Indian share markets continued to trade on a positive note during closing hours of trade and ended the day higher. Gains were largely seen in the healthcare sector and FMCG sector, while metal stocks witnessed selling pressure.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 197 points (up 0.6%) and the NSE Nifty closed higher by 66 points (up 0.6%). The BSE Mid Cap index ended the day flat while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day down by 4%.

Asian stock markets finished on a mixed note as of the most recent closing prices. The Hang Seng stood up by 0.3% and the Nikkei was trading down by 0.6%. The Shanghai Composite stood higher by 0.4%.

European markets were trading on a positive note. The FTSE 100 was up by 0.2%. The DAX was up by 0.5% while the CAC 40 was up by 0.3%.

The rupee was trading at 72.79 to the US$ at the time of writing.

In the news from the aviation space, Jet Airways share price was in focus today on reports that the struggling airline is close to a deal with Indian conglomerate Tata Sons.

As per the news, the board of Tata Sons is in the midst of a meeting to vet a proposal to buy out the cash-strapped Jet Airways.

Share price of the company has also climbed up as much as 26% yesterday on the back of above news.

Note that last month reports stated that Jet Airways is trimming its workforce and operations further as it struggles through its financial crisis.

As per a leading financial daily, at least 15 people at manager or general manager level in departments such as engineering, security and sales have been asked to leave in October. It is also reported that the airline has grounded eight of its planes at the Mumbai and Chennai airports.

The company had also deferred announcing the June quarter numbers to an unspecified late date.

Amid rising concerns over the airline's financial health and proposed salary reductions for employees, Jet Airways chairman said a new committee would be set up to improve public perception.

Later, the company reported a whopping Rs 13.2 billion of net losses for the June quarter due to higher fuel cost, falling rupee and low fares. The company said it will monetize loyalty programme JetPrivilege and wet-lease some of its small aircraft to mobilize urgent working capital.

This was the second straight quarter of losses for the Naresh Goyal-run airline, which had last month publicly admitted to cash-flow issues. The airline had booked net profit of Rs 535 million in the year-ago period, while in the March quarter it had reported net losses of Rs 10.4 billion.

The airline said its fuel cost soared 53% to Rs 23.3 billion in the quarter, while low fares had revenue inching up to Rs 60.7 billion from Rs 59.5 billion.

On a consolidated basis, the net loss stood at Rs 13.3 billion, against a net profit of Rs 580 million a year ago.

The second back-to-back quarterly loss forced Jet Airways, which delayed the result announcement on August 9 indefinitely, to announce a turnaround plan which includes a capital infusion by selling a stake in JetPrivilege, and a massive cost-cutting to save around Rs 20-billion over the next two years.

To know more about the company, you can access to Jet Airways' latest result analysis and Jet Airways' 2017-18 Annual Report Analysis on our website.

It would be interesting to see how the above-proposed acquisition deal finalizes. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on all the developments from this space.

Moving on to the news from the finance space, HDFC share price was also in focus today. As per a leading financial daily, the company is set to raise up to US$ 1 billion through its maiden dollar bond sales which is likely to hit the market in January.

The company is planning to expand loans in the affordable or low-cost housing segment, a key focus area for the government, as it seeks to tap business potential on a new front.

In the news from the commodity space, crude oil was witnessing buying interest today on hopes that the US and China could resolve their trade dispute, after a news report said Washington would pause further tariffs on Chinese imports.

Also, prices rose on the back of expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) would start withholding supply soon.

As per the news, OPEC's de-facto leader Saudi Arabia wants the cartel and its allies to cut output by about 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd), around 1.5% of global supply.

However, while OPEC is considering withholding supply, US crude oil production reached another record high last week at 11.7 million barrels per day (bpd), according to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). So, this, on the other hand, is helping cap the sharp rise in crude oil prices.

Speaking of crude oil, India's crude oil production was lower by 4.2% in September 2018 as compared to last year, as can be seen from the chart below.

India's Increasing Crude Oil Demand Supply Gap

The worrying factor is this was the lowest production this year.

Here's what Tanushree Banerjee wrote about it in one of the recent editions of The 5 Minute WrapUp...

• Comparing domestic production with the crude oil processed by refineries gives an idea of the demand supply gap. Low domestic production as compared to the demand for crude oil places a huge burden on India's import bill.
  
  Rising crude oil prices could have severe implications. Rising inflation. Rising interest rates. Pressure on the government to cut excise duty, thereby impacting its revenues.
  
  We have seen some of this play out. With elections around the corner, expect a lot of subsidies on fuel prices. This is bound to worsen India's fiscal deficit further.

It would be interesting to see how this pans out. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on all the developments from this space.