Asian share markets are trading higher today as Japanese and Hong Kong shares showed gains.

The Nikkei is up 0.6% while the Hang Seng trades lower by 0.6%. The Shanghai Composite is trading higher by 0.6%.

Wall Street indices rallied more than 1% on Friday as the Nasdaq notched its biggest quarterly percentage gain since June 2020. Signs of cooling inflation bolstered hopes that the Federal Reserve might soon end its aggressive interest rate hikes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.3% higher while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 1.7%.

Here's a table showing how US stocks performed on Friday:

Source: Equitymaster

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

Benchmark indices opened in green today, but as the session progressed gains were erased.

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading lower by 24 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading down by 5 points.

Maruti Suzuki and Bharti Airtel are among the top gainers today.

Tech Mahindra and HUL on the other hand are among the top losers today.

Broader markets are trading on a positive note. The BSE Mid Cap index is up 0.3% and the BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 1%.

Sectoral indices are trading on a positive note except for the IT sector and the FMCG sector. Stocks in the telecom sector and auto sector are witnessing buying.

Shares of Dr Reddy's Laboratories and Ultratech Cement hit their 52-week high today.

The rupee is trading at Rs 82.42 against the US dollar.

In commodity markets, gold prices are trading lower by Rs 307 at Rs 59,095 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading lower by 0.8% at Rs 71,615 per 1 kg.
 

Godrej Properties land parcel acquisition

Godrej Properties, the real estate development arm of the Godrej group, has acquired a land parcel spread over 4 acres near Koregaon Park, an upmarket residential area in Pune.

The company plans to primarily develop a luxury group housing project on this land parcel.

The proposed project will have a developable potential of around 7.5 lakh square feet with an estimated revenue potential of around Rs 10 billion (bn) based on the current business scenario.

Koregaon Park has an established physical and social infrastructure and offers excellent connectivity to all major social and commercial hubs of Pune city.

The land acquisition is in line with Godrej Properties' plan of strengthening its presence across key property markets of the country.

The company's aggressive shopping spree has resulted in high leverage on its books of accounts. The total debt of the company during the December 2022 quarter increased to Rs 25.9 bn. Debt has increased nearly 5 times in just four quarters.

Investors are wary of high-debt companies especially, after the Adani-Hindenburg saga. Hence, as of late owing to high leverage and a couple of other reasons Godrej Properties' share price was under pressure.

LIC increases stake in Bata India

India's largest insurance company, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has increased its shareholding in Bata India from 4.4% to 5%.

Apart from LIC, HDFC Life Insurance Company and ICICI Prudential Insurance Company held 2.2% and 1.2% stakes in Bata India as of the December quarter, according to data available on the BSE. An Indian subsidiary of Swiss multinational company Bata Corporation, Bata India manufactures footwear, apparel, and fashion accessories.

As of late LIC share price is falling because of a fall in market share.
 

HG Infra Engineering bags a new order

Construction engineering company, HG Infra Engineering, said that it had received a letter of award (LoA ) for a National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) project worth Rs 9,984 m.

According to the terms of the contract, HG Infra Engineering will be responsible for the construction of the 6-lane Greenfield Varanasi-Ranchi-Kolkata highway from Deoria village to Donoreshan village from km 253 to km 288 under Bharatmala Pariyojana in Jharkhand on Hybrid Annuity Model (Package-10).

The bid offered by HG Infra Engineering was Rs 13.011 m while NHAI's estimated cost of the project was Rs 99.8 bn.

The construction period allotted to the company is 730 days or approximately 2 years.

Last week, HG Infra emerged as the lowest bidder (L-1) for a project of Rs 6,770 m.

In January, the construction company received an LoA from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for a project worth Rs 3,990 m.

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