Stock markets in India are presently trading on a flat note. The BSE Sensex is trading higher by 30 points and the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 10 points. Meanwhile, the BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index both are trading up by 0.6% & 0.5% respectively.

Among the sectoral indices, metal stocks and healthcare stocks are witnessing buying interest. While telecom stocks and energy stocks are trading in the red.

The rupee is trading at 69.86 to the US$.

There are some interesting trends about how the global markets performed last year and this year.

The BSE Sensex closed at 34,057 at the end of 2017. It gained 14% to hit a lifetime high of 38,897 on 28 August 2018. Thereafter, the Sensex has been in correction mode through September and October. However, after hitting a year-to-date low of 33,349 in the last week of October, the Sensex has reclaimed the 35k level.

While the Sensex has shed most of its gains in 2018, it still doesn't appear so bad in Indian rupee terms. But for foreign investors, the fall in the Sensex has been worse, because they're also exposed the currency risk.

The below chart shows the difference between the performance of the Sensex and the Dollex 30 index (Sensex in US dollar terms).

Dollex-30 Is Down 10% in 2018

You can see how the trend between the Sensex and Dollex-30 diverged since February 2018.

The Dollex-30 index has declined 10% in 2018 so far.

No wonder that foreign investors have been dumping Indian stocks. Since April 2018, foreign investors have sold equities worth Rs 565.5 billion. What is worth noting is that Rs 276.2 billion worth of equities were sold in the month of October alone.

Now, as the year 2018 draws to a close, in the latest edition of our stock market podcast, we talk about the investment strategy for 2019 and Richa Agarwal's 4 small cap stocks that we need to watch out for. Listen in to find out. Just visit SoundCloud, iTunes or Stitcher.

Pharma stocks are trading on a mixed note with Panacea Biotech & Divis Laboratories leading the pack of gainers. As per an article in a leading financial daily, Zydus Cadila has received the final approval from the USFDA to market Clindamycin Phosphate and Benzoyl Peroxide Gel, (US RLD-DUAC Gel), 1.2%/5%.

It will be manufactured at the group's Topical manufacturing facility at Ahmedabad.

This combination medication is used to treat a certain type of acne. It helps to decrease the number of acne pimples.

The group now has 242 approvals and has so far filed over 340 ANDAs since the commencement of the filing process in FY 2003-04.

At the time of writing, Cadila Healthcare share price was trading up by 0.8%.

Moving on to the news from the engineering sector. As per an article in a leading financial daily, Larsen & Toubro's (L&T) construction arm, L&T Construction's Power Transmission and Distribution Business has won orders worth Rs 20.8 billion.

On the international front, the business has won a major order in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the construction of 115kV Substations with associated transmission lines and cable circuits.

Reportedly, another order for 132kV cable works for a Substation has also been awarded in Dubai, UAE. EHV Substation orders have been received from reputed customers in Oman and Qatar. An order for a 275kV Substation order has been secured in the Sarawak state of Malaysia.

On the domestic front, the business has secured EPC orders from reputed developers to build 235 MW of Solar Photovoltaic power projects in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. Another order for a Rural Electricity Infrastructure Development project under the DDUGJY scheme has been awarded in West Bengal.

Notably, diversification continues to help L&T negotiate and get better terms and margins for projects. Apparently, this is because it is less desperate to win orders as compared to a company which are present in only a couple of sectors.

Its reputation, extensive technical prowess, and large skilled workforce have enabled L&T to command a certain premium from customers and vendors alike.

Whether a further addition to these new projects provides a cushion to its profitability will be an interesting thing to watch out for going forward.

At the time of writing, L&T share price was trading up by 0.4%.