Asian share markets are lower today ahead of a crucial US inflation report that will likely influence the Federal Reserve's monetary policy path, with markets wagering another hike in interest rates at the central bank's next meeting.

The Nikkei is up 0.6% while the Hang Seng is trading 0.6% lower. The Shanghai Composite is trading higher by 0.5%.

Wall Street indices ended mixed on Tuesday, losing steam late in the session as investors awaited crucial inflation data and the unofficial kick-off of the first-quarter reporting season.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.3% higher while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 0.7%.

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

Source: Equitymaster

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

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading higher by 58 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading up by 30 points.

Adani Enterprises and Reliance Industries are among the top gainers today.

IndusInd Bank and ONGC 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 0.4%.

Sectoral indices are trading on a mixed note. Stocks in the realty sector and healthcare sector are witnessing most of the buying.

On the other hand, stocks in the oil and gas sector and power sector witnessed selling.

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

The rupee is trading at Rs 82.09 against the US dollar.

In commodity markets, gold prices are trading higher by Rs 386 at Rs 60,891 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading higher by 1.1% Rs 75,877 per 1 kg.

Now track the biggest movers of the stock market using the stocks to watch today section. This should help you keep updated with the latest developments...
 

Nestle India declares dividend

Nestle India's board met today and approved an interim dividend of Rs 27 per share for 2023. The company follows a January-December financial year.

The interim dividend for 2023 will be paid on or from 8 May 2023 along with the final dividend for 2022 after members of the company approve the same at the annual general meeting.

It has a dividend yield of 1.1% and paid an equity dividend of Rs 210 per equity share in the last 12 months.

The FMCG company will announce its first-quarter results on 25 April 2023.

For the December 2022 quarter, Nestle India posted a 66% year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit at Rs 6.3 billion (bn), while sales rose 14% YoY to Rs 42.3 bn.

In the past month, Nestle India's share price went up by 6.4%. On a YoY basis, it is up by 5.9%.

Did you know that Nestle India is one of the 3 stocks paying big quarterly dividends?
 

Tiger Global Management sells additional stake in Delhivery

After offloading a 1.7% stake in February 2023 and another 0.8% in March 2023, Internet Fund III Pte Ltd, the venture capital fund managed by US-based investment management company Tiger Global Management, on Tuesday sold additional 11.8 m shares of Delhivery for Rs 3.9 bn through the bulk deal.

Shares were sold at an average price of Rs 330. However, the buyers were not immediately known. As of December 2022, Internet Fund III held 4.7% of the logistic services provider.

Earlier in March, Japanese technology giant Softbank had also divested a 3.8% stake in Delhivery for Rs 9.5 bn through open market transactions.

The stock of Delhivery has more than halved from its peak seen in July last year, amid a sell-off in the new-age IT companies globally due to sky-high valuations.
 

BHEL-led consortium bags a new order

A consortium of Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) and Titagarh Wagons has been awarded the contract to build 80 sleeper Vande Bharat trains.

The listed PSU informed exchanges that it is the lead partner in the joint venture (JV) and will be supplying the trains over a period of six years.

The JV has won the order, however, the amount they'll be receiving from the national transporter would be much lower than what it had initially quoted.

Under the tender conditions for 200 Vande Bharat trains, the second-lowest bidder would have to match the price of the lowest bidder. Russia's Transmasholding (TMH) and state-owned Rail Vikas Nigam had quoted the lowest price of Rs 120 crore per trainset, which BHEL JV has agreed to.

These trainsets will be manufactured at the railways-owned integral coach factory (ICF) in Chennai. The maintenance of these trains will be done for 35 years.

Currently, Vande Bharat trains are running solely with seating facilities, which limits their ability to undertake long-distance journeys.

This order will also take the railways one step closer to introducing sleeper-class Vande Bharat trains, an announcement Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw made recently.
 

Ashish Kacholia picks stake in Venus Pipes

Ace investor Ashish Kacholia has picked up about 1.97% stake in multibagger stock Venus Pipes for about Rs 288 m through a bulk deal on Tuesday. The deal was executed at a weighted average price of Rs 720 per share.

Venus Pipes and Tubes manufactures stainless steel tubular products. The company offers welded and steel box pipes, heat exchanger and instrumentation tubes, pilgers, draw benches, and annealing furnaces. Its production facility is spread across 57,973 sq mt in the Kutch region.

Known as the Big Whale of stock markets, Ashish Kacholia publicly holds 43 stocks on the Street with a net worth of over Rs 17.9 bn. Some of the Marquee names in his portfolio include Vaibhav Global, Arvind Fashions, Stover Kraft, Gravita India among others.

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