After opening the day on a negative note, Indian share markets extended losses as the session progressed to end near the day's low.

Indian indices ended in the red for the second day in a row amidst negative global cues and fears of recession as central bankers continue to prioritize inflation.

US retail sales in November fell more than expected, suggesting higher borrowing costs and fears of an imminent recession are hurting household spending creating negative sentiment in the market.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 461 points (down 0.8%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 146 points (down 0.8%).

Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, and HUL were among the top gainers today.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Adani Ports, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 18,333, down by 127 points, at the time of writing.

Broader markets settled on a positive note. The BSE MidCap inched 1.4% lower while the BSE SmallCap index ended 0.9% lower.

All sectors ended on a negative note with stocks in the healthcare sector, IT sector, and realty sector witnessing heavy selling pressure.

Shares of Raymond, Aegis Logistics, and UCO Bank hit their 52-week highs today.

Asian share markets ended the day on a mixed note.

The Hang Seng inched up by 0.4%, while the Shanghai Composite index ended flat. The Nikkei edged 1.9% lower.

US stock futures are trading on a negative note. Dow futures are trading 0.9% down while Nasdaq futures are trading lower by 0.8%.

The rupee is trading at 82.8 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading higher by 0.1% at Rs 54,160 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading down by 1.1% at Rs 67,100 per kg.

Speaking of stock markets, PSU banks have rallied big time in recent weeks. But do you know the next big sector that is ready to go up?

The recent gains in PSU bank stocks have been stellar. Retail traders have made a lot of money in the short term.
 

Shriram Pistons to foray into the EV industry

In news from the auto sector, Shriram Pistons and Rings were among the top buzzing stocks today.

Auto component maker Shriram Pistons & Rings, on Friday, said its unit would acquire a majority stake in electric motor design and manufacturing firm EMF Innovations to foray into the electric vehicle mobility space.

SPR Ingenious Ltd (SEL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, is slated to acquire the stake.

However, the financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

This acquisition will enable the company to diversify EMFI's product portfolio by leveraging its technological and production capabilities and Shriram Piston's marketing, sales, and service strengths in India.

The overall goal of the acquisition is to gain leadership in the country's rapidly growing e-vehicles market while delivering high-quality customized e-mobility solutions speedily.

EMFI has been in this market for over 4 years now and has designed & developed products to meet local demands and to ensure cost-competitive solutions.

Note that the electric vehicle (EV) megatrend is a once-in-a-century revolution happening right in front of us.

The revolution has taken the auto sector by storm. All segments of the sector are ripe for disruption, and India's top EV stocks are set to benefit from this shift.

Take a look at the chart below, which shows the massive opportunity in two-wheeler EVs.

It remains to be seen how the above developments pan out.
 

Why Dr Reddy's share price is falling

Moving on to news from the pharma sector, Dr Reddy Laboratories plunged over 2% today.

Aurigene Oncology Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dr Reddy's Laboratories', today announced that it is pausing the clinical development of AUR-101 in the US.

This decision was taken due to lower-than-expected efficacy improvement with the AUR101 drug.

The molecule was under clinical trial phase 2. The decision to stop the trial was announced in an exchange filing by Dr Reddy after Aurigene reported the results of the Phase 2 trials of AUR 101.

Commenting on it, the CEO of Aurigene Oncology, Murali Ramachandra, said,

While the positive statistical results at 400 mg BID confirm the role of ROR? in psoriasis, other agents, such as IL-17 antibodies as well TYK-2 inhibitors, lead to better results. Given this, we believe that AUR101 will not add desirable benefits to patients with moderate to severe psoriasis. Therefore, we have decided to stop the clinical development of AUR101 as an oral drug in psoriasis. Pursuing AUR101 for other indications with suitable partners remains an option.

Following the news, the share price of the company saw a steady fall to around 3%.

The drug AUR-101 is safe in preclinical toxicology evaluations, at several folds of efficacious exposures in humans, and has also shown good pharmacodynamic modulation in earlier clinical trials.
 

Why oil and refineries stocks are rising

Moving on to the news from the energy sector, ONGC and Indian Oil hit over 5-months highs after the CESS on domestically produced crude oil was reduced.

On Friday, the Union government slashed the windfall tax on domestically produced crude oil and diesel effective 16 December 2022.

The Central government has reduced the windfall tax on domestic crude oil export to Rs 1,700 per ton from the existing Rs 4,900 per ton. The tax on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) has also been slashed to Rs 1.5 per liter from Rs 5 per liter.

The ministry also cut the rate on diesel exports to Rs 5 per liter from Rs 8 per liter in the fortnightly revision of the windfall profit tax.

After today's revision, the windfall tax on domestically produced crude oil has been lowered by almost 65%.

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