Asian stock markets are higher today as Chinese and Hong Kong shares show gains. The Shanghai Composite is up 0.4% while the Hang Seng is up 1.3%. The Nikkei 225 is trading down by 0.3%.

Back home, India share markets have opened the day on a positive note. Sectoral indices have opened the day in green with metal stocks and realty stocks witnessing maximum buying interest.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 81 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 35 points. The BSE Mid Cap index opened the day up by 0.4% while BSE Small Cap index opened up by 0.3%.

The rupee is currently trading at Rs 69.87 against the US$.

In the news from the energy sector, Reliance Industries share price is in focus today as the company's subsidiary Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited (RIIHL) entered into a binding agreement with renewable energy services company Kanoda Energy Systems Private Limited (KESL) for acquisition of equity shares for a cash consideration not exceeding Rs 750 million.

The said investment upon completion will translate into 88% equity stake in KESL on a fully diluted basis.

Reliance Industries share price has opened the day up by 0.5%.

In the news from the aviation space, Jet Airways share price is witnessing buying interest today as the cash-strapped airline is in talks with SBI for raising Rs 15 billion short-term loans to meet its working capital requirement and some payment obligations.

Reportedly, Jet Airways' strategic partner and Middle-east carrier Etihad, which holds 24% stake in the Indian full-service carrier, is likely to provide a guarantee for the loan.

The Naresh Goyal-controlled airline, which has posted three consecutive quarterly losses of over Rs 10 billion each since March, already has as much as Rs 80 billion of debt on its books as on September 30. Rating agency ICRA has already cut the rating on Jet Airways borrowing programmes.

Jet Airways has opened the day up by 2.6%.

Moving on to the news from the commodity space, oil prices edged higher, taking a cue from firm stock markets, but remain on track for the first yearly decline in three years amid concerns of a supply glut.

The US-China trade deal helped bolster sentiment, which has been battered by concerns over a weaker global economic outlook.

US President Donald Trump said he had a "long and very good call" with Chinese President Xi Jinping and that a possible trade deal between the United States and China was progressing well.

Meanwhile, imports of Iranian crude oil by major buyers in Asia hit their lowest in more than five years last month, as US sanctions on Iran's oil exports took effect.

Last Thursday, crude oil declined by 4.24% to US$ 52.16 per barrel after reports of an increase in US inventories. Oil prices fell to their lowest in more than a year on Thursday, a day after their biggest one-day rally in two years, pulled down by worries about the global economy and a supply glut.

Reportedly, US crude inventories rose by 6.9 million barrels to 448.2 million barrels on increased refinery output.

The United States has emerged as the world's biggest crude producer, pumping 11.6 million barrels per day (bpd), more than both Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that rising protectionism and the unpredictability of the US administration had greatly contributed to global oil price volatility over the past two years. Novak also said Russia would cut its crude output by between 3 and 5 million tonnes in the first half of 2019 as part of a deal between producers

Earlier this month, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies including Russia, agreed to curb output by 1.2 million bpd starting in January in a bid to clear a supply overhang and prop up prices.

Oil prices have been pulled down sharply since October by signs of an economic slowdown. Meanwhile, the two world's biggest economies, the United States and China, are locked in a trade war which is threatening to slow global growth and battering investor sentiment.

Speaking of crude oil, India's crude oil production was lower by 4.2% in September 2018 as compared to last year.

India's Increasing Crude Oil Demand-Supply Gap

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