After opening the day flat, Indian share markets extended gains as the session progressed and ended on a firm footing.

The rally was aided by an uptick in metal stocks, after China announced it will further ease its strict COVID-19 restrictions, bolstering expectations of demand recovery in the world's second-largest economy.

Indian share market was falling for the past few sessions but the rally in the last two days has provided relief to investors.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 361 points (up 0.6%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 118 points (up 0.7%).

Hindalco, Tata Steel, and JSW Steel were among the top gainers today.

HUL, Apollo Hospital, and Nestle, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 18,142, up by 113 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE Midcap index ended higher by 0.8% while the BSE SmallCap index ended higher by 1.5%.

Barring the FMCG sector, all sectoral indices ended in the green with stocks in the telecom sector, metal sector, realty sector, and power sector witnessing most of the buying.

Among the best steel stocks, Tata Steel and Hindalco inched higher by over 5%.

Shares of Jindal Steel and CCL Products hit their 52-week highs today.

Asian stock markets ended on a mixed note. The Nikkei ended the day higher by 0.2%, while the Hang Seng fell 0.4%. The Shanghai Composite ended 0.9% higher.

The rupee is trading at 82.8 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading up by 0.3% at Rs 54,862 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading higher by 1.6% at Rs 70,200 per 1 kg.

Speaking of stock markets, stock splits have been a rage in 2022 with the world's most valuable companies such as Amazon, Alphabet and Tesla announcing massive splits.

Will India's highest-priced companies do the same with their stocks in 2023?

Should these companies allow their shares to trade at such exorbitantly high prices or should they split shares?
 

Why Aurobindo Pharma's share price is rising

In news from the pharma sector, shares of Aurobindo Pharma rose over 1% today.

This was on the back of the firm's joint venture company Tergene Biotech receiving a recommendation from CDSCO's expert committee for a grant of permission for the pneumococcal 15-valent (PCV15) vaccine.

Commenting on it, Aurobindo Pharma, in exchange filling, said,

The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), in the meeting held on 21 December 2022, has recommended the grant of permission to its joint venture company (JVC) Tergene to manufacture and market 15-valent Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Conjugate vaccine with the three-dose schedule for administration into the pediatric age group of 6, 10 and 14 weeks.

The vaccine was developed by Tergene Biotech and manufactured at AuroVaccines. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aurobindo Pharma.

Aurobindo Pharma holds an 80% stake in the joint venture company Tergene Biotech.

The company, through its 15 valent conjugate vaccines, is committed to protecting infants from pneumococcal disease by eliciting a strong immune response to each serotype covered in the vaccine.

Due to problems, including price pressure in the US, and strict regulatory requirements by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), Aurobindo Pharma is trading down by 49.6% so far in 2022.

To dwell deeper into the fall, check out Why Aurobindo Pharma's share price is falling.

L&T bags solar PV plant project

Moving on to the news from the engineering sector, shares of Larsen and Toubro jumped 1.2% today.

L&T Construction today received significant orders for its power transmission and distribution business in India and overseas.

The renewable arm of the business has received an EPC order to establish a 90-megawatt (MW) Floating Solar PV Plant at the Omkareshwar dam reservoir.

It is a large water body without much change in the water level throughout the year, in the Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh.

Apart from this, the company will undertake work for the development of distribution infrastructure under the revamped reforms-linked distribution scheme.

The scope of this loss reduction package includes asset mapping using a geospatial information system.

In the overseas market, the business has received two orders for EPC businesses. This includes an order for establishing 400 kilovolts (kV) & 225kV transmission lines in North Africa.

It has also won an order for building a 132kV substation in the coastal town of Bintulu in Sarawak, Malaysia.

Larsen & Toubro is an Indian multinational engaged in EPC projects, hi-tech manufacturing, and services. It operates in over 50 countries worldwide.

The company has rewarded investors with 10 bonuses over the last 7 decades and the CAGR over the last 20 years stands at an impressive 25.6%.

L&T has been an investor's favorite stock for a long time and also a stock that makes it to the top 5 infrastructure stocks.
 

Time Technoplast bags repeat order from Adani Total Gas

In news from the smallcap space, shares of Time Technoplast jumped 6% today.

The sudden rise in the stock came in after the company announced that it had received a repeat order worth Rs 750 million (m) from Adani Total Gas.

The order from Adani Total Gas pertains to the supply of CNG cascades made from Type-IV composite cylinders.

The delivery of these cascades will begin in January 2023.

The company received a similar order worth Rs 80 crore last year from a leading public-sector gas distribution company.

Time Technoplast is a multinational conglomerate with operations in Bahrain, Egypt, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, UAE, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. It is a leading manufacturer of polymer products.

Time Tech group operates more than 34 production facilities across the globe.

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