Major stocks in the Asian share markets traded mixed today following moderate losses on Wall Street after fresh data indicated inflation in the United States remained at a high level.

The Nikkei rose by 0.7% while the Hang Seng gained 0.2%. The Shanghai Composite is down 0.1%.

US stocks closed modestly lower on Wednesday after investors digested hotter-than-expected US inflation data, which fueled fears that the Federal Reserve could raise key interest rates by as much as 100 basis points later this month.

The Dow Jones was down 0.7% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was lower by 0.2%.

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

Benchmark indices opened on a flat note tracking the trend on SGX Nifty but extended gains as the session progressed.

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading higher by 267 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 77 points.

M&M and Titan are among the top gainers today.

TCS and NTPC are among the top losers today.

Bharti Airtel's share price is falling as the Adani group has announced its foray into the telecom sector.

Broader markets are trading on a positive note. The BSE Mid Cap index is up by 0.3% while the BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 0.3%.

Sectoral indices are trading on a positive note with the exception of the power and utility sectors. Stocks in the health care and finance witness most of the buying.

IT stocks, which were falling for the past couple of days, bucked the trend and are up today.

Shares of Siemens and Voltamp Transformers hit their 52-week highs.

In the commodity markets, gold prices are falling. Today, prices are down by Rs 128, trading at Rs 50,802 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 56,896 per kg. Silver price to has fallen a lot in recent days.

Cryptos and the speculations around them have left everyone confused. On one hand, the government does not identify as a legal tender and on the other hand, the returns were just too good to resist.

One of the very prevalent views on crypto is that it is just a scam. With no underlying value and no legal identification, it is believed that crypto is nothing but a bubble that will burst anytime.

In news from the finance sector, HDFC plans to raise funds.

Mortgage major HDFC will launch an issue of bonds on a private placement basis on Friday to raise up to Rs 50 bn. The secured redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) will bear an interest rate of 7.77%, payable annually, and has a tenor of 4 years 11 months, and 10 days.

The issue size is of Rs 25 bn with an option to retain an oversubscription of Rs 25 bn. The issue opens on 15 July 2022 and closes on the same day. Axis Bank is the arranger of the proposed bonds issue.

Note that the news of the HDFC and HDFC Bank merger seems to have negatively impacted the share price of both companies.

HDFC Bank's share price has seen a sharp decline in the share price after the merger news.

However, the fall seems temporary. Once investors see the synergies of the merger the share price may start rising again.

Further, in news from the FMCG sector, Dabur has made big investments.

Dabur India through its subsidiaries has acquired the entire stake in Bangladesh-based Asian Consumer Care from its joint venture partner Advanced Chemical Industries for about Rs 510 m.

Dabur held a 76 %stake in the firm before acquisition through its subsidiary Dabur International, while the remaining 24%was held by Advanced Chemical Industries.

Further, in news from the IT sector, Infosys also has some investment news.

On Wednesday, Infosys signed a definitive agreement to acquire Denmark-based BASE life science, leading technology and consulting firm in the life sciences industry, for up to € 110 million.

The acquisition is expected to close during the second quarter of FY23.

The life sciences vertical contributes 6.6% to Infosys' total revenues and it grew 16.2% year-on-year in constant currency for the March quarter.

Headquartered in Denmark, BASE has about 200 multidisciplinary industry experts across Denmark, Switzerland, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and a nearshore technology hub in Spain.

Together with Infosys, BASE is expected to further expand its portfolio of expertise into Consumer Health, Animal Health, MedTech, and Genomics segments. BASE collaborates with leading software technology providers in the life sciences industry such as Veeva, IQVIA, and Salesforce.

Continuing news from the IT sector, Mindtree posted its Q1 results yesterday.

On Wednesday Mindtree reported a net profit of Rs 4,720 m, up 37% year-on-year, in the June quarter. But the company's PAT was down 0.3% sequentially.

Revenue for the quarter grew 36.2% y-o-y at Rs 31,210 m for the first quarter of fiscal of 2023. Revenue was up 7.7% on a quarter-on-quarter basis. The company signed a total contract value of $570 million during the quarter, the highest ever for the company.

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