Asian share markets are higher today despite prevailing concerns about growth given rising inflation and interest rates.

The Nikkei is up 2.5% while the Hang Seng jumped 1.9%. The Shanghai Composite is trading higher by 0.6%.

In US stock markets, Wall Street indices ended mixed after the markets turned volatile in the final hour of trading.

The cc fell 0.3% while the Nasdaq Composite ended on a flat note.

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 Tech Mahindra, Eicher Motors, Balkrishna Industries, and Nazara Tech as these companies will announce their March quarter earnings today.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 398 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 136 points.

Sun Pharma and Titan are among the top gainers today.

Bharti Airtel, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index is up 1.7%. The BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 1.6%.

Barring telecom, all sectoral indices are trading in green with stocks in the automobile sector, healthcare sector and energy sector witnessing most of the buying.

Shares of Dhanlaxmi Fabric and Manav Yarn hit their 52-week high today.

The rupee is trading at 77.28 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading down by 0.1% at Rs 50,132 per 10 grams. Meanwhile, silver prices are trading at Rs 58,812 per kg.

Crude oil prices are up today but headed for their first weekly loss in three weeks as worries about inflation and China's Covid lockdowns slowing global growth outweighed concerns about dwindling fuel supply from Russia.

In the latest developments from the IPO space, the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) has called on the market regulator to ax OYO's initial public offering (IPO).

The trade body cited mounting losses suffered by the hospitality players over the years as one of the reasons.

FHRAI's vice president said in addition to engaging in anti-competitive business practices, OYO is a company that has consistently registered losses since its inception.

It may have raised a lot of money to become touted as one of India's most promising startups, but it hasn't done enough to manage the business on the ground as efficiently.

OYO has one of the highest ESOP pools of $1.1 Bn, which too is absurd.

According to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), the SoftBank-backed hospitality startup recorded Rs 39.4 bn in losses in fiscal 2021 compared to Rs 131.2 bn in fiscal 2020.

FHRAI went on to add that OYO's IPO would only wipe out public wealth while enriching its founders and key management.

FHRAI also drew attention to a slew of legal proceedings plaguing the hospitality major.

It remains to be seen what the market regulator does in this regard.

Moving on to stock-specific news...

Zomato is among the top buzzing stocks today.

Zomato's 10-minute delivery plan is being re-evaluated as the platform hasn't been able to meet the time target for all orders during its pilot in Gurgaon.

According to reports, the online food-delivery and restaurant booking company is facing hurdles such as a shortage of delivery fleet and intense heatwave in the North.

This has led to a limited delivery workforce, and caused delivery delays of 15-20 minutes, unlike the 10-minute commitment offered by Zomato Instant.

A Zomato spokesperson said,

The future course for the pilot is to deepen our penetration in Gurgaon before we scale this up to other cities and finetune a model that would work best for our restaurant and delivery partners.

Zomato Instant was close to launching services in Bengaluru this month, but the plan was put on hold.

Reports state that the instant trial was added to the ongoing inquiry by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) into Zomato and its peers.

Note that when Zomato rolled out this plan, many criticized the company for putting the delivery partner's life in danger while the Instant plan was also opposed by several restaurant chains.

Zomato Instant's launch and focus on 10-minute delivery were to get the ball rolling on ultra-fast food delivery. However, the company may settle for a longer time frame eventually.

Zomato's share price is currently trading up by 1.3%.

Speaking of Zomato, have a look at the chart below to see the wealth destruction in Zomato shares since listing.