On Tuesday, share markets in India opened in red and were rangebound throughout the day but arrested losses and ended on a flat note.

The BSE Sensex closed lower by 25 points to end at 32,609 while the broader NSE Nifty ended the day higher by 4 points to close at 10,234.

Among BSE sectoral indices, realty index rose the most by 0.8%, followed by oil and gas stocks at 0.7%. Cipla and Bharti Airtel, were among the top gainers.

Top Stocks in Action Today

Wipro share price is likely to be in focus today after the company declared its second quarter results yesterday.

The country's third-largest software services exporter, posted a 5.5% rise in second-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by an uptick in its banking and financial services segment.

Bajaj Auto will be among the stocks to watch today after the company reported a marginal decline in consolidated net profits in the second quarter results declared yesterday. Consolidated net profit stood at Rs.11.9 billion for the September quarter, 2017-18.

The Pune-based company had reported a consolidated net profit of Rs. 12 billion for the July-September period of last fiscal.

SIP Collections Continue Rise

Retail investors continued to pour money into equity mutual funds through Systematic Investment Plan (SIPs) during September. This comes as monthly collection through such schemes in September touched Rs 55 billion.

For the first six months of the current year, SIP collections rose 45%, compared with the same period last year, to touch Rs 292 billion.

Most of the above buying interest in mutual funds comes on the back of the recent uptrend in Indian equity markets. Note that the Sensex has been making new highs everyday of late. In fact, amongst all major indices, the Indian stock markets have given the best returns in 2017.

Back in March 2016, we had predicted Sensex to touch 40,000 within a 3 to 4 year timeframe. At this pace, it seems like Sensex might get there sooner rather than later.

However, this may not necessarily be a good thing. The current run seems to extrapolate all good news into the future and expects the ride to be smooth and consistent. But, history has shown that markets rarely work that way.

Also, note that earnings of Indian companies are currently unusually low. Even when measured against sales, the Sensex and the broader BSE 500 indices are close to their peak valuations.

Of course, some stocks could correct less than others. Blue chips, for instance, continue to trade at more reasonable valuations than small caps. Meaning their downside risk is less. But buying any stock at its all-time high, ignorant of the downside risk, could be a recipe for disaster.

In such an environment, it makes sense for investors to be selective while buying stocks and focus on value and the underlying fundamentals of the business.

Global Markets Upbeat Despite North Korea and Iraq Tensions

Global stock markets were more or less positive, even against the backdrop of rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula North Korea warned that a nuclear war "may break out any moment" as the US and South Korea began one of the largest joint naval drills off both the east and west coasts of the peninsula. Oil prices clung to this month's high on Tuesday after Iraqi forces seized the oil-rich city of Kirkuk from largely autonomous Kurdish fighters

IPO Buzz

MAS Financial Services is set to list on the bourses today. Last week, the company offered a portion of existing paid-up equity shares worth up to Rs 4.6 billion billion in the primary market.

The IPO of Gujarat-headquartered non-banking financial company (NBFC), which was opened for subscription during October 6-10, comprised of fresh issue of shares worth up to Rs 2.3 billion and an offer for sale of up to Rs 2.3 billion by existing shareholders.

The company's business and financing products are primarily focused on middle and low-income customer segments. We had analysed and reviewed the IPO and released a recommendation note. You can check the same on the IPO page.

Meanwhile, HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company received capital markets regulator's approval to raise an estimated Rs 75 billion through an initial public offering (IPO).

The insurance firm had filed draft papers with SEBI in August and obtained its "observations" on October 13, which is very necessary for any company to launch public offer.

The public issue comprises sale over 191 million equity shares, amounting to 9.5% stake, by HDFC Ltd and up to 108, scrips, or 5.4%, holding by Standard Life Mauritius, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) filed with the regulator.

Currently, HDFC owns 61.4% stake in HDFC Standard Life and Standard Life has about 34.8%, while the remaining is with employees and PremjiInvest.

IPOs are all the rage in the share markets these days. With new companies listing by the day, all with promises of superior returns.

However, we don't need thousands of IPOs to get rich. That's not how super investors make their fortunes. But a few good IPOs could certainly become the multibaggers in your portfolio in a few years.

We have reviewed each of them and have released their recommendation notes. You can check the same on their IPO page.