After opening the day on a negative note, Indian share markets continued their downward trend throughout the session and ended 0.6% lower.

The key benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty fell after data showed the country's retail inflation accelerated to a five-month high in September, stoking fears of further rate hikes by the central bank.

Traders remained cautious on expiry day as most indices lost ground ahead of key inflation data release from the US.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 391 points (down 0.7%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed down by 109 points (down 0.6%).

HCL Technologies, Sun Pharma, and Coal India were among the top gainers today.

Wipro, Adani Ports, and SBI, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 16,957 down by 148 points, at the time of writing.

Broader markets ended on a negative note. The BSE Midcap index dived 0.7% and the BSE SmallCap index ended down by 0.6%.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the healthcare sector, and the metal sector, witnessing buying.

On the other hand, stocks from the realty sector, banking sector, and finance sector witnessed selling pressure.

Among the best banking stocks, Axis Bank and Kotak Bank fell 2% intraday.

Shares of Raymond, Sun Pharma, and, ZF Commercial hit their 52-week highs today.

Divi's Lab share price fell today and has now recorded an 8% fall in the past few sessions.

Wipro, Axis Bank, and HDFC Bank were among the most active shares on the BSE today.

Asian stock markets ended on a weak note. The Nikkei ended down by 0.6%, while the Hang Seng was down 1.9%. The Shanghai Composite ended 0.3% lower.

The rupee is trading at 82.4 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading up by 0.4% at Rs 50,905 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading higher by 0.7% at Rs 57,325 per kg.

Speaking of stock markets, Rahul Shah talks about ITC's performance in the volatile market, in his latest video.

ITC has defied the trend in a market, where even the highest-quality firms have had trouble providing investors with favorable returns.

In news from the IT sector, Infosys post-market hours declared its results.

The company's revenues rose 23.4% YoY to Rs 365.4 bn. The net profit rose 11% to Rs 60.2 bn.

The company's board also approved the buyback of shares worth Rs 93 bn at Rs 1,850 a share.

The board also announced an interim dividend of Rs 16.50 per share.

In news from the engineering sector,  Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy's share price was among the top buzzing stocks today.

The share price of Sterling and Wilson slipped 4% after weak Q2 results.

The company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 2.9 bn, up 4% YoY from Rs 2.8 bn in the same quarter last year.

The net sales of the company dropped by 78.3% YoY to Rs 3.1 bn during the quarter, the lowest number in the last five quarters.

While the total income of the company dipped to Rs 4.1 bn in the quarter from Rs 14.7 bn in the same period a year ago.

However, for the September quarter of 2022, the total expenditure of the company fell by 60.6% to Rs 6.8 bn due to a 75.4% fall in raw material costs and a 55.3% YoY drop in other expenses of the firm.

The company also further reported borrowing of Rs 4.3 bn as against zero borrowing last year.

Apart from this, the company bagged an order worth Rs 22 bn from NTPC Renewable Energy for its proposed solar PV project.

The project scope of work includes design, engineering, supply, construction, erection, testing, and commissioning, along with a three-year operation & maintenance contract.

Due to persistent market volatility, shares of the company are trading down 24% so far in 2022.

Moving on to news from the insurance sector, Life Insurance Corporation's (LIC) share price was also in focus today.

Shares of LIC fell 1% after the insurance behemoth announced a stake sale in Power Grid Corporation.

LIC has sold over 2% of its holding in Power Grid Corporation over the past five months for Rs 30.8 bn.

There is a decrease of 2% in holding during the period from 18 May 2022 to 11 October 2022.

The shares were sold at an average price of Rs 220.40 per share during the period through an open market sale.

The state-owned company is engaged in electric power transmission, telecom, and consultancy services.

LIC is the fifth-biggest insurer in the world, and the assets under management (AUM) of LIC are over 3 times higher than all private life insurers combined.

Moving on to news from the sugar sector, shares of Ugar Sugar jumped 12% intraday after the company received consent for distillery operations.

The small-cap sugar player received consent for the operation of 645 kilolitres per day (KLPD) distillery.

Commenting on it, Ugar Sugar, in exchange filing said,

With reference to the above subject, we would like to inform you that the company has completed the establishment of 645 KLPD distilleries at the Ugar Plant.

The short-term outlook for sugar looks to be reasonably good on account of stable domestic prices, good export of sugar, and diversion to Ethanol. However, the ethanol supply and exports prove to be a silver lining for the industry in the years to come.

Meanwhile, the company embarked upon on major capex of Rs 2 bn spread over the last and current fiscal to enhance its distillery capacity from 75 KLPD to 845 KLPD.

Out of this project, the company has already completed a trial run of 155 KLPD in March 2022, and the balance of 645 KLPD is expected to be commissioned in October 2022.

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