Asian share markets opened on the back foot today, following overnight falls of Wall Street tech shares ahead of key US inflation data later in the day.

The Nikkei fell by 0.7%, while the Hang Seng was down by 1.4%. The Shanghai Composite is trading lower by 0.3%.

Stocks closed lower on Wall Street indices yesterday as disappointing earnings reports weighed on technology and travel companies.

The Nasdaq closed down on Tuesday after a dismal forecast from Micron Technology pulled chip makers and tech stocks lower as investors await US inflation data.

The Dow Jones fell by 0.2% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged by 1.2%%

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

Benchmark indices opened in the green today following the trend on SGX Nifty. But as the session progressed, gains were erased.

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading lower by 23 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading down by 5 points.

Sun Pharma and ICICI Bank are among the top gainers today.

NTPC and Wipro are among the top losers today.

Broader markets are trading on a negative note. The BSE Mid Cap index is down by 0.3% while the BSE Small Cap index is trading lower by 0.1%.

Sectoral indices are trading on a negative note with the exception of the healthcare and capital goods sectors.

Stocks in the IT and telecom sector witnessing most of the selling.

Tata Elxsi and Wabco India hit their 52-week highs today.

In the commodity markets, gold prices fall. Gold prices are trading lower by Rs 119. Currently, gold prices are trading at Rs 52,370 per 10 grams.

Note that gold prices have fallen and have taken quite a knock in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading lower at Rs 58,673 per kg. Silver prices too have fallen a lot in recent days.

The rupee is trading at 79.5 against the US dollar.

Speaking of stock markets, note that 2021 was a stellar year for share markets across the globe. Everyone around me was talking about share markets and how money was multiplying.

Due to lockdown and lack of other investment opportunities, people were investing huge sums in share markets. All the stocks were booming regardless of their fundamentals.

The concept of value investing seemed outdated.

Cathie Woods the founder and chief investment officer of ARK Investment Management LLC, made a name for herself by investing in disruptive technologies. Her fund delivered stellar returns in the post-Covid rally. At its peak, the returns were 3x.

But with the beginning of 2022, the situation started changing and markets started correcting. The rising stocks were now falling because of the changed economic scenario.

The ARK fund saw its downfall in 2022.

However, successful investor Warren Buffett had other plans. Berkshire Hathaway's holdings were on the rise in 2022. I guess this makes the difference between value investing and investing quite clear.

Below is the chart of the performance of ARK fund and Berkshire Hathaway in 2022 which clearly paints the differences between investing and value investing.

In news from the telecom sector, Bharti Airtel posted its Q1 results.

Bharti Airtel's consolidated net profit jumped over 5.6 times year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 16.1 bn in the first quarter of the financial year 2022-23, led by strong revenue growth and 4G customer addition.

Still, the telecom major's net profit was below the estimate of Rs 24.5 bn. In the same quarter last year, Airtel had posted a net profit of Rs 2.8 bn. April-June 2022 was the seventh consecutive profitable quarter for Airtel.

The company's healthy results came ahead of the launch of its 5G services in India later this month.

Airtel's consolidated revenue from operations during the quarter under review rose 22.2% YoY to Rs 328.1 bn; its average revenue per user (ARPU) grew 2.8% sequentially and by over 25.3% YoY to Rs 183.

Revenue growth got a boost from the 20% hike tariff hike by telecom companies last November.

At the operating level, the company registered 25.9% YoY growth in profit to Rs 166 bn, while the operating margin widened by 1.5% points to 50.6%.

Airtel continued to gain market share in the 4G segment and the company added 4.5 m 4G customers in the June quarter. Its total number of 4G customers now stands at over 205 m and they account for 63% of its customer base.

The average data usage per customer per month rose to 19.5 GB, against 18.8 GB in the quarter ended 31 March 2022.

The company said it added 8,000 towers in Q1 to augment its coverage and took initiatives to improve network quality and customer experience.

But the company's net profit was lower on a sequential basis due to a 12.4% increase in finance costs and a 77% drop in the share of profits from associates.

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