Asian share markets rallied today in hopes that the current corporate earnings season will suggest companies are withstanding the impact of higher inflation and rising interest rates.

The Nikkei jumped by 2.3% while the Hang Seng rose 2%. The Shanghai Composite is up 0.4%.

US stocks closed with sharp gains on Tuesday as more companies joined big banks in reporting earnings that beat forecasts, offering respite to investors worried about higher inflation and a tightening Fed denting the corporate bottom line.

The Dow Jones rallied 2.4% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 3.1%

Back home, Indian share markets are trading on a positive note, tracking firm global cues.

Benchmark indices opened on a positive note following the trend on SGX Nifty and extended gains as the session progressed.

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading higher by 634 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading up by 190 points.

Tech Mahindra and IndusInd Bank are among the top gainers today.

ITC and M&M are among the top losers today.

HDFC Life's share price is in focus after it reported Q1 results yesterday.

Broader markets are trading on a positive note. The BSE Mid Cap index is up by 0.8% while the BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 0.9%.

Sectoral indices are trading on a positive note. Stocks in the IT and metal sector witnessed most of the buying.

Shares of ONGC and Vedanta hit their 52-week highs today.

In the commodity markets, gold prices rose today after a break. Today, prices are up by Rs 70, trading at Rs 50,390 per 10 grams.

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

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading higher at Rs 55,824 per kg. Silver price too had fallen a lot in recent days.

The rupee is trading at 79.92 against the US dollar.

The rupee fell and hit a new record low yesterday and closed at 79.94 against the US$.

Speaking of stock markets, 2022 will be marked in history as the year of the biggest fall in IT stocks. Any company, whether it was fundamentally good, all were taken to the cleaners in 2022.

However, the scenario started changing recently as IT stocks finally see a rise after the long fall. But is this it? Or this is just a little rise before they start falling again?

Since IT stocks interest you, check out our editorial on Infosys vs TCS.

In news from the mining sector, Vedanta has some good news for its investors.

Metals and mining major Vedanta announced a second interim dividend of Rs 19.5 per equity share on Tuesday, taking its total pay-out in two rounds of dividends announced so far in fiscal 2023 to Rs 189.6 bn. This is ahead of its total dividend paid in fiscal 2022, which stood at Rs 167.4 bn.

Vedanta's move comes close on the heels of the announcement by its subsidiary, Hindustan Zinc, last week of an interim dividend of Rs 21 per share.

Hindustan Zinc had said that its dividend pay-out would entail an outflow of Rs 88.7 bn. Vedanta has a 64.9% stake in Hindustan Zinc, while the Government of India holds 29.5% in the company.

The current round of dividend pay-out by Vedanta, on the other hand, would entail an outflow of Rs 72.5 bn. In April, the company announced its first interim dividend at Rs 31 per share, resulting in an outflow of Rs 117.1 bn.

The dividend announcements by Vedanta come at a time when Vedanta Resources, which owns 69.7% of Vedanta, has been looking to deleverage its balance sheet.

Vedanta was the top dividend-paying firm in FY22. This may be the good news that the market had been waiting for because of late, Vedanta's share price was falling.

In news from the telecom sector, Telecom Authority of India (TRAI) comes out with monthly results.

According to monthly subscriber data by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Reliance Jio gained 3.1 m, wireless subscribers, taking its mobile customer count to 408.7 m.

However, Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel added 1 m subscribers in May, taking its mobile user tally to 362.1 m. While, Vodafone Idea lost 0.7 m wireless subscribers, and its subscriber base slid to 258.4 m in the same period.

Earlier on 18 July, data published by the Department of Telecommunications said that Reliance Jio deposited Rs 140 bn as earnest money since it is participating for in the auction for 5G airwaves.

While Bharti Airtel deposited Rs 55 bn, Vodafone Idea deposited Rs 22 bn. Adani Data Networks deposited a small amount, i.e. Rs 1 bn only.

According to the Telecom Department data, based on the earnest money deposit, bidders become eligible and get points with which they can bid for spectrum. Reliance Jio has 159,830 eligibility points, Bharti Airtel has 66,330 points, Vodafone Idea has 29,370 eligibility points and Adani has 1,650 points.

So, Jio can bid for a spectrum worth a maximum of Rs 1.27 tn, Bharti Airtel can bid for a maximum of Rs 480 bn of the spectrum, Vodafone Idea for Rs 200 bn, and Adani Data Network Rs 7 bn.

The 5G spectrum auction is scheduled to start on 26 July and the government is expecting to collect Rs 800 bn to Rs 1 tn as revenue from its sale.

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