Asian share markets advanced today after the Federal Reserve lifted interest rates but played down any chance of a huge 75 basis-point lift in the near future.

The Nikkei is flat while the Hang Seng rallied 1.4% before erasing some gains. The Shanghai Composite is up 1.1%.

In the US stock market, Wall Street indices closed sharply higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by half a percentage point and said it would begin trimming its bond holdings next month as a further step in the battle to lower inflation.

The Dow Jones rallied 2.8% while the Nasdaq zoomed 3.2%.

The Federal Reserve yesterday delivered the biggest hike in interest rates since 2000 and announced it would start shrinking its massive balance sheet next month, deploying the most aggressive tightening of monetary policy in decades to combat inflation.

Back home, Indian share markets are trading on a firm note. Benchmark indices rose today tracking firm global cues.

Market participants are tracking shares of Adani Power, Dabur India, and Adani Transmission as these companies will announce their results today.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 487 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 154 points.

Bajaj Finserv and Tech Mahindra are among the top gainers today. Reliance, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index is up 0.8%. The BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 0.6%.

All sectoral indices are trading in green with stocks in the automobile sector, IT sector, and finance sector witnessing most of the buying.

Shares of Power Grid hit their 52-week high today.

The rupee is trading at 76.14 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading up by 1.3% at Rs 51,252 per 10 grams. Meanwhile, silver prices are trading at Rs 61,662 per kg.

Crude oil prices edged higher after the European Union proposed new sanctions against Russia that included an embargo on crude oil in six months.

Speaking of the current stock market scenario, amid the ongoing volatility, have a look at the two charts below, in the order, they have been placed:

Near Term Volatility in Sensex Compensated by Long Term Gains

The year-on-year change in the Sensex was hardly predictable but someone who stayed invested multiplied every lakh nearly 14 times.

Timing the markets could be suicidal as valuations and volatility put the markets in a see-saw mode.

As an individual investor, you need to sit tight over high conviction stocks and invest consistently to see the magic of compounding.

Because 2022 could be extremely profitable, over time, provided you reset your portfolio with the right kind of safe assets and safe stocks.

In news from the engineering space, ABB India is among the top buzzing stocks today.

ABB India on Wednesday posted over a two-fold jump in its net profit to Rs 3.7 bn in the March quarter compared to the year-ago period. This was mainly on the back of higher revenues.

The net profit of the company in the year-ago quarter stood at Rs 1.5 bn.

The company follows January to December financial year.

ABB's total revenue rose to Rs 19.7 bn in the quarter from Rs 16.3 bn in the same period a year ago.

The company's total orders surged to Rs 22.9 bn, the highest for the first quarter in the last five years.

The year also started with a healthy increase in export orders across multiple businesses.

Commenting on the performance, MD Sanjeev Sharma said,

All parameters have posted solid growth in the first quarter of CY2022. The surge in orders and one of the strongest order backlog in recent times, demonstrate the high preference for ABB products and the deep customer connect.

He added that ABB India's ESG commitments are on-track, and it published its first Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR) as a best practice in the industry.

The company's board also approved Monica Widhani as an additional director in the category of Non-executive & Independent Director effective 6 May 2022.

ABB India's share price is currently trading up by 8.1%.

Moving on to news from the IPO space, Delhivery has fixed the price band for its initial public offering (IPO) at Rs 462-487 per share.

Investors can bid for a minimum of 30 shares and in its multiple thereafter.

The company has allocated shares worth Rs 200 m to eligible employees, who will get a discount of Rs 25 per equity share during the bidding process.

The logistics service provider and supply chain startup slashed its offer size to Rs 52.4 bn from Rs 74.6 bn as planned earlier.

The company will issue fresh equity shares worth Rs 40 bn and existing shareholders and promoters will offload shares worth Rs 12.4 bn.

Delhivery is the largest fully integrated logistics services player in India by revenue.

It became a unicorn in 2019 when it raised US$413 m in a Series F round led by SoftBank Vision Fund. Delhivery provides a full range of logistic services, along with various value-added services.

In other news from the IPO space, the grey market premium (GMP) for LIC shares has plunged after the RBI announced a rate hike yesterday.

The GMP was on a steady rise from Rs 72 to Rs 85 to Rs 105 in the past couple of days. It peaked at Rs 125 on the first day of the IPO opening.

The GMP has now crashed to Rs 86.

Note that the rate hike came after four years after the MPC in April decided to do away with forwarding guidance and allow the central bank the flexibility to respond faster to economic conditions.

Market sentiment soured due to the rate hike and the benchmark indices crashed over 2% yesterday.

The situation seems to have normalized now as the markets are trading on a firm note today.

We will keep you updated on the latest developments in this space. Stay tuned.