Asian share markets are mixed today as investors sought to digest the economic implications of China's Covid-19 policy adjustments and a rescue package for the country's struggling realty sector.

The Nikkei is up 0.1% while the Shanghai Composite is up 1.3%. The Hang Seng is the biggest gainer, up 3.6%

Wall Street indices ended lower on Monday, with real estate and discretionary sectors leading broad declines, as investors digested comments from US federal reserve officials about plans for interest rate hikes.

The Dow Jones fell 0.6% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 1.1%.

Here's a table showing how the top US tech stocks ended on Monday.

Back home, Indian share markets are trading on a negative note, following the trend on SGX Nifty.

Benchmark indices opened flat but fell as the session progressed tracking muted global cues.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 98 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading lower by 30 points.

UltraTech Cement and ICICI Bank are among the top gainers today. Tech Mahindra and ITC, on the other hand, are among the top losers today.

Both the BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap are trading flat.

Sectoral indices are trading on a mixed note with stocks in the IT sector, banking sector, and telecom sector witnessing most of the buying.

Meanwhile, stocks from the metal sector, finance sector, and FMCG sector are witnessing selling.

Shares of Azko Nobel and Adani Total Gas hit their 52-week highs today. The rupee is trading at 81.4 against the US$.

The rupee has sharply appreciated against the US dollar in recent sessions amid a fall in crude oil prices, dollar weakness, and sustained foreign fund inflows.

Gold prices are trading up by Rs 177 at Rs 52,895 per 10 grams. Meanwhile, silver prices are trading up by 0.4% at Rs 62,744 per kg.

Speaking of stock markets, there are two approaches to investing in penny stocks.

The first one involves finding the next big multi-bagger penny stock. However, it is a high-risk approach where you can lose a lot of money if you go wrong. The second approach is all about trying to minimize the downside first and then focusing on the upside.
 

Indian Hotels Share Price Under Pressure

When you discuss hotel stocks in India, certainly the first name to pop up is Tata group company Indian Hotels.

With a strong parentage from the Tatas, Indian hotels are among the best hotel stocks in India.

Strong earnings and aggressive expansion plans helped the Tata group company become one of the favorite stocks of 2022.

As things stand now, the company's share price has hit a roadblock after delivering sweet returns throughout 2022.

Indian Hotels' share price is down around 10% in the past five trading sessions.

Biocon Quarterly Results

On Monday, drug maker Biocon reported a 66% slump in consolidated net profit at Rs 469 million (about Rs 46.9 crore) for the quarter that ended 30 September 2022. The Kiran Muzumdar-Shaw-led company had posted a net profit of Rs 1,380 m in the year-ago period.

Sequentially, the company's profit slumped 67% from Rs 1,440 m in the June quarter.

The profit after tax (PAT) for the quarter under review was impacted by Biocon's decision to adopt the new tax regime notified u/s 115BAA of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Consequently, the company has written off a Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) balance of Rs 1,070 m in the current financial results, which can no longer be carried forward, it said in a regulatory filing.

Revenue from operations increased 26% to Rs 23.2 bn in the said quarter as against Rs 18.4 bn in the same quarter last financial year.

Further, Biocon's core earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were up by 34% at Rs 8,160 m, representing healthy core operating margins of 35% versus 33% in the same quarter last year.
 

PB Fintech Shares Sold Off

Tiger Management on Monday offloaded shares of Policybazaar's parent firm PB Fintech for Rs 5.2 bn through open market transactions.

PB Fintech operates an online insurance platform Policybazaar and a credit comparison portal Paisabazaar.

According to the bulk deal data available with the National Stock Exchange (NSE), funds managed by Tiger Global -- Tiger Global Eight Holdings and Internet Fund III Pte -- sold a total of 1,34,17,607 shares, amounting to 2.9% stake in the company.

Meanwhile, WF Asian Reconnaissance Fund acquired 50 lakh shares of the company.

Last week, Tiger Global Management divested a 3.5% stake in PB Fintech.

As of the quarter ended September, Tiger Global through its fund Tiger Global Eight Holdings owned 4.2% and through Internet Fund III Pte held a 2.9% stake in the company.

Policy Bazaar's share price was falling and this sell-off will just add insult to injury.
 

SEBI Approves Adani's Stake Acquisition in NDTV

The Indian markets regulator on Monday approved Adani Group's open offer to buy an additional 26% stake in broadcaster New Delhi Television (NDTC), a takeover attempt that has raised concerns over eroding press freedom in the world's largest democracy.

The Gautam Adani-led Adani group had revised the offer's rollout date to 22 November. It will close on 5 December.

Adani's initial plan was to launch its open offer last month but was delayed as it awaited the markets regulator's approval. The billionaire's ports-to-power conglomerate triggered a hostile takeover bid for the broadcaster after it acquired an indirect 29.2% stake back in August.

NDTV's founders - Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy - have opposed the takeover bid. They had claimed that both of them were completely unaware of the takeover and it was done without their consent.

Adani is now one step closer to gaining a larger footprint in India's media sector. To know more about the takeover read our editorial: Vikram-Betal: let me tell you a story...

Meanwhile, NDTV has reported an increase of 4.4% in consolidated net profit to Rs 130.3 m for the second quarter that ended 30 September 2022. The company posted a net profit of Rs 124.8 m during the July-September quarter a year ago.

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