It was indeed a volatile day for the Indian share markets today as they witnessed huge swings.

In early trade today, benchmark indices fell tracking the trend on SGX Nifty and amid growing concerns. Along with markets, commodities also fell as global growth concerns weighed on investor sentiment.

Meanwhile, the government's move to raise taxes on fuel exports and domestic crude dragged energy stocks.

Indian government late Wednesday raised taxes on aviation, diesel fuel exports, and domestic crude oil, dragging the energy index down 1%.

Also dampening sentiment was a weaker-than-expected domestic Q1FY23 GDP (gross domestic product) data, along with a marginal downtick in Manufacturing PMI for August.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex ended lower by 770 points, ending 1.3% lower.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty plunged 217 points, ending at 17,542.

Bajaj Finserv and Asian Paints were among the top gainers today.

Reliance, TCS, and Sun Pharma were among the top losers today.

The broader markets defied the trend and ended in the green. The BSE Mid Cap index gained 0.6% while the BSE Small Cap index ended higher by 0.5%.

Sectoral indices ended mixed with stocks in the energy sector, metal, and IT sectors witnessing most of the selling.

Capital goods and realty stocks, on the other hand, ended in the green.

Shares of Maruti and Kama Holdings hit their 52-week high today.

Outside the home ground, Asian share markets ended deep in the red. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 plunged 1.5%, while the Hang Seng dived 1.8%. The Shanghai Composite fell 0.5%.

The rupee is trading at 79.63 against the US$.

Gold prices are currently trading down by 0.5% at Rs 50,178 per 10 grams while silver is trading down by 1.7% at Rs 51,650 per kg.

Note that gold prices have fallen and have taken quite a knock in recent weeks. Silver prices too have fallen a lot in recent days.

The question on everyone's mind now is when will gold and silver prices recover.

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 media sector, Zee Entertainment was among the top buzzing stocks today.

The share price of Zee Entertainment fell over 5% today after reports suggested that India's antitrust watchdog, the Competition Commission of India (CII), observed the merger between the Indian unit of Sony and Zee will potentially hurt competition by having "unparalleled bargaining power".

CII's 3 August notice to the two companies stated the watchdog is of the view that a further investigation is merited.

Clarifying the tensions, Zee Entertainment said it continues to take all the required legal steps to complete all the necessary approval processes for the proposed merger.

Recently, Zee and Disney Star have signed a strategic licensing agreement for exclusive TV rights to ICC Men's cricket tournaments. As part of the agreement, Disney Star will license the television broadcasting rights of the ICC men's and Under 19 global events for four years.

Zee Entertainment's share price ended the day down by 4.8%.

Moving on to news from the automobile sector, Maruti Suzuki's share price was in focus today.

Maruti Suzuki's total auto sales saw a rise of 26.4% at 1,65,173 units in August 2022, the company informed the exchanges.

Total domestic passenger vehicle sales were at 1,34,166 units as compared to 1,03,187 units in the year-ago month, a growth of 30%.

Here's an excerpt of the exchange filing:

The shortage of electronic components had a minor impact on the production of vehicles, mainly in domestic models. The company took all possible measures to minimise the impact.

Another auto major M&M also reported its sales numbers today.

The largest carmaker is betting on new sport-utility vehicle (SUV) models such as the Grand Vitara to help it regain lost market share.

Meanwhile, the easing global shortage in semiconductor chips and softening commodity prices are likely to help it improve sales volume and margins.

Yesterday, at its annual general meeting (AGM), the company's chairman R C Bhargava said,

There was a delay in launching new models last year because of covid-19, but we have a number of new models coming this year, which will help us restore our market share.

With volumes going up, margins should improve as we go along.

Maruti is also aiming to scale up the development of vehicles based on alternate fuel, including ethanol and biogas, even as full electric vehicles (EVs) remain some time away and are initially expected to be niche products catering to the "upper segment" of its customer base.

Note that despite the selloff in Indian markets, Maruti Suzuki's share price has been racing ahead. Take a look at its 1-year performance.

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