Asian stock markets are trading lower today after US shares snapped a three-day rally and investors awaited a key US inflation report due later in the day.

The Nikkei fell 0.6% while the Shanghai Composite declined 0.3%. The Hang Seng is trading lower by 0.5%.

In US stock markets, Wall Street indices closed lower on Thursday as investors banked some profits after three straight days of gains and turned their focus toward upcoming inflation data and how it might influence the Federal Reserve's meeting next week.

The Dow Jones ended flat while the Nasdaq Composite plunged 1.7%.

Back home, Indian share markets opened on a flat note, following the trend on SGX Nifty. Benchmark indices are trading on a cautious note as investor await inflation data in India and the US.

The Rakesh Jhunjhunwala backed Star Health and Allied Insurance Company listed on the bourses today. The IPO of the company was open for subscription between 30 November to 2 December in the fixed price range of Rs 870-900 apiece.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 154 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading lower by 35 points.

Asian Paints and Sun Pharma are among the top gainers today. Titan, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index are trading higher by 0.2% and 0.7%, respectively.

Sectoral indices are trading mixed with stocks in the capital goods sector and automobile sector witnessing buying interest.

IT stocks and banking stocks, on the other hand, are trading in red.

Shares of Tanla Platforms and Vodafone Idea hit their 52-week highs today.

The rupee is trading at 75.61 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading up by 0.1% at Rs 47,993 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading down by 0.1% at Rs 60,776 per kg.

Gold edged higher but is headed for a fourth straight weekly fall as investors kept to the sidelines ahead of key US inflation data that could influence the Federal Reserve's next policy move.

Crude oil prices settled lower on Thursday on fears about the economic outlook in the world's biggest oil importer following rating downgrades to two Chinese property developers, and after some governments took measures to fight the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

In news from the pharma sector, Dr. Reddy's Lab is among the top buzzing stocks today.

Dr. Reddy's Lab on Thursday said it has launched Valsartan tablets, used for the treatment of high blood pressure and heart failure, in the US market.

The Valsartan tablet is the generic therapeutic equivalent of Diovan, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), the company said in a regulatory filing.

In other news, Dr. Reddy's Lab has sought permission from India's drug regulator to conduct a phase-3 clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Sputnik Light vaccine as a booster dose against Covid-19 in India.

Stating the Sputnik Light is the Component 1 of the Gam-Covid-Vac Combined Vector Vaccine (Sputnik V), P Madhavi, the Director-Regulatory Affairs at Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, proposed to use batches of the vaccine manufactured at Hetero Biopharma, Telangana, and at its loan license facility at Shilpa Biologicals in Karnataka for the phase-3 trial.

Sputnik Light has not yet received emergency use authorization from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).

Justifying the need for a booster dose six months after the second dose for all adult population instead of the high-risk population, Madhavi in the application said:

After getting vaccinated against Covid-19, protection against the virus may decrease over time and be less effective against the Delta variant.

Both Pfizer and Moderna had conducted their booster dose studies in the overall adult population demonstrating an increase in immunogenicity titres post-administration of the booster dose, Madhavi said.

Recently, Serum Institute of India sought from DCGI approval for Covishield as a booster dose citing adequate stock of the vaccine in the country and a demand for a booster shot due to the emergence of new coronavirus variants.

How this pans out remains to be seen. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on the latest developments from this space.

Shares of Dr. Reddy's Lab are presently trading up by 0.2%.

Moving on to news from the mutual funds space, inflows into equity mutual funds rose to Rs 116.2 bn in November, shows the monthly data released by AMFI.

The inflows can be attributed to the slight correction in the market recently.

The mutual fund industry registered net inflows of Rs 461.7 bn in November pushing the assets under management (AUM) of the industry to an all-time high of Rs 38 lakh crore at November-end.

This was the 9th consecutive month of net inflows. Equity mutual funds have been witnessing inflows since March this year on the back of a strong rally in the market.

According to experts, most of the investors found the correction in the market as a good entry point. Meanwhile, many preferred to stay invested which is evident from the low redemption numbers of Rs 174.8 bn compared to Rs 234.6 bn in October.

Within the equity segment, flexi cap funds saw highest net inflow worth Rs 26.6 bn.

The number of SIP accounts rose to 4.78 crore as on 30 November from 4.64 crore on 31 October, while the monthly SIP contribution breached the Rs 110-bn mark for the first time ever.

Speaking of SIPs, here's an interesting data...

If you had invested Rs 1,000 into a systematic investment plan every month into the Sensex between 2011 and September 2021, here's how your returns would look like.

An investment of Rs 1.3 lakh spread over 129 months would have swelled to close to Rs 3 lakhs.