Asian share markets are trading in a range today following the overnight fall in US shares as a disappointing forecast added to concerns about the health of the economy.

In US markets, Wall Street indices fell overnight as ongoing tariff jitters and a downbeat forecast from Walmart dampened investor risk appetite.

A broad selloff pulled all three major US stock indexes into negative territory, with the blue-chip Dow suffering the steepest loss, falling 1%.

The Nasdaq fell 0.5% while the S&P declined 0.4%.

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

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading lower by 48 points, while the NSE Nifty is trading around 22,890 levels, down 20 points.

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

M&M and Dr Reddy's Lab, on the other hand, are among the top losers today.

Broader markets are trading on a positive note. The BSE Mid Cap index gained 0.5% while the BSE Small Cap index advanced 1.4%.

Sectoral indices are trading mixed with stocks in the metal sector, realty sector and capital goods sector witnessing most of the buying.

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

Shares of Narayana Hrudayalaya, Oxford International, and LKP Finance hit their 52-week high today.

The rupee is trading at Rs 86.55 against the US dollar.

In commodity markets, gold prices are trading at Rs 85,815 per 10 grams today.

Gold prices are flat today but on track for an eighth successive weekly gain, driven by concerns over US President Donald Trump's tariff plans, which could spark trade wars and stoke inflation.
 

Vedanta Eyeing a Slice of the Nuclear Pie?

Billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Group is seeking bids from global firms to build 5 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity in India to meet the energy needs at its facilities.

Vedanta's current energy portfolio includes 9,000 MW of thermal and 4,000 MW of renewables under construction. It is aiming to expand the capacity to 20,000 MW in the next three years.

India will make legislative amendments to allow private firms in nuclear power generation, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said earlier this month while presenting the nation's budget.

This move by Vedanta comes after Tata Power said it will take up opportunities to set up small modular nuclear reactors.

Note that India is gearing up for a nuclear energy revolution. With a strong focus on small modular reactors (SMRs) outlined in the Union Budget 2025, the government is setting the stage for significant growth in this sector.

Russian nuclear giant Rosatom, with over six decades of expertise, has offered its services to India, potentially bringing SMRs to coastal regions.

The US and France have also expressed interest in collaborating with India to develop this technology, boosting India's ambitious goal of achieving 100 GW of nuclear energy by 2047.

With Rs 200 billion (bn) earmarked for SMR research and development, India's heightened focus on nuclear energy is opening up significant opportunities for stocks involved in this space.
 

PhonePe IPO

Walmart-backed digital payments firm PhonePe said yesterday that it has started preparing for a potential listing on the domestic bourses.

The fintech startup did not give a timeframe for the initial public offering (IPO), saying the plans got initiated after considering revenue growth and improvement in its path towards profitability.

This news comes after more than two years of PhonePe moving its headquarters from Singapore to India. Eventually, the company hived off each of its business ventures such as insurance, international payments, and insurance distribution as subsidiary entities under the parent firm.

PhonePe was last valued at $12 billion in May 2023 when it raised a major venture round from General Atlantic and Ribbit Capital among others.
 

TCS Partners with Salesforce

Tata group company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has announced a new collaboration with Salesforce to help customers in the manufacturing and semiconductor industries drive value from artificial intelligence.

As part of this collaboration, TCS launched three initiatives.

These include Semiconductor Sales Accelerator for increasing sales with data-driven insights; Seller for the Future for providing near real-time insights, predictive analytics, and personalised recommendations; and Digital Field Service to equip technicians on field with real-time information, predictive maintenance insights, and optimised scheduling.

Note that TCS is among the top high ROCE companies in India. For the year ended March 2024, TCS reported a return on capital employed of 69.5%.

Going ahead, the company's management has guided that they expect H2FY25 to be better in terms of revenue and profitability.

There are certain pockets of growth in sectors such as insurance, airlines, transportation, and manufacturing.

Shares of Tata Consultancy Services are down 5% in the last year.

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