Share markets in India are presently trading on a negative note. Barring IT stocks and banking stocks, all sectoral indices are trading in the red with stocks in the metal sector, auto sector and oil & gas sector witnessing maximum selling pressure.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 169 points (down 0.5%), while the NSE Nifty is trading down by 43 points (down 0.4%). The BSE Mid Cap index is trading down by 0.3% and the BSE Small Cap index is trading on a flat note.

On Monday, the Sensex closed at 36,068.

A year ago, on the last trading day of 2017, the Sensex had closed at 34,057.

That's a 6% gain for the Sensex in 2018.

For equities, that's not a good enough return. Your money could have done better parked in fixed deposits.

The Story of Sensex 2018

In fact, the total market value of all listed companies on the BSE declined 5% to Rs 144.1 trillion from Rs 151.7 trillion at the end of 2017.

Meanwhile, the rupee is currently trading at Rs 69.60 against the US$.

In the news from the automobiles sector, Eicher Motors share price is witnessing selling pressure today after Royal Enfield, the motorcycle franchise owned by the company reported a 13% YoY decline in total sales at 58,278 units in December 2018.

Shares of the company declined around 5% on the back of the above news.

The company had sold 66,968 motorcycles during the same month last year.

Total motorcycle sales declined by 5.9% at 194,473 units, against 206,585 units sold in the previous year's quarter.

In another news, M&M share price is also in focus today.

Shares of Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) declined 4% on disappointing sales numbers for December 2018 due to tight liquidity and low buying sentiment.

According to reports, the company sold 17,404 units of tractors in December, down 6% as compared to 18,488 units sold in the same month last year.

Domestic tractor sales were down 2% YoY to 16,210 units, while exports sales almost halved to 894 units in the month of December against 1,633 units in the previous year.

Speaking of automobiles sector, India's auto sales slowed down in the last two months due to weak consumer sentiment because of high-interest rate, a spike in fuel price and insurance cost and liquidity crunch.

During H1 of FY18, the sector grew 11% in which CV & tractor segment expanding 34% and 13% while PVs grew by only 7%. On the other hand, higher rural participation has led the 2-wheeler & 3-wheeler segments to grow 36% and 10%.

Moving on to the news from the airline's sector, Jet Airways share price is in focus today as the cash-strapped airline has delayed on debt payments to banks led by SBI.

The debt-laden airline has delayed the payment to a consortium of Indian banks, led by State bank of India.

According to reports, the payment of interest and principal installment was delayed "due to temporary cash flow mismatch" and the company is in talks with the consortium. The deadline for the payment was December 31, 2018.

Last month, Jet was in talks with the SBI for raising Rs 15 billion short-term loans to meet its working capital requirement and some payment obligations.

Reportedly, Jet Airways' strategic partner and Middle-east carrier Etihad, which holds a 24% stake in the Indian full-service carrier, is likely to provide a guarantee for the loan.

The Naresh Goyal-controlled airline, which has posted three consecutive quarterly losses of over Rs 10 billion each since March, already has as much as Rs 80 billion of debt on its books as on September 30. Rating agency ICRA has already cut the rating on Jet Airways borrowing programmes.

Jet Airways has opened the day up by 2.6%.

Domestic airlines have been struggling to make a profit because of a rise in operating costs.

The new year began on a positive note for domestic airlines as state oil marketing companies (OMCs) slashed aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices by 14.7%.

Note that this is the second consecutive drop in jet fuel price and the sharpest cut since November 2008.

The surge in crude oil prices led to the domestic airlines posting a loss of 23.4 billion in the September quarter.

Reports state that in the first half of FY19, the listed airlines together lost around Rs 0.2 billion per day collectively registering a loss of Rs 36.4 billion.

Crude oil prices, however, are on a decline over the last few weeks over concerns of a supply glut.

It would be interesting to see how this trend follows in 2019. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on all the developments from this space.