Indian share markets finished the trading day on a weak note after retail inflation picked up to a seven-month high in October. At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex closed lower by 92 points and the NSE Nifty finished down by 38 points. The S&P BSE Mid Cap finished down by 0.22% while S&P BSE Small Cap finished down by 0.18%. Losses were largely seen in PSU stocks, capital good stocks and energy stocks.

Asian stock markets finished mixed to lower as of the most recent closing prices. Shares in China fell as the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.53%. The Hang Seng lost 0.10% while the Nikkei 225 in Japan closed unchanged. European markets are mixed today. The CAC 40 is up 0.31% while the FTSE 100 gains 0.13%. The DAX is even.

Rupee was trading at Rs 65.52 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 56.62 at the time of writing.

Oil prices fell as the prospect of further rises in U.S. output undermined ongoing OPEC-led production cuts aimed at tightening the market. The falls came after both crude benchmarks early last week hit highs last seen in 2015, but traders said the market had lost some momentum since then.

Oil prices has increased nearly 130% since January 2016. This is a typical capital cycle. And it gets interesting every time.

The expectation in the market is that prices could remain elevated owing to several reasons, such as drawdown in inventories, especially in the US, better compliance with the voluntary production cut by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), slower pickup in US shale oil and continued geopolitical risk in West Asia.

The OPEC is expected to extend a cut of around 1.8 million barrels per day into the whole of 2018. Since June 2017 onwards, prices of Brent have been on the rise, on the back of a drop in US crude inventories, geopolitical tension between OPEC countries, and disruption in production caused by the hurricane activity in the US.

Crude Oil Hits 28-Month High

From India's perspective, rising oil prices warrant close attention. This could lead to rising risks of fiscal slippage, greater inflationary pressures, and lower likelihood of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in December prompt investors to review their positions.

In news from the automobile sector, as per an article in The Times of India, Hero MotoCorp, is working on consolidating its position in some of the overseas markets with significant growth prospects as part of the strategy to grow its international business.

The company, with a presence across 35 countries, aims to sharpen its focus on markets like Bangladesh that have been performing well. The company plans on entering 50 international markets by 2020.

Early this year, the company forayed into Argentina, its 35th global market. It is already present in countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Egypt and Turkey in Asia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia in South America, among others.

The company also has set a target of achieving cumulative sales of 100 million units by 2020.

Hero MotoCorp share price finished the day up by 2.1% on the BSE.

In news from the economy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that there is scope for further rationalisation of GST rates and revenue buoyancy will decide the course of rationalization giving hint of further rationalisation of goods and services tax (GST) rates. He also ruled out single tax rate of GST, saying those seeking single rate have no understanding of tariff structure.

Jaitley said that with the rate cuts, the government is expecting the gains on a host of products- from cosmetics and razors to washing powder - to be passed on to consumers. He added that GST has brought down inflation.

Earlier in the biggest GST rejig yet, tax rates on over 200 items, were cut by the GST Council, to provide relief to consumers and businesses amid economic slowdown. As many as 178 items of daily use were shifted from the top tax bracket of 28% to 18%, while a uniform 5% tax was prescribed for all restaurants, both air- conditioned and non-AC.

Moving on to news from oil & gas sector. As per an article in The Economic Times, ONGC executives have protested the government move to give private firms control over some of its producing fields to boost stagnant output, urging the prime minister to review the proposal.

ONGC executives say the fields considered for private investment are among the better performing, and are receiving substantial funds for enhancing production. Losing them would mean a drop of about 15% in annual output, and scant return on investment.

The Oil Ministry has prepared a plan to offer 60% participating interest to private players in 11 fields of ONGC and 4 of Oil India, with an aim to raise production at these ageing fields.

ONGC share price finished the day down by 1.1%.

In news from telecom sector, as per an article in The Livemint, Bharti Airtel is planning to sell a stake worth about Rs 26.17 billion (US$400 million) in mobile masts operator Bharti Infratel Ltd.

Reportedly, Nettle Infrastructure Investments Ltd is offering to sell an about 3.5% stake in Bharti Infratel in a price range of Rs 400 to Rs 415.5 per share.

As of end-September, Nettle owned 7.7% of Bharti Infratel, while Bharti Airtel owned 50.3% of the tower operator. J.P. Morgan, UBS and Goldman Sachs are handling the share sale.

Bharti Airtel share price finished the trading day flat while Bharti Infratel share price finished down by 4.2%.

And here's a note from Profit Hunter:

Larsen and Turbo (L&T) is among the top loser in the Nifty 50 Index - 2.40%. Let's have a look at its chart.

The stock bottomed out at 677 in February 2016 and traded in an uptrend. It hit a high of 1,222 in May 2017. Thereafter, it consolidated in a range and found resistance from 1,260 level which was also the high made in March 2015 and July 2015.

Day before yesterday, the stock broke above this resistance level to touch a new lifetime high of 1,275. But it did not sustain up and immediately slipped lower. It is now 5% off its life high.

So does this indicate that the stock is about to begin its correction or will it challenge its life high and continue to trade in an uptrend. Let's wait and watch...

L&T off its Life High

(Click on image to enlarge)