Asian share markets are mixed today, despite strong gains on Wall Street, as weak economic data from China and rising inflation concerned investors.

The Nikkei is up 0.6% while the Hang Seng is down 0.8%. The Shanghai Composite is trading lower by 0.4%.

In US stock markets, Wall Street indices finished sharply higher on Tuesday, lifted by Apple, Tesla and other tech stocks after strong retail sales in April eased worries about slowing economic growth.

The Dow Jones jumped 1.3% while the Nasdaq Composite surged 2.8%.

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

Market participants are tracking shares of ITC, Pidilite Industries and Route Mobile as these companies will announce their March quarter results later today.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 273 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 84 points.

Axis Bank and Tech Mahindra are among the top gainers today. Power Grid, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index is up 0.8% while the BSE Small Cap is trading higher by 1.2%.

Barring metal, all sectoral indices are trading in green with stocks in the power sector and IT sector witnessing most of the buying.

Shares of ESAB and MRPL hit their 52-week highs today.

The rupee is trading at 77.54 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading down by 0.5% at Rs 49,913 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading down by 0.8% at Rs 60,650 per kg.

In news from the FMCG space, Tata Consumer Products wants to go on an acquisition spree to bolster its position in the country's competitive consumer goods sector.

As per reports, Tata Consumer is in discussions to buy up to five brands.

The food and beverage arm of the US$103 billion Tata group said it sees the firm's future growth coming from inorganic expansion.

Tata Consumer's CEO Sunil D'Souza said in an interview that it is engaging seriously with a number of companies where it sees decent valuations.

We are reaching out to potential targets to have a chat to see if there is interest.

There are places where valuations are high, but given the macro environment, given the liquidity, tightening etc., I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will become much more affordable.

Since its formation in 2020 during an ongoing streamlining of Tata's 153-year-old business empire, Tata Consumer has widened its portfolio by buying stakes in companies such as bottled-water business NourishCo Beverages as well as cereal brand Soulfull.

The Tata group is likely to face stiff competition in the sector from existing global giants such as Unilever, as well as Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, which plans to acquire up to 60 small grocery and household consumer goods brands within six months.

Interesting to note that Tata's expansion comes at a time when there are severe inflationary concerns as the war in Ukraine, national agri-commodities export bans, and choked supply chains push up input costs for consumer goods companies.

We will keep you updated on the latest developments in this space. Stay tuned.

Speaking of Tata Consumer, note that the company has become the most globalized company in the Tata Group with 70% of its revenues coming from international operations.

More people around the world drink Tata Tea than use Tata vehicles, Tata steel, or even TCS software!

Here's a look at how the company has performed on the stock market over the years.

Moving on to the latest developments from the IPO space, Ethos on Tuesday said it has raised around Rs 1.4 bn from anchor investors ahead of its initial public offer, which opened for subscription today.

The IPO consists of a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating to Rs 3.8 bn and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of up to 1,108,037 equity shares.

The luxury and premium watch retail player decided to allocate 16,13,725 equity shares to anchor investors at Rs 878 apiece, aggregating the transaction size to Rs 1.4 bn.

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, Jupiter India Fund, Saint Capital Fund, Nomura Singapore, and UPS Group Trust are among the anchor investors.

Ethos IPO, with a price band of Rs 836-878 a share, will be open for subscription during 18-20 May.

Ethos has the largest portfolio of premium and luxury watches in India and retails 50 premium and luxury watch brands like Omega, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger LeCoultre, Panerai, Bvlgari, H. Moser & Cie, Rado, Longines, Baume & Mercier, Oris SA, Corum, Carl F Bucherer, Tissot, Raymond Weil, Louis Moinet and Balmain.