Photo by Onkarphoto on Unsplash

Asian share markets fell sharply today following declines on Wall Street as the fastest inflation in 40 years drove US bond yields higher and raised expectations for steeper interest-rate hikes.

The Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite are trading down by 3.1% and 2.2%, respectively. The Nikkei is trading lower by 2.4%.

In US stock markets, Wall Street indices resumed their slide on Thursday, ending in the red as inflation hit a four-decade high, almost 8%.

This raised expectations that the US Federal Reserve would hike key interest rates at the conclusion of next week's monetary policy meeting to prevent the economy from overheating.

Looming uncertainties surrounding Russia's invasion of Ukraine also helped convince market participants to recommence their flight to safety.

While all three major indexes ended in the red, they pared their losses late in the day and closed well above session lows.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 112 points, or 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 126 points, or 1%.

Back home, Indian share markets have reversed early losses and are presently trading on a positive note.

Benchmark indices had opened lower tracking weak global cues, due to the US registering a 40-year high CPI level in February.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 276 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 68 points.

Sun Pharma and Axis Bank are among the top gainers today. Nestle India, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index is up 0.2%. The BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 0.8%.

Barring auto stocks, all sectoral indices are trading mixed with stocks in the automobile sector, banking sector and realty sector witnessing most of the selling.

Banking stocks will be eyed after RBI data showed that bank credit grew by 7.9% to Rs 116.27 lakh crore and deposits rose by 8.6% to Rs 162.17 lakh crore in the fortnight ended 25 February 25.

Meanwhile, sugar stocks are hogging the limelight after Reuters reported that Indian sugar mills signed contracts to export 550,000 tonnes of the sweetener in recent days, as surging global prices and a weak rupee made overseas sales lucrative.

Shares of Gujarat Narmada hit their 52-week highs today.

The rupee is trading at 76.28 against the US$.

Crude oil prices clawed back losses today but were on track for their biggest weekly drop since November after see-sawing on fears of escalating bans on Russian oil versus efforts to bring more supply to market from other major producers.

Gold prices are trading down by 0.7% at Rs 52,888 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading down by 0.5% at Rs 70,095 per kg.

Gold is set for a second weekly gain as talks between Russia and Ukraine made little apparent progress, although bullion saw a dip as elevated US Treasury yields on the back of inflation data assuaged its safe-haven appeal.

Yesterday too, gold fell as US Treasury yields rose while investors opted for riskier assets amid a retreat in crude oil prices after the United Arab Emirates said it would help increase oil production, making safe-haven bullion less appealing.

Speaking of gold, have a look at the chart below to see how gold has inched up ever since the Russia invaded Ukraine.

Gold Prices Inching up since Russia Invaded Ukraine.

(Click on image to enlarge)

In dollar terms, gold is up nearly 13% on a year-to-date (YTD) basis. In February 2022 alone it was up 6%.

To understand what our readers are thinking, we ran a poll on Equitymaster's telegram channel.

Here's what we asked our readers...

With Gold at US$ 2,000+, are you...

• A Buyer of Gold
• A Seller of Gold
• Maintaining Status Quo

With a response from over 750 participants, here is the final result:

(Click on image to enlarge)

Surprising, isn't it?

With gold rates hovering near all-time high levels, you might be wondering whether it makes sense to increase allocation or reduce exposure.

In news from the auto ancillary space, Exide Industries on Thursday said it has entered into an agreement with Chinese firm SVOLT Energy Technology for the manufacture of lithium ion cells.

As part of the agreement, Exide will commercialise the technology owned by SVOLT in lithium ion cells.

Additionally, the Chinese company will provide Exide with the support to set up a manufacturing plant. It's in advanced stage of discussions for finalising the land parcel for this facility.

Exide said it is in the process of forming a special purpose vehicle in the form of a wholly owned subsidiary for lithium ion cells.

The company has participated in the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for advanced chemistry cell (ACC) battery storage.

With headquarters in Jiangsu province in China, SVOLT is engaged in the production and development of lithium ion batteries and battery systems for electric vehicles as well as energy storage.

Exide already has a joint venture with Swiss firm Leclanche SA. With an R&D centre, the subsidiary Exide Leclanche Energy (under the brand Nexcharge) plans to build lithium ion modules and provide energy storage systems for EVs and grid-based applications.

Exide Industries share price is currently trading up by 2.2%.

Moving on to news from the pharma space, Lupin is among the top buzzing stocks today.

Drug maker Lupin has opened its first reference laboratory in East India in Kolkata.

The laboratory will act as the hub for Lupin's expansion plans in East India, where it is also setting up processing laboratories in West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa to cater to a market that is often overlooked by large diagnostic chains.

The new reference laboratory at Kolkata has capabilities to conduct a broad spectrum of routine and specialized tests in the fields of molecular diagnostics, cytogenetics, flow cytometry, histopathology, cytology, microbiology, serology, haematology, immunology and routine biochemistry.

These processing labs will be connected to Lupin's franchise collection centers, LupiMitra.

Lupin Diagnostics has more than 100 LupiMitra already enrolled for its East India operations.

Lupin launched diagnostic operations in December with 11 labs including a 45,000 square feet national reference lab in Navi Mumbai and 200 collection centres.

The company said it plans to open over 100 labs across and 1,000 collection centres across India in the next three years.

Shares of Lupin are currently trading 1% higher on the bourses.