Asian share markets are lower today as banking stocks fell, while bonds rallied and expectations for US interest rate rises were reduced after a surprise capital raising at a Silicon Valley startup unleashed fears of broader banking-system stress.

The Nikkei is down 1.5% while the Hang Seng is trading lower by 2.5%. The Shanghai Composite is trading lower by 1.2%.

Wall Street's three major indices closed lower on Thursday, with banking stocks leading in losses as investors also worried that jobs report could spur more aggressive interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.7% lower while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.8%.

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

Source: Equitymaster

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

Benchmark indices slumped today tracking weak global cues as banking stocks came under pressure... even the best bank stocks in India are falling.

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading lower by 718 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading down by 198 points.

Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki are among the top gainers today.

HDFC Twins and L&T on the other hand are among the top losers today.

Broader markets are trading on a negative note. The BSE Mid Cap index is down 1% and the BSE Small Cap index is trading lower by 0.7%.

Sectoral indices are trading on a negative note with stocks in the banking sector, and the auto sector witnessing heavy selling.

Shares of Hindustan Aeronautics and Blue Star hit their 52-week high today.

The rupee is trading at Rs 82.04 against the US dollar.

In the commodity markets, gold prices are trading lower by Rs 16 at Rs 55,285 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading lower by 0.8% at Rs 61,462 per 1 kg.
 

Is the worst over for Adani Group stocks?

The rally in Adani group stocks continued yesterday and remained unabated for the seventh consecutive trading session as investors looked beyond the allegations made in the scathing Hindenburg report.

Out of 10 Adani stocks, 5 of them - Adani Green, Adani Wilmar, Adani Total Gas, Adani Transmission, and Adani Power - ended higher by 5% at their circuit limits.

Following the up move, the combined market capitalization of all Adani stocks has crossed the Rs 9 trillion (tn) mark, but it is still half of what it used to be before the Adani-Hindenburg saga.

The rally in Adani group stocks, which began after the group started roadshows to convince investors of the strength of its balance sheets, got another shot in the arm last night after it was reported that Gautam Adani and his family prepaid all borrowings backed by the company shares.
 

Hindustan Aeronautics board to consider interim dividend

The board of Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) will consider a second interim dividend for the financial year 2022-23 today.

Ever since its listing in 2018, Hindustan Aeronautics has declared eight dividends to its shareholders.

Its five-year average dividend payout and dividend yield stand at 37% and 3.4%, respectively, making it the most attractive midcap government enterprise.

The company is all stacked up to pay good dividends in 2023. 

In the last year, shares of the company have zoomed by 105%.

Promoter group sells stake in Gokaldas Exports

Promoter group entity Clear Wealth Consultancy Services has sold a nearly 10% stake in Gokaldas Exports through the open market yesterday for Rs 2,350 million (m).

The transaction took place at a discount of 4% to the stock's previous close price. Shares of the apparel exporter ended lower yesterday.

As of December-end, Clear Wealth held over 20% stake in Gokaldas Exports. In September 2022, the promoter entity sold a 2.5% stake through the open market.

In separate deals, Aditya Birla Sun Life and Goldman Sachs bought shares of the company. Aditya Birla, through two of its funds, bought 7,69,230 shares for about Rs 300 m. The fund was not holding a stake in the company before.

Goldman Sachs bought 7,20,634 for Rs 280 m and raised its stake in the company. As of December end, it held a 4.7% stake.

The stock is quite popular among mutual funds. They cumulatively held a 21.9% stake in the apparel exporter as of December-end. SBI Mutual Fund, Tata Mutual Fund, Nippon Life, HSBC Mutual Fund, and Quant Mutual Fund are prominent domestic institutional investors.
 

Menzies Aviation selects Wipro

London-based Menzies aviation has selected Azim Premji-led Wipro to transform its air cargo services, the IT major said on Thursday. The move is aimed at improving Menzies' business efficiencies, employee experience, and customer service.

Within the top IT companies in India, Wipro will augur the British aviation giant's cargo technology transformation through increased automation, the statement said.

The partnership between Menzies Aviation and Wipro eyes to position the British company as the leading cargo handler in the world, thereby stemming the growth in its services and the use of new technologies. To fulfill Menzies' needs, Wipro's cargo handling was architected using cloud-native technologies.

Menzies will be rolling out the Wipro product to five air cargo locations - Bucharest in Romania; Wellington, Christchurch, and Auckland in New Zealand; and Macau in China - by the end of 2023, with further plans to fully implement it across its global network by the end of 2024.

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