Asian share markets rose today after dovish comments by a US policymaker led stocks to snap two days of losses.

The Nikkei is up 1.5% while the Hang Seng is trading up by 0.7%. The Shanghai Composite is trading higher by 0.2%.

US stocks rallied on Thursday, as treasury yields pulled back from earlier highs following comments from Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic about his favored path of interest rate hikes for the central bank.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.1% higher while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9%.

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

Source: Equitymaster

Back home, Indian share markets are trading on a positive note following the SGX Nifty trend and tracking positive global sentiment.

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading higher by 679 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading up by 202 points.

SBI and Power Grid are among the top gainers today.

UltraTech Cement and Sun Pharma are among the top losers today.

Broader markets are trading on a positive note. The BSE Mid Cap index is trading higher by 0.5% and the BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 0.6%.

Sectoral indices are trading on a positive note with stocks in the utilities sector, finance sector, and power sector witnessing heavy buying.

Shares of Jindal Stainless and Procter and Gamble Health hit their 52-week high today.

The rupee is trading at Rs 82.33 against the US dollar.

In the commodity markets, gold prices are trading higher by Rs 75 at Rs 55,814 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading higher by 0.7% at Rs 63,715 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...

Speaking of stock markets, often, retail investors get attracted to stocks trading at low prices.

From a fundamental point of view, the price of the stock by itself doesn't have a lot of importance.

But what about traders? Is there a good trading opportunity in low-priced stocks?

Also, to understand investor sentiment and what our readers are thinking, we ran a poll on Equitymaster's telegram channel

With majority votes, investors are still investing in stocks and mutual funds. It can be that they're looking for bargain buys amid the Adani stock's selloff. Now that the Adani stocks have also started to recover...
 

GOQ Partners buys equity stake in Adani companies

US-based boutique investment firm GQG Partners has bought a stake worth Rs 154.5 billion (bn) (about Rs 15,446 crore) in three Adani group companies through block deals, the conglomerate said on Thursday.

This makes the first major investment in the Adani group since a US short-sellers explosive report sparked a stock rout.

GQG Partners had investments in Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Adani Green Energy, Adani Transmission, and Adani Enterprises.

This transaction marks the continued confidence of global investors in the governance, management practices, and the growth of Adani group of companies.

Rajiv Jain, Chairman and CIO of GQG Partners, said the long-term growth prospects for these firms are substantial. Jefferies India was the sole broker for the transaction.

Speaking of the Adani group, Adani Ports, record a 10% year-on-year growth in cargo handled during February 2023. The company on Thursday announced its operational performance for the said month.

Amidst allegations and chaos in the Gautam Adani-backed empire, Adani Ports is among the few stocks of the conglomerate to witness buying sentiment.

Adani Ports was in the green for the past six trading sessions. But on a YTD basis, it has fallen by 19.4%.

PVR-Inox capex plan

India's top two multiplex chains, PVR and INOX Leisure have earmarked Rs 5-5.5 bn annual capex to open up to 170 screens every year, post-merger. The merged entity will start its journey with a network of over 1,500 screens.

The balance sheets of both companies were completely battered during the 18 months of the covid shutdown. The biggest rationale behind the merger was to make sure that the financial health of the two companies gets better.

While PVR opened a few luxury properties after the pandemic, premium cinemas make up 10-15% of its portfolio.

Refuting criticism around cinemas increasingly becoming a medium for the elite, Ajay Bijli - the managing director said average ticket prices at PVR haven't risen by more than 5% post-pandemic, which is lower than the inflation rate of 7%.
 

Zydus Lifesciences receives UDFDA approval

Zydus Lifesciences has received final approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Acyclovir Cream.

Acyclovir belongs to a class of medications known as antivirals. Acyclovir cream is used to treat cold sores (fever blisters; blisters that are caused by a virus called herpes simplex) on the face or lips.

The product will be launched shortly in the US market. The drug will be manufactured at the group's topical manufacturing facility at Changodar, Ahmedabad (India).

Acyclovir Cream had annual sales of US $ 16.9 m (about Rs 1,391.1 m) in the US.

Speaking of USFDA, Cipla's share price is under pressure following observations received from USFDA after the inspection of its Pithampur facility. 

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