Indian stock markets ended over 1% lower on Friday as stock markets around the world continued to be under pressure.

Losses were seen across most sectors with stocks in the banking sector and stocks in the auto sector, leading the losses.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 407 points (down 1.2%) and the NSE Nifty closed down by 122 points (down 1.2%). The BSE Mid Cap index ended the day flat, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day up by 0.2%.

Results Corner

SBI share price is expected to be in limelight today after the bank reported a net loss of Rs 24.16 billion for the fiscal third quarter after setting aside funds to cover rising bad loans and losses on its bond portfolio. It had reported a net profit of Rs 15.82 billion in the September quarter. This was the lender's first quarter under the chairmanship of Rajnish Kumar, who took over in October.

Tata steel share price continues to gather momentum and is expected to be in action today as well after the company said third-quarter earnings jumped more than fivefold, replenishing the company's coffers as it plans to double production capacity in India. The company's profit rose to Rs 12.9 billion for the three months through December, from Rs 2.43 billion a year earlier.

HPCL share price finished the previous trading session down by 1.5% on the BSE. HPCL reported a 22.6% increase in profit from a year earlier to Rs 19.49 billion for the quarter ended 31 December. HPCL had posted a profit of Rs 15.9 billion in the December quarter a year earlier.

Top Stocks to Watch Out

Mahindra & Mahindra share price is expected to see momentum after the company said it will sell 22% of its stake in joint venture firm Mahindra Sanyo to Sanyo Special Steel Co Ltd for Rs 1.46 billion. MSSSPL is a joint venture (JV) between M&M (51%) India, Sanyo Special Steel Co Ltd (29%) Japan and Mitsui & Co Ltd (20%) Japan.

As per an article in The Economic Times, it is estimated that Electric Vehicles could emerge as a key segment in the overall automobile sector. Assuming a market share of 15% by 2030, EVs can result in incremental power demand of nearly 160 billion units by 2030. Coal India Limited (CIL) has commissioned this study to assess the future demand scenarios for the coal sector up to 2030.

Fortis Healthcare share price should see some momentum today after the company stated that its subsidiary Fortis Hospitals will receive back the Rs 4.73 billion loan it gave to certain companies by the end of the first quarter (Q1) of FY19. The company response comes after reports pointed out that the loan was given to companies that are a part of its promoter's group.

As per an article in The Livemint, Tata Global beverages defers its plan to sell 41% stake in Amalgamated Plantations. At least two leading tea producers, Kolkata-based Dhunseri group and M.K. Shah Exports Ltd, had shown interest in acquiring Tata Global's stake in Amalgamated Plantations, and held preliminary discussions with the seller. Amalgamated Plantations produces around 41 million kg of tea a year, of which 26 million kg is from its own crop.

IPO Segment

Aster DM Healthcare - one of the largest private healthcare service providers operating in multiple GCC states (Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf) based on numbers of hospitals and clinics - is coming with its IPO today.

The company has set the price band of Rs 180-190 per equity share for its IPO.

The company currently operates in all the GCC states, which comprises the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, in Jordan, India and the Philippines. The company's GCC operations are headquartered in Dubai, while the United Arab Emirates and Indian operations are headquartered in Kochi, Kerala.

After such stellar response to IPOs in 2017, all focus and attention will shift to the major IPOs in the upcoming new year 2018 which includes IPOs of HDFC Asset Management Company, NSE and IRCTC to name a few.

However, the market euphoria is something similar to what was seen in 2007-08. When everyone around you is clamoring to get a piece of the IPO pie, it makes sitting tight difficult. And, why should you sit tight when stocks like Avenue Supermart lets you pocket a cool 100% gain from day 1 of the listing?

History suggests that these cases are few and far between. More than 70% of the IPOs listed in 2007 and 2008 are in the red, even today when the Sensex is at an all-time high.

This allows us to stay on the fence when it comes to investing in IPOs. But it doesn't make sense to completely ignore this space. For every Reliance Power -like issue, there have been issues like Maruti, TCS, and Jubilant Foodworks Ltd (with returns over 4,000%, 1,000% and 500% respectively) that have created immense wealth for shareholders. A merit-based selection primarily including valuation, business, and management quality is the logical way to go about it.

Bitcoin Remains Stable

The price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is mostly remaining stable, despite major moves in the broader financial markets. Bitcoin has gained 0.26% over the last day, and has been mostly flat in recent days. The same pattern has been seen in other major cryptocurrencies, like ethereum and ripple.

US Markets Swing Back

The Dow climbed 330 points on Friday in another extremely turbulent day of trading. At one point the index was down 500 points. At another it was up 500.

Fears about inflation and soaring bond yields drove the Dow down about 1,300 points on the week. The 5.2% sell-off was the worst weekly decline in two years.

Although the weekly losses came close to the scary days of the crisis, the market and economy are in vastly better shape than in 2008. Unemployment is the lowest in 17 years, and the banking system has mostly healed. The recent turmoil follows a prolonged period of booming stock prices with virtually no sharp declines. Such a rapid rise is unusual, and market analysts long warned that a pullback was overdue.

Oil Prices Finish Lower

A crushing oil price rout extended into sixth day, with U.S. crude nearly falling below US$58 a barrel, as rising production, a strong dollar and a broad financial asset sell-off combined to weigh down the market.