Indian share markets traded on a positive note throughout the day and ended on a strong note. All sectoral indices ended the day on a positive note. Gains were largely seen in the IT sector, energy sector and realty sector.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 465 points (up 1.3%) and the NSE Nifty closed higher by 149 points (up 1.4%). The BSE Mid Cap index ended the day up 0.6% and the BSE Small Cap index ended the day up by 0.7%.

Asian stock markets finished on a positive note. As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng was up by 2% and the Shanghai Composite was up by 1.4%. The Nikkei 225 was up 1%.

The rupee was trading at 71.01 against the US$.

The Indian rupee came under pressure today, breached the crucial 71-mark against the US dollar.

From the IT space, Wipro share price was is focus today as the company said it will consider a bonus issue proposal in its board meeting to be held on January 17-18, 2019.

The company is also slated to announce its third-quarter earnings numbers on January 18.

The company has also announced a bonus of one share for each share held in June 2017 - its fifth issue of bonus shares in a decade.

Stocks of Zee Entertainment, Majestic Auto, KPIT Technologies, Network18 Media, TV18 Broadcast were also in focus today as these were among some of the many companies which announced their December quarter results today.

The fall in numbers paves the way for the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy committee to cut interest rates at its meeting on 7 February. Among many other factors, Indian share markets witnessed buying interest today on news that India's retail inflation and wholesale inflation fell to multi-month lows in December amid signs of weakening economic recovery.

As per the data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), consumer price index (CPI) based inflation stood at an 18-month low of 2.2% in December against 2.3% a month ago, as food prices continued to slide.

The wholesale price index (WPI) data released earlier in the day by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion showed that wholesale price inflation decelerated to an eight-month low of 3.8% from 4.6% the previous month. WPI fell on the back of softening inflation for fuel as well as manufactured items.

While the Indian crude basket declined to US$57.8 billion per barrel in December from US$65 billion per barrel a month ago, the rupee appreciated to 70.72 per dollar in December from 71.79 per dollar in the previous month, slowing fuel inflation.

Reportedly, slower-than-expected economic growth projection and a benign inflation scenario may force RBI under its new governor Shaktikanta Das to change its stance and cut rates to support growth.

Further, India's factory output growth, measured by an index and industrial production (IIP), crashed to its lowest in 17 months at 0.5% in November. This was an outcome of an unfavorable base effect as well as contraction in manufacturing, the reports noted.

The CSO's full-year growth estimate suggests that in the second half (October-March) of 2018-19, the economy may slow down to grow at 6.75% compared to 7.65% in the first half (April-September).

Also, speaking of macroeconomic data, note that India is said to be in the pecking order of strongest economies in another decade.

India in the Pecking Order of Strongest Economies in Another Decade