Asian share markets are down today following Wall Street losses as tech firms were hit by a report that Apple was pulling back on some investments over concerns about an economic slowdown.

The Nikkei rose by 0.8% while the Hang Seng fell by 1%. The Shanghai Composite is down 0.2%.

Wall Street indices ended lower on Monday after bank stocks erased earlier gains and Apple shares fell on a report saying the company plans to slow hiring and spending growth next year.

After posting solid gains to start the session following earnings from Bank of America Corp and Goldman Sachs Group Inc, the S&P financial sector weakened.

The Dow Jones fell 0.7% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was down by 0.8%.

Back home, Indian share markets are trading on a flat note, tracking mixed global cues.

Benchmark indices opened on a negative note following the trend on SGX Nifty.

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading higher by 50 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading up by 17 points.

M&M and Tata Steel are among the top gainers today.

Asian and L&T are among the top losers today.

Broader markets are trading mixed. The BSE Mid Cap index is up by 0.4% while the BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 0.5%.

Sectoral indices are trading mixed. Stocks in the healthcare and metal sector witnessed most of the buying. While FMCG stocks are trading in the red.

Shares of Siemens and Maharashtra Seamless hit their 52-week highs today.

In the commodity markets, gold prices fall. Today, prices are down by Rs 91, trading at Rs 50,270 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 55,568 per kg. Silver price to has fallen a lot in recent days.

In news from the FMCG sector, HUL's share price is trading lower today ahead of its Q1 results.

Speaking of HUL, here's some interesting data on the stock, between 2002 to 2010, HUL's stock price went nowhere...have a look at the chart below:

A Journey of No Returns in a So-Called Safe Stock

The stock was basically in an 8-year coma. The returns could barely even make up for the inflation.

However, over the 2010 to 2020 period, HUL delivered a whopping return of 30% CAGR!

Further in news from the auto sector, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) makes new investments.

Mahindra & Mahindra on Monday said it has hiked its stake in its Finland-based arm Sampo Rosenlew Oy to 100% with the acquisition of residual shares for over Rs 350 m.

In December 2020, the company increased its stake in combined harvester maker Sampo Rosenlew Oy to 79.1%with the acquisition of additional 1,050 shares for Rs 311.5 m.

Owing to the increased stake the shareholding and consequent voting rights of M&M in Sampo would increase from 79.1% to 100% of the equity share capital of Sampo and it would become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company.

The consideration for the new shares acquired will be paid in cash.

Sampo is known for its mid-sized combine harvesters in markets, including Europe and North Africa. It is also a joint venture partner of M&M for combined harvesters in Algeria.

M&M along with Sampo will jointly focus on the combined harvesters and specialty harvester business in Asia, Africa, Eurasian Economic Union countries, and Latin America.

The company's scale in tractors and Sampo's expertise in combine harvesters allow both to offer a broader product portfolio to address the needs of farmers in various countries, M&M said.

Sampo clocked a turnover of euro 52 million in the fiscal ended 31 March 2022.

Looks like M&M investors are getting a lot of good news these days. Owing to this news, M&M's share price is rising.

Moving on to news from the banking sector, IndusInd Bank plans to raise funds.

The private lender's board has approved a proposal to raise Rs 200 bn in debt to fund business growth.

Separately, the bank approved the re-appointment of Akila Krishnakumar as 'non-executive independent director' on the board and has scheduled to hold its 28th annual general meeting on 19 August 2022.

IndusInd Bank caters to both consumer and corporate customers. As of 31 March 2022, the bank's distribution network included 2,265 branches/banking outlets and 2,767 onsite and offsite ATMs.

The bank reported a 55.4% rise in standalone net profit to Rs 13.6 bn on a 6.1% increase in total income to Rs 97.6 bn in Q4 of fiscal 2022 over Q4 fiscal 2021.

IndusInd Bank's NPAs are also quite low. Did you know that IndusInd Bank is among the 5 Indian banks with the lowest NPAs?

More By This Author: