Asian share markets opened higher today as investors took heart from strong US retail sector reports and worries eased over inflation.

The Nikkei rose by 0.8% while the Hang Seng was up by 0.3%. The Shanghai Composite is trading lower by 0.5%.

US equities went for a ride on Tuesday, ending the day mixed after bouncing around for most of the session as investors digested solid retail company earnings but disappointing housing data.

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

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

Benchmark indices opened in the green today following the trend on SGX Nifty. And as the session progressed, gains were extended.

The BSE Sensex crossed the mark of 60,000 after a prolonged wait.

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading higher by 296 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading up by 80 points.

NTPC and Bajaj Finserv are among the top gainers today.

Maruti and Kotak Bank are among the top losers today.

Broader markets are trading on a positive note. The BSE Mid Cap index is up by 0.6% while the BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 0.5%.

Sectoral indices are trading on a positive note, with the exception of the metal sector. The stocks in the utilities and power sector witnessed most of the buying.

Wabco India and SKF India hit their 52-week highs today.

In the commodity markets, gold prices rise. Gold prices are trading higher by Rs 56. Currently, gold prices are trading at Rs 51,893 per 10 grams.

Note that gold prices have fallen and have taken quite a knock in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading higher at Rs 57,800 per kg. Silver prices too have fallen a lot in recent days.

The rupee is trading at 79.3 against the US dollar.

Also, speaking of stock markets, at times when the share market has been consistently inconsistent, it's becoming increasingly difficult to predict the price pattern of any share.

Hence, it becomes important to have a system in place where your investments and returns, can also be regularised. This can be done by Systematic Investment Plans (SIP).

In news from the power sector, NTPC is about to raise funds.

State-run NTPC plans to raise up to Rs 50 bn through term loans and has sought bids from banks and financial institutions by 31 August 2022.

The proceeds of the loan shall be utilized towards capital expenditure for ongoing or new capacity addition including a takeover of projects, renewable energy projects, coal mining business, renovation, and modernization program of various projects, refinancing of loans, and general corporate purposes among others.

The bids would be evaluated on the basis of the quoted rate of interest.

The term loans of NTPC are rated AAA (Stable) by rating agencies like CRISIL, ICRA, CARE, and India Ratings.

In May also, the company had sought bids for raising term-loan of up to Rs 50 bn for capital expenditure for ongoing or new electricity generation capacity addition projects.

NTPC is one of the 5 Indian companies that are leading the green hydrogen revolution.

Further, in news from the finance sector, the promoter divests stake from HDFC Asset Management Company (AMC).

Promoter BRDN Investment Management, formerly Standard Life Investments, on Tuesday divested its 5.6% stake in HDFC Asset Management Company for a little over Rs 23 bn through an open market transaction.

According to bulk deal data available with the BSE, the promoter sold a total of 11.9 m shares.

The shares were divested at Rs 1,935.6 apiece, a discount from Friday's closing price of Rs 1,956.2. The transaction size aggregated to Rs 23 bn.

Despite the transaction, shares of the asset management firm rose 11.5% to settle at Rs 2,180.8 on the BSE.

HDFC AMC operates as a joint venture between Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) and BRDN Investment Management.

BRDN Investment Management, one of the promoters of HDFC AMC, held a 16.2% stake in the company while another promoter HDFC owned a 52.6 stake as of June 2022, according to the shareholding pattern data with BSE.

In September 2021, BRDN Investment Management divested a 5% stake in HDFC AMC through an open market transaction.

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