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Asian share markets are lower today as persistent worries about inflation and rising interest rates dogged the global economic outlook and fresh selling in technology stocks weighed on Chinese markets.

The Nikkei is up 0.7% while the Hang Seng plunged 1.7%. The Shanghai Composite is down 0.5%.

In US stock markets, Wall Street indices ended mixed on Friday after a volatile session that saw Tesla slump and other growth stocks also lose ground.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq logged their seventh straight week of losses last week, their longest losing streak since the end of the dotcom bubble in 2001.

The Dow Jones ended flat while the Nasdaq fell 0.3%.

Back home, Indian share markets have reversed early losses and are presently trading on a positive note.

Market participants are tracking shares of Zomato, Bharat Electronics and Birlasoft as these companies will announce their March quarter results later today.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 276 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 59 points.

Maruti Suzuki and Hero MotoCorp are among the top gainers today. Tata Steel, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index is up 0.6%. The BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 0.3%.

Sectoral indices are trading mixed with stocks in the metal sector, telecom sector and energy sector witnessing most of the selling.

The BSE metal index fell over 7% today as Tata Steel and JSW Steel plunged.

Auto and realty stocks are trading in green.

Shares of ESAB India and Adani Power hit their 52-week highs today.

For more details about 52-week high stocks, check out our recent article on the stocks hitting 52-week high and whether its time to exit them.

The rupee is trading at 77.62 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading up by 0.3% at Rs 50,978 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading up by 0.5% at Rs 61,695 per kg.

Crude oil prices rose in early trade today with US fuel demand, tight supply and a slightly weaker US dollar supporting the market.

In news from the commodities space, as per an article in The Economic Times, Indian basmati rice is getting a premium of US$20-30 (Rs 1,550-2,330) per tonne from countries in the Middle East.

This is due to rumours spreading out that New Delhi may put a ban on the export of the commodity to help cool local inflation.

Here's an excerpt from the report:

• Exporters have received communication from buyers to urgently ship the aromatic, long-grain rice, trade sources said.
  
  A firm price trend in global markets has pushed up domestic basmati prices by up to 15% in the last two weeks. The export price of basmati rice, which was $1,200 per tonne in November last year when the crop began arriving, cooled slightly but increased again in the past two weeks to $1,350.

Note that India had put curbs on wheat exports earlier this month to control the food grain's price, which has been rising due to worries over global short supplies amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

Though India is the largest exporter of basmati rice, in the last three years, India's basmati rice exports have been reducing.

This is mainly due to the falling rupee reserves in Iran and the sanctions imposed by the US. Besides this, trade policies in Europe have also led to a fall in sales.

In news from the banking sector, Punjab National Bank (PNB) is among the top buzzing stocks today.

Punjab National Bank has said it earned over Rs 6.5 bn by levying ATM transaction charges on customers during the financial year 2021-22.

Revenue earned by the public sector lender from ATM transaction charges stood at Rs 6.5 bn in financial year 2021-22, the bank said in response to an application seeking information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

PNB collected Rs 2.4 bn in the form of penalty imposed on customers who failed to maintain minimum balance or quarterly/monthly average balance in their bank accounts.

Going by the trend for the last four financial years from 2018-19 to 2021-22, it was revealed that the zero balance accounts in PNB have gone up steadily over these years.

Moving on to latest corporate earnings, Indiabulls Housing Finance reported a net profit of Rs 3.1 bn, which is 11.2% higher than Rs 2.8 bn reported in the same period a year ago.

The housing finance company's income from operations fell to Rs 21.9 bn in the quarter under review from Rs 23.7 bn a year ago.

For full year 2022, the company's net profit dipped to Rs 11.8 bn from Rs 12.1 bn in fiscal 2021.

Its assets under management (AUM) shrunk to Rs 722.1 bn in March 2022 from Rs 807.4 bn a year ago.

The company in a statement said AUM consolidation has ended in fiscal 2022 and the base has been formed. It's aiming for 10% growth in AUM for fiscal 2023, and 15% for the next two years.

Indiabulls Housing Finance share price is trading down by 2.2%.

Speaking of the finance company, have a look at the chart below which shows the company's dismal performance so far this year.

(Click on image to enlarge)

Shares of the company are down around 46% in 2022 so far.

We recently did an editorial on why this could have happened. You can read it here: Why Indiabulls Housing Finance Share Price is Falling.

To know more about the company, check out Indiabulls Housing Finance's financial factsheet and its latest quarterly results.