Asian stock markets are higher today as Chinese and Hong Kong shares show gains. The Shanghai Composite is up 0.6% while the Hang Seng is up 1.9%. The Nikkei 225 is trading up by 0.9%. Meanwhile, US stocks declined on Monday as an unexpected drop in China's exports reignited worries of a global economic slowdown and prompted caution as the corporate earnings season kicked off.

Back home, India share markets opened on a firm note. The BSE Sensex is trading up by 159 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 48 points. Both, the BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index opened up by 0.3%.

All sectoral indices have opened the day in green with oil & gas stocks and IT stocks witnessing maximum buying interest.

The rupee is currently trading at Rs 70.77 against the US$.

Speaking of benchmark indices in the year 2018, Sensex closed the year at 36,068.

A year ago, on the last trading day of 2017, the Sensex had closed at 34,057.

That's a 6% gain for the Sensex in 2018.

For equities, that's not a good enough return. Your money could have done better parked in fixed deposits.

The Story of Sensex 2018

Most investors have seen their investments diminish in value during the year.

In fact, the total market value of all listed companies on the BSE declined 5% to Rs 144.1 trillion from Rs 151.7 trillion at the end of 2017.

In other words, wealth worth Rs 7.6 trillion, which is more than the market cap of Tata Consultancy Services or Reliance Industries, was wiped out during the year.

In the news from the economy. India's retail inflation and wholesale inflation fell to multi-month lows in December amid signs of weakening economic recovery.

The fall in numbers paves the way for the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy committee to cut interest rates at its meeting on 7 February.

As per the data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), consumer price index (CPI) based inflation stood at an 18-month low of 2.2% in December against 2.3% a month ago, as food prices continued to slide.

The wholesale price index (WPI) data released earlier in the day by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion showed that wholesale price inflation decelerated to an eight-month low of 3.8% from 4.6% the previous month. WPI fell on the back of softening inflation for fuel as well as manufactured items.

While the Indian crude basket declined to US$57.8 billion per barrel in December from US$65 billion per barrel a month ago, the rupee appreciated to 70.72 per dollar in December from 71.79 per dollar in the previous month, slowing fuel inflation.

Reportedly, slower-than-expected economic growth projection and a benign inflation scenario may force RBI under its new governor Shaktikanta Das to change its stance and cut rates to support growth.

Further, India's factory output growth, measured by an index and industrial production (IIP), crashed to its lowest in 17 months at 0.5% in November. This was an outcome of an unfavorable base effect as well as contraction in manufacturing, the reports noted.

The CSO's full-year growth estimate suggests that in the second half (October-March) of 2018-19, the economy may slow down to grow at 6.75% compared to 7.65% in the first half (April-September).

Moving on to the news from the pharma sector. As per an article in a leading financial daily, Zydus Cadila has received the final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to market Betamethasone Dipropionate Cream.

Reportedly, it will be manufactured at the group's Topical manufacturing facility at Ahmedabad.

This medication is a strong corticosteroid and is used to treat a variety of skin conditions (e.g., eczema, dermatitis, allergies, rash).

The group also received final approval for Amlodipine and Atorvastatin Tablets in various strengths. It will be manufactured at the group's formulations manufacturing facility at SEZ, Ahmedabad.

This combination product contains two active ingredients - amlodipine and atorvastatin. Amlodipine is used to lower blood pressure and to treat chest pain. Atorvastatin is used in combination with diet and exercise to treat high cholesterol.

Note that, the group now has 245 approvals and has so far filed over 330 ANDAs since the commencement of the filing process in FY 2003-04.

Cadila Healthcare share price opened the day up by 0.6%.