Photo by Yiorgos Ntrahas on Unsplash
 

Indian share markets witnessed volatile trading activity throughout the trading session and ended higher.

Continuing the positive momentum, benchmark indices jumped in early trade, with Sensex surging more than 300 points amid positive global cues.

As the session progressed, banking stocks came under pressure.

Also, the Bombay Stock Exchange today announced its plan to move the expiry day of Bankex derivatives contracts from Friday to Monday, effective from 16 October 2023.

New contracts of S&P BSE Bankex with Monday expiry will be generated at the end of the day on October 13, 2023, and will be available for trading with effect from October 16, 2023.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex ended up by 11 points (up 0.1%). Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 5 points.

Jio Financial and Tata Steel were among the top gainers today.

Power Grid and SBI were among the top losers today.

Check out the NSE Nifty heatmap to get the complete list of gainers and losers.

The Gift Nifty was trading at 19,335, down by 7 points, at the time of writing.

Broader markets ended on a positive note. The BSE Midcap index ended higher by 0.6% and the BSE SmallCap index gained 0.8%.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the realty sector and the telecom sector witnessed most of the buying.

On the other hand, stocks from the banking sector and power sector witnessed selling.

Shares of Bharat Bijlee and Escorts hit their 52-week highs today.
 

Titagarh Systems Receives New Order

Titagarh Rail Systems, formerly known as Titagarh Wagons, today said it has received a letter of acceptance for a Rs 3.5 bn contract from Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC) for the design, manufacture, supply, testing, commissioning, and training of 30 standard gauge cars.

The standard gauge cars are for the Ahmedabad Metro Rail Phase-II project.

It will be 10 trains of three cars each.

The Ahmedabad Metro Rail Phase-II project is being implemented by GMRC at a cost of Rs 135 bn. The project will add 28.2 km of Metro lines to the city's existing network.

Titagarh is making serious moves when it comes to numerous railway orders. The Kolkata-based company recently received a contract to supply 24 Metro trains for Phase-I of Surat Metro at a contract value of around Rs 8.5 bn from Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC).
 

Auction process of critical minerals

India is preparing to start the auction process for some 100 critical mineral blocks in the next four months, as part of plans to secure domestic supplies of the raw materials needed to fuel the green energy transition.

The blocks are for minerals including nickel, lithium, cobalt, and platinum, along with rare earths, Mines Secretary Vivek Bharadwaj said in an interview in New Delhi.

The legal framework has been laid out and the blocks have been identified, according to Bharadwaj. The tender seeking bids is expected to be out by December and auctions may start three months later.

Note that India is racing to ensure critical minerals security to power its ambition to make the country a key battery and electric vehicles manufacturing hub and help attain a net zero goal.

The country currently doesn't mine key materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel locally.

In order to incentivize global and local miners to participate in the process, the government is planning to reimburse half the cost of exploration. Companies may take at least three years to bring the mines into operation.

Some state-run companies like Coal India and NTPC have been scouring the globe for such assets and mapping out plans to mine the materials.

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