Asian stock markets are trading on a mixed note today as investors tempered fears about inflation and the prospects of an early tapering of stimulus by the Federal Reserve.

The Hang Seng is trading down by 0.2% while the Nikkei is trading up by 0.5%. The Shanghai Composite is trading down by 0.4%.

In US stock markets, Wall Street indices rebounded on Thursday after a three-day slide, buoyed by gains in technology stocks as the smallest weekly jobless claims since the start of a pandemic-driven recession lifted sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7%, while the Nasdaq Composite closed up 1.5%.

Early Thursday, the Labor Department reported initial jobless claims fell to 444,000 in the week ended May 15. That was lower than the prior week's 478,000 claims and economists' forecasts for 460,000 new filings.

Back home, Indian share markets have opened on a positive note, following the trend on SGX Nifty.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 410 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 114 points.

IndusInd Bank is among the top gainers today. Power Grid, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index have opened up by 0.6% and 0.5%, respectively.

All sectoral indices are trading in green with stocks in the banking sector and oil & gas sector witnessing most of the buying interest.

Shares of TCI Express and TCNS Clothing hit their 52-week highs today.

The rupee is trading at 73.03 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading down by 0.3% at Rs 48,408 per 10 grams. Meanwhile, silver prices are trading down by 0.8% at Rs 71,779 per kg.

Gold eased today as optimism around a swift economic recovery lifted appeal for riskier assets, although a weaker dollar and growing inflationary pressure limited losses and kept bullion on track for a third straight weekly rise.

Among gold ETFs, Kotak Gold ETF and HDFC Gold ETF are among the top gainers today.

In news from the sugar sector, sugar stocks are in focus today.

India on Thursday cut sugar export subsidies by 31.4% for the current season which ends on 30 September according to a government order issued by the Ministry Of Consumer Affairs, Food And Public Distribution.

Last year, India, the world's biggest sugar producer behind Brazil, approved subsidies of Rs 5,833 per tonne to encourage cash-strapped mills to export 6 m tonnes of sugar in the current 2020/21 season.

The government subsidies for sugar exports now stand at 4,000 rupees a tonne, said the Ministry Of Consumer Affairs, Food And Public Distribution, without giving any reason for its decision.

The above move to give sugar export subsidies of Rs 5,833 a tonne spurred a flurry of overseas export deals. With the help of the subsidies, trade sources said dealers have contracted to export 5.7 m tonnes of sugar in the 2020/21 season.

Reports state that higher sugar exports from India will cut back large inventories at home and prop up domestic prices, which will help India's sugar mills.

Shares of sugar companies have opened on a negative note on the back of the above news.

Shares of Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Sakthi Sugars fell over 3% while E.I.D. Parry and Dwarikesh Sugar are trading down by 2%.

Moving on to news from the energy sector, HPCL is among the top buzzing stocks today.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) reported a net profit of Rs 106.4 bn on a standalone basis for the fiscal ended 31 March 2021.

This is 304% higher than the profit posted a year ago.

The company attributed the rise in profit to improvement in refinery margins helped by inventory gains and favorable exchange rate variations.

For the fourth quarter ended 31 March 2021, the company posted a net profit of Rs 30.2 bn as against Rs 268 m profit in March 2020.

It also reported an increase in total income to Rs 857.5 bn for the quarter under review. HPCL's total income was Rs 719.8 bn in March 2020.

The company earned US$ 8.11 on turning every barrel of crude oil into the fuel during the quarter under review. This is compared with a negative gross refining margin (GRM) of US$ 1.23 per barrel.

Inventory gains are booked when crude oil prices rise by the time a company processes oil into fuel. Losses are booked when the reverse happens.

During 2020-21, HPCL refineries at Mumbai and Visakhapatnam achieved a combined refining thruput of 16.4 m tonnes with a capacity utilization of 104%.

The company has also recommended a dividend of Rs 22.75 per equity share of the face value of Rs 10 each for FY21.

HPCL's share price has opened the day up by 7%.

Speaking of HPCL, have a look at the chart below which compares the yearly share price performance of HPCL with IOC and BPCL.

While Rs 100 invested in HPCL 1 year back turned out to be Rs 159, Rs 100 invested in IOC and BPCL would have fetched Rs 149 and Rs 152, respectively.

Note that shares of oil marketing companies (OMCs) have seen an up move in their share prices recently after petrol and diesel prices were hiked.