Major Asian share markets opened lower today on renewed fears of interest rate hikes following hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve officials and economic concerns.

The Nikkei fell by 0.6% while the Hang Seng was down by 1%. The Shanghai Composite is trading lower by 0.1%.

US stocks dropped on Friday, snapping four straight weeks of gains, in a broad selloff led by mega-caps as US bond yields rose, with the S&P 500 posting losses for the week after four straight weeks of gains.

The titans of tech took a dive and feared the Federal Reserve may tighten monetary policy.

The Dow Jones was down by 0.9% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was down by 2%.

Back home, Indian share markets are trading on a negative note.

Benchmark indices opened in red today following the trend on SGX Nifty. And as the session progressed, losses were extended.

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading lower by 534 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading down by 180 points.

ITC and HUL are among the top gainers today.

Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bajaj Finserv are among the top losers today.

Broader markets are trading on a negative note. The BSE Mid Cap index is down by 1.2% while the BSE Small Cap index is trading lower by 1%.

Sectoral indices are trading on a negative note. The stocks in the auto and basic material sectors witness most of the selling.

Adani Power hit its 52-week high today.

In the commodity markets, gold prices fall. Gold prices are trading lower by Rs 129. Currently, gold prices are trading at Rs 51,350 per 10 grams.

Note that gold prices have fallen and have taken quite a knock in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading lower at Rs 55,141 per kg. Silver prices have fallen a lot in recent days.

The rupee is trading at 79.8 against the US dollar.

Speaking of stock markets, since December 2021, the Indian stock market has been seeing a massive downfall. A huge sell-off by FIIs, fear of global recession, geopolitical tensions, etc. were responsible for the drop.

Interest rate hikes by RBI were another sign that scared people. With the term recession being coined around every corner, laymen feared a slowed economy.

However, interestingly, the consensus opinion of all the economists surveyed by Bloomberg last month is this:

'India has ZERO probability of slipping into a recession'

The chart below shows the recession probability forecasts for various countries.

Hence, India is nowhere near a recession.

Now with recession out of the way, it is important to have an idea about which sectors to watch out for while investing in the stock market.

In news from the power sector, Adani Power is set to acquire thermal assets.

Gautam Adani-led Adani Power has agreed to buy the thermal power assets of DB Power (DBPL) for nearly Rs 70.2 bn enterprise valuation.

Both sides signed an agreement for the all-cash deal on Friday afternoon last week. The initial term of the MOU shall be till the completion of the acquisition on 31 October 2022, which may be extended by mutual agreement.

DB Power has 2 units of 600 MW each of thermal power in Janjgir-Champa district, Chattisgarh.

The proposed transaction is subject to receipt of approval from the Competition Commission of India and any other approvals as may be identified following the due diligence exercise to be conducted with respect to DPPL and DB Power.

Adani Power will hold 100% of the total issued, subscribed, and paid-up equity share capital and preference share capital of DPPL. While DPPL will hold 100% of DB Power on the closing date of the transaction.

Diligent Power (DPPL) is the holding company of DB Power.

Currently, DB Power has long and medium-term Power Purchase Agreements for 923.5 MW of its capacity, backed by Fuel Supply Agreements with Coal India and has been operating its facilities profitably.

The turnover of DB Power during the last three financial years was Rs 34.9 bn (for the financial year 2021-22); Rs 29.3 bn (for the financial year 2020-21) and Rs 31.3 bn (for the financial year 2019-20).

Adani Power is one of the 5 multi-bagger small-cap stocks with high promoter holding.

Further in news from the insurance sector, the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) witness a fall in death claims.

India's top insurance company LIC witnessed a decline of nearly 20% in death claims in the Q1 of the financial year 2022-23 with the Covid-19 impact seen to be ebbing. However, the amount is still higher than pre-2020 levels.

In the June quarter of the financial year 2021-22, the settlement of death claims was to the tune of Rs 71.1 bn, which for Q1 of this year was Rs 57.4 bn.

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