Asian shares are trading on a mixed note today. The Nikkei 225 is down 0.26% while the Shanghai Composite is trading up by 0.17%.

Back home, India share markets opened the day marginally higher. The BSE Sensex is trading up by 24 points (up 0.1%) while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 7 points (up 0.1). The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.1%, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.2%.

Sectoral indices have opened the day on a mixed note with healthcare stocks and realty stocks witnessing maximum buying interest.

The rupee is trading at 71.91 to the US dollar.

Bharti Infratel share price will be in focus today as the company yesterday announced that its consolidated revenue, including that from Indus Towers, is expected to take a hit of around Rs 7.8 billion on annual basis, due to the exit of Vodafone and Idea Cellular from co-located mobile towers.

In the news from global financial markets, US President Donald Trump yesterday said that the United States was not yet ready to come to an agreement over trade disputes with China.

However, as per a leading financial daily, Trump said the trade talks would continue.

Note that last month, the Trump administration announced to impose 25% tariffs on imports of 279 items from China amounting to US$ 16 billion.

Both the countries have now slapped tariffs on US$ 50 billion of each other’s goods in a tit-for-tat trade war, and Trump is considering imposing tariffs on another US$ 200 billion in Chinese imports. The US Trade Representative said that the move is a part of the US’ response to China’s unfair trade practices related to the forced transfer of American technology and intellectual property.

How this trade war pans out remains to be seen. 

In the news from currency markets, the Indian rupee extended downtrend for the sixth consecutive session on Wednesday and hit yet another closing low of 71.75 against the US dollar.