Asian shares are higher today as Japanese and Hong Kong shares show gains. The Nikkei 225 is up 1% while the Hang Seng is up 1.3%. The Shanghai Composite is trading down by 0.1%. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones industrial average rose sharply on Thursday, posting its sixth straight day of gains, following the release of weaker-than-expected US inflation data.

Back home, India share markets opened the day marginally higher. The BSE Sensex is trading up by 69 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 20 points. The BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index opened the day on a flat note.

Sectoral indices have opened the day on a mixed note with information technology stocks and energy stocks witnessing maximum buying interest. While, automobile stocks and power stocks have opened the day in red. The rupee is trading at 67.38 to the US$.

Bharti Airtel share price plunged 5.3% in the opening trade on the reports that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will approve Bharti Airtel's acquisition of Telenor India within a month, and the Vodafone India – Idea Cellular merger by June end, two deals which highlight the rapid consolidation under way in a brutally competitive market.

Asian Paints share price rallied 4.4% after the company reported a 4% YoY rise in consolidated profit at Rs 4.8 billion.

In the news from the FMCG sector. Nestle India Ltd, the local entity of Swiss packaged food maker Nestle SA., on Thursday reported a 38.2% increase in net profit for the quarter ended 31 March 2018, backed by lower cost of raw materials and other expenses.

Net profit for the January-March quarter stood at Rs 4.2 billion as against Rs 3.1 billion reported in the year-ago quarter. Nestle India follows a January-December year for accounting.

Revenue from operations grew by 6.3% during the quarter ended 31 March 2018, backed by volume growth, to Rs 27.6 billion from Rs 25.9 billion in the corresponding year-ago quarter. Its revenue from domestic market grew by 6.3% and exports by 6.2% during the quarter under review.