After opening the day marginally higher, Indian share markets extended gains as the session progressed and ended near the day's high.

Benchmark indices recouped most of the losses incurred yesterday as reports of withdrawal of Russian troops from the Ukrainian border improved investor sentiment.

Reportedly, some troops in Russia's military districts adjacent to Ukraine are returning to their bases after completing drills, Russia's defense ministry was quoted as saying.

Further, a drop in crude oil prices added to the relief. Crude oil edged lower after Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said there was "always a chance" for agreement with the West on the Ukraine crisis.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 1,736 points (up 3.1%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 510 points (up 3%).

Bajaj Finance and SBI were among the top gainers today.

Cipla and ONGC, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 17,340, up by 502 points, at the time of writing.

Broader markets rallied in tandem and ended on a strong note. The BSE MidCap index zoomed 2.7% while the BSE SmallCap index gained 2%.

All sectoral indices ended on a positive note with stocks in the automobile sector, banking sector, and IT sector witnessing most of the buying.

Shares of White Organic Retail and Excel Industries hit their 52-week highs today.

Asian stock markets ended on a mixed note today.

Both, the Nikkei and the Hang Seng ended down by 0.8% while the Shanghai Composite bucked the trend and ended up by 0.5%.

US stock futures are largely positive today. Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average are trading 0.9% higher while Nasdaq futures are up a massive 1.8%.

The rupee is trading at 75.22 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading down by 0.9% at Rs 49,450 per 10 grams.

Bullion is seeing sharp up and down moves. Earlier today, gold hit a 13-month high as tensions between Russia and the West mount over Ukraine, prompting investors to shun riskier assets and opt for safe-haven bullion.

Gold rose above the Rs 50,000 per 10 gram-mark to hit eight-month highs.

In news from the tech space, Zomato was the talk of the town today as its shares hit an all-time low amid continued selling in loss-making internet companies.

The stock hit a new low of Rs 75.75 on BSE and slipped below the IPO issue price of Rs 76. Though it recovered later in the day and ended up by 0.4%.

Even as markets rallied a whopping 3%, Zomato shares continued to tumble.

The selling pressure comes despite the company narrowing its losses in the most recent December quarter. Zomato even hinted it was very close to achieving EBITDA breakeven but none of this helped.

In the quarter under review, Zomato's revenues grew by around 9% sequentially. Net loss was reported at Rs 672 m, narrowing it from Rs 3.5 bn reported in the same quarter last year.

The weak December quarter results prompted many brokerages to cut their price targets on the stock, which may be one reason why its shares are tumbling.

Moving on to news from the mining sector, Vedanta was among the top buzzing stocks today.

Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta and Hon Hai Technology Group, popularly known as Foxconn, have formed a joint venture (JV) to manufacture semiconductors in India.

Foxconn is the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer and a major Apple supplier.

Note that this is a big development from a performance-linked incentive (PLI) scheme perspective as this is the first JV in the electronics manufacturing space.

In December 2021, the Centre had cleared a PLI scheme for semiconductor and display board production in India targeting an investment of Rs 760 bn over the next five to six years.

The Taiwanese electronics manufacturer teamed up with Vedanta as it plans to diversify business amid the global chip shortage that has engulfed the world.

While Foxconn stated it plans on investing US$118.7 m (around Rs 9 bn) to set up a JV firm yesterday, Vedanta Group had already shared its intent last month and was planning to invest US$15 bn for making displays and semiconductor chips in India.

According to the MoU signed between the two companies on Monday, Vedanta will hold the majority in the JV while Foxconn will be the minority shareholder. Vedanta's Agarwal will be the chairman of the joint venture company.

Note that the PLI scheme gave a huge boost to semiconductor manufacturing, attracting several chipmakers including Intel, TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), and United Microelectronics Corporation to explore setting up semiconductor manufacturing facilities in India.

It remains to be seen when these companies announce clear plans for setting up manufacturing facilities in India.

Shares of Vedanta ended the day up by 2.9%.

Speaking of semiconductors, note that TSMC is the largest contract manufacturer of semiconductor chips in the world. The company manufactures chips for major tech firms such as Apple, Nvidia, Intel, Qualcomm, etc.

It is also one of the most successful companies whose stock has been a big wealth creator.