Asian share markets are trading on a mixed note today as global financial shares retraced some of their recent losses, driven in part by higher bond yields, and investors awaited a closely watched Chinese factory activity survey.

The Nikkei is trading lower by 0.7% while the Hang Seng is trading down by 0.2%. The Shanghai Composite is down 0.6%.

In US stock markets, Wall Street indices ended down slightly overnight, with investors selling tech-related growth shares after US Treasury yields hit a 14-month high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 104 points or 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 14 points or 0.1%.

Back home, Indian share markets have opened on a negative note, following the trend on SGX Nifty and amid weak signals from Asian markets.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 445 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading lower by 116 points.

NTPC is among the top gainers today. HDFC Bank, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index has opened up by 0.1%. The BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 0.3%.

Sectoral indices are trading on a mixed note with stocks in the FMCG sector witnessing buying interest.

Banking stocks, IT stocks, and finance stocks, on the other hand, are trading in the red.

Shares of APL Apollo Tubes and Prism Johnson hit their 52-week highs today.

The rupee is trading at 73.48 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading down by 0.1% at Rs 43,870 per 10 grams.

The dollar rose to a fresh one-year high versus the yen and traded near multi-month peaks with other rivals as investors bet that massive fiscal stimulus and aggressive vaccinations will help the US lead a global pandemic recovery.

In news from the power sector, NHPC is among the top buzzing stocks today.

NHPC, a Miniratna Power PSU on Tuesday said that the Ministry of Power, Government of India has conveyed the approval of President of India on 30th March 2021, for the investment of Rs 9.4 billion for the acquisition of M/s Jal Power Corporation and construction of balance works of 120 MW Rangit-IV Hydro Electric Project located on river Rangit, in West Sikkim district of Sikkim, by NHPC Limited.

The above includes Rs 1.7 billion to be paid by NHPC for the acquisition of M/s. JPCL through Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP).

Shares of NHPC rallied as much as 8% yesterday on the back of the above news.

NCLT has already approved the resolution plan submitted by NHPC. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Hyderabad Bench had approved NHPC's resolution plan for taking over the Jal Power Corporation (JPCL) recently.

NHPC had submitted its resolution plan and was declared the successful resolution applicant by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) on 24 January 2020.

NHPC will make an upfront payment of Rs 1.7 billion and the cost of the project is considered as Rs 9.4 billion.

NHPC share price has opened the day down by 0.2%.

Speaking of the power sector, it is interesting to note that the power exchanged in India is about 4.5% of the overall power production, as can be seen in the chart below:

Moving on to news from the cement sector, UltraTech Cement on Tuesday said it has prepaid its long-term loans of Rs 50 billion.

The loan repayment has been done through free cash flows that the company has generated over the last few quarters despite the pandemic, the Aditya Birla Group firm said in a statement.

This is in line with the company's endeavor to maintain optimal capital structure, it added.

However, the company did not share the deadline by which the long-term loans were to be prepaid.

"The loan repayments have been done through free cash flows that the company has generated over the last few quarters despite the challenging circumstances and severe business interruptions during the first quarter of the current fiscal year," it added.

The company reported a revenue of Rs 406.5 billion in 2019-20 and is the largest manufacturer of grey cement, ready mix concrete (RMC), and white cement in India.

UltraTech Cement is also the third-largest cement producer in the world, excluding China, with a consolidated capacity of 116.8 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).

UltraTech Cement share price has opened the day up by 0.1%.