Asian share markets are lower today following muted moves on Wall Street after Federal Reserve meeting minutes signaled that it's in no rush to cut interest rates.

In US markets, Wall Street indices ended modestly higher on Wednesday and the S&P 500 notched its second straight all-time closing high as investors scrutinized the minutes from the Federal Reserve's January policy meeting and digested US President Donald Trump's tariff plans.

The Dow gained 0.2% while the Nasdaq ended 0.1% higher.

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

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading lower by 421 points, while the NSE Nifty is trading around 22,820 levels, down 114 points.

NTPC, Hindalco, and Shriram Finance are among the top gainers today.

Maruti and HDFC Bank, on the other hand, are among the top losers today.

Broader markets are trading on a positive note. The BSE Mid Cap index gained 0.3% while the BSE Small Cap index advanced 0.4%.

Sectoral indices are trading mixed with stocks in the metal sector and power sector witnessing most of the buying.

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

Shares of Benares Hotels, TCPL Packaging, and UPL hit their 52-week high today.

The rupee is trading at Rs 86.81 against the US dollar.

In commodity markets, gold prices are trading at Rs 86,350 per 10 grams today.

Gold prices edged higher, hovering near their all-time highs as concerns persisted over US President Donald Trump's tariff strategies, which could fuel inflation and escalate a global trade war.
 

Alcohol Companies Spend Big on Capex

In the latest developments from the beverages space, India's largest brewers - United Breweries, AB InBev, and Carlsberg-said they will invest over Rs 35 bn to set up breweries in India in 2025, the highest capex announcement by them for a year in over a decade.

These three companies account for around 85% of the beer sales in India.

For the beer segment, India offers very attractive growth opportunities supported by demographics, with a growing and young population and an estimated 800 million people of legal drinking age.

While alcohol is still considered taboo in many states, there are still an estimated 140 million people in the beer-drinking population, according to reports.

The Chairman of United Breweries said they will invest Rs 7.5 bn to set up a new brewery in Uttar Pradesh, its first greenfield expansion in nearly 12 years.

United Breweries is engaged in the business of manufacture and sale of beer and non-alcoholic beverages.

The company markets its products under the flagship brands Kingfisher and Heineken.

Increased alcohol consumption driven by rising disposable incomes, presents a lucrative opportunity to capitalise for the company.

Here's how its stock has performed in the past 1 year -

Massive Investments Required in India's Power Sector

According to Moody's Ratings, India's power sector will need Rs 4.5-6.4 lakh crore of investment until FY35, which is annually 2% of real GDP over the next 10 years.

This investment is massive and could be funded by the public and private sectors as well as foreign and domestic capital.

Moody's also said the sector needs Rs 6-9 lakh crore annually over fiscal 2026-51, which is 1.5-2.0% of GDP over the tenure of 25 years.

The requirement is more than what China and Australia will be investing over the same period as a proportion of GDP, it added.

The agency projects an increase of around 450 GW of renewable energy capacity over this period would be insufficient to meet such demand, implying that the country's coal-based power generation capacity will continue to expand by 35% to around 295 GW over the next 10 years.
 

Hyundai Motor India Eyeing Big Exports

Moving on to latest developments from the auto sector, Hyundai Motor India is looking to position itself as a manufacturing hub for exports for emerging markets like Africa and neighboring nations.

The company is looking to diversify its export markets as it continues to face challenges regarding shipments to regions like the Middle East due to the Red Sea and other geopolitical issues.

Hyundai is also looking to enhance its exports to neighboring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.

Going forward, the company expects stable export volumes.

In the October-December quarter this fiscal, Hyundai exported 40,386 vehicles, as compared to 43,650 vehicles in the same quarter last year.

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