Asian share markets opened higher today after Wall Street indices ended mostly up and with investors awaiting corporate earnings.

The Nikkei is trading higher by 0.8% while the Hang Seng is up 1.1%. The Shanghai Composite is trading up by 0.7%.

In US stock markets, Wall Street indices wobbled to a mixed finish as the market's momentum slowed down following its best week since July.

The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite closed higher with boosts from tech and communications companies.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones shed 0.1%.

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

Market participants will track shares of HUL, Nestle, ACC, ICICI Securities, and Tata Steel BSL as these companies will announce their September quarter results today.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 319 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 94 points.

L&T is among the top gainers today. ITC, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.

Both, the BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index have opened up by 0.8%.

Sectoral indices are trading on a mixed note with stocks in the IT sector and capital goods sector witnessing buying interest.

FMCG stocks, on the other hand, are trading in the red.

Shares of TTK Prestige and Sheela Foam hit their 52-week highs today.

The rupee is trading at 75.01 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading up by 0.1% at Rs 47,334 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading up by 0.5% at Rs 63,595 per kg.

Speaking of stock markets, in his latest video, Rahul Shah talks about why a simple portfolio beat quality bluechips by 2x.

In news from the IT sector, Larsen & Toubro Infotech (LTI) is among the top buzzing stocks today.

Mid-tier IT services company LTI's consolidated net profit rose 20.8% year on year (YoY) to Rs 5.5 bn for the second quarter.

Sequentially, net profit improved by 11%.

Consolidated revenue from operations during the quarter grew 25.6% to Rs 37.7 bn.

The company's CEO and MD Sanjay Jalona said,

• We are happy to report the strongest sequential revenue growth and best-ever Q2 of 8.9% in constant currency terms. As we cross the $2 billion annual revenue run rate, we continue to remain committed to growth in the future.

LTI's banking and insurance segment contributes nearly half of its business. During the quarter, the banking and financial services vertical grew 9.9%, while insurance increased by 5.6%.

LTI's attrition rate rose sharply to 19.6% during the quarter ended September 2021 compared to 15.2% in June 2021 quarter. Headcount was up by over 4,000 to 42,382 employees.

The company managed to add one client to its US$50 m bucket, three clients to its US$20 m category, and five clients to the US$10 m list.

It also declared an interim dividend of Rs 15 per share.

Larsen & Toubro Infotech's share price has opened the day up by 9.4%.

Moving on to news from the electric vehicles (EV) space, Tata Motors has claimed that the cost of batteries for EVs will drop to levels that will make them affordable in 2-3 years even if the government were to withdraw subsidies offered on EVs.

India's EV industry is thriving on an array of incentives provided by central and state governments to promote the faster adoption of eco-friendly vehicles.

If incentives from both channels are put together, the total benefit for an electric car buyer could amount to as much as Rs 3 lakh.

The central government offers subsidies under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles, or FAME II, scheme.

In a concall with analysts, Shailesh Chandra, president of the passenger vehicle business unit at Tata Motors said,

• Subsidies are going to be important for the next few years, but this will be required as long as battery prices are at a certain level.

He added that battery prices will come down rapidly in the next 2-3 years.

According to the US Department of Energy, the cost of EV lithium-ion battery packs has declined 87% between 2008 and 2021.

Tata Motors is working on electric versions of the Punch and the Harrier in the coming years as well as born-electric models, all of which will make up seven new product offerings by fiscal 2026, taking the total EV portfolio of 10 products.

The expected slide-in battery costs will benefit two and three-wheeler EV manufacturers as well.

Speaking of EVs, have a look at the chart below which shows the massive opportunity in the two-wheeler EVs.