jindal Steel and Power share price were also in focus today. The stock of the company rose to its highest in more than two years after the steelmaker reported an increase in production and sales as economic activity gradually picks up.

The company's standalone sales rose 10% year-on-year (YoY) to 6 lakh metric tonnes in October. Standalone production for the month was up 13% over the year-earlier to 5.85 lakh metric tonnes.

Its exports grew 37% YoY and contributed 28% to the company's overall sales volumes for October. JSPL also reported the highest ever production of pellets and wire rods at 7.01 lakh metric tonnes and 49,062 metric tonnes, respectively.

Note that India's steel sector has staged a recovery in the last few months as demand picked up after the nation eased the lockdown curbs.

Steel consumption, according to CARE Ratings research report, grew 96% in the quarter ended September compared with the preceding three months.

Base metal prices, too, have firmed up on improving demand.

Prices of coking coal, a key raw material used in steel-making, however, remained soft after China stopped buying coal from Australia amid diplomatic tensions. This, however, bodes well for Indian steel companies given their dependence on imported coking coal.