After opening the day flat, share markets in India witnessed volatile trading activity throughout the day and ended the day on a dull note. Losses were seen across most sectors with stocks in the auto sector and stocks in the consumer durables sector, leading the losses. While stocks in the IT sector gained the most.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 10 points (down 0.1%) and the NSE Nifty closed down by 5 points (down 0.1%). The BSE Mid Cap index ended the day down by 0.4%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day flat.

Asian stock markets finished mixed. As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng was up by 0.2% and the Shanghai Composite was up by 0.2%. The Nikkei 225 was down by 0.3%. European markets were trading on a negative note. The FTSE 100 was down by 0.1%. The DAX too, was down by 0.6% while the CAC 40 was down by 0.2%.

The rupee was trading at Rs 63.63 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 63.4 at the time of writing.

In news from global financial markets. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) trimmed the amount of its government bond purchases, triggering speculation that the Japanese central bank may wind back its monetary stimulus this year.

BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has repeatedly dismissed the chance of withdrawing stimulus any time soon, even as some policymakers have recently expressed concerns over the perceived demerits of monetary easing, especially the hit on financial institutions’ profit margins.

That has led to speculation that the central bank may have to consider raising its yield targets or slow purchases of risky assets later in 2018 and bringing Japan in line with a host of developed nations which have started to tighten policy, partly thanks to a synchronized uptick in global growth.

Minutes of the Japan central bank’s last policy meeting released late in December showed that a majority of policymakers agreed that central bank must persistently purse powerful monetary easing. But additional stimulus measures were unnecessary for now.