Asian share markets opened mostly higher today, extending rallies on Wall Street after a contraction of the US economy sparked expectations of a slowdown in Federal Reserve rate hikes.

The Nikkei rose by 4.5%, while the Hang Seng was down by 1.3%. The Shanghai Composite is trading lower by 0.2%.

US stocks on Thursday rallied for a second day as data showing a second consecutive quarterly contraction in the economy fuelled investor speculation the Federal Reserve may not need to be as aggressive with interest rate hikes as some had feared.

The Dow Jones rose by 1% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was up 1.1%

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

Benchmark indices opened higher today following the trend on SGX Nifty. Soon as the session progressed, gains were extended.

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading higher by 364 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading up by 121 points.

Tata Steel and Bajaj Finserv are among the top gainers today.

Sun Pharma and SBI are among the top losers today.

Bajaj twins rallied up to 10% yesterday after Bajaj Finance posted stellar results and Bajaj Finserv announced a stock split recently.

Tanla's share price is in focus after it announced its Q1 results. Tanla's share price is falling dramatically on the bourses post the result announcement.

Meanwhile, Zomato's share price, after falling for the past couple of days, is trading in the green today.

Broader markets are trading on a strong note. The BSE Mid Cap index is up by 1.1% while the BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 1.3%.

Sectoral indices are trading on a strong note with the exception of the healthcare sector.

Stocks in the basic material, power, and IT sector witnessing most of the buying.

Chartist Brijesh Bhatia believes it's a good time to buy the dip in IT stocks.

Navin Fluorine and Adani Total Gas hit their 52-week highs today.

In the commodity markets, gold prices fall. Today, gold prices are down by Rs 43 trading at Rs 51,261 per 10 grams.

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

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading higher at Rs 58,035 per kg. Silver prices have fallen a lot in recent days.

The rupee is trading at 79.4 against the US dollar.

The rupee finally sees a marginal rise and closed at 79.63 against the US$ yesterday.

In news from the mining sector, Vedanta posted its Q1 results.

On Thursday diversified natural resources company Vedanta reported a 6% rise in net profit at Rs 55.9 bn for the quarter ending 30 June 2022.

The company's consolidated revenue increased 36% to Rs 382.5 bn.

Vedanta recorded the best-ever Q1 EBITDA of Rs 107.4 bn and PAT of Rs 55.9 bn despite inflationary cost pressures.

On Thursday, the company's share price on BSE closed trading 0.8% higher at Rs 245.50.

In the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal, the company's depreciation and amortization increased by 16% YoY to Rs 24.6 bn on account of higher depletion charges in oil and gas and higher ore production at Zinc India.

In the reporting quarter, the finance cost increased by 2% YoY to Rs 12.1 bn, mainly on account of rising in average borrowings, partially offset by a reduction in the average interest rate of borrowings.

The company's gross debt rose by Rs 80.3 bn in the first quarter of the financial year 2023 to Rs 611.4 bn.

This might be the good news that investors were waiting for because the late Vedanta share price is falling.

In news from the transport company, Shriram Transport company posted its Q1 results.

Shriram Transport Finance Company, the flagship company of Shriram Group, has posted over a four-fold rise in net profit to Rs 9.7 bn during the first quarter of 2022-23, against Rs 1.7 bn in Q1 of the financial year 2022.

The company's total income for the quarter under review saw a 10.7% increase to Rs 51.5 bn, up from Rs 46.5 bn a year ago. The operating profit for the April-June quarter of the current financial year was up 26.2% to Rs 21.1 bn, against Rs 16.7 bn in Q1 of the financial year 2022.

Did you know that Shriram Transport Company witnessed a high level of insider buying in the past four quarters? In fact, Shriram Transport Company is one of the 4 stocks with a high level of insider buying.

In news from the insurance sector, SBI Life Insurance posted its Q1 results.

India's largest private sector life insurer reported a net profit of Rs 2.6 bn, an increase of 18% for the quarter ended 30 June 2022.

Value of new business (VNB) margin expanded to 30.4% from 23.7% a year ago. At this level, SBI Life trumps peers such as HDFC Life Insurance Company and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company on margins for the June quarter.

The robust VNB and VNB margin come on the back of a jump in business growth which is partly due to the base effect. The life insurer's new business premium showed a 67% YoY growth to Rs 55.9 bn for the quarter. On an annualized premium equivalent basis, business growth was 29%.

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