Asian stock markets are trading on a mixed note today as investor focus turned to upcoming data from the American labor market.

The Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite are trading up by 1.1% and 0.4%, respectively. The Nikkei is trading down by 0.3%.

In US stock markets, Wall Street indices swung between gains and losses on Thursday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting struck a hawkish note, buoying cyclical sectors, while technology shares were mixed after suffering big losses this week.

The Federal Reserve is signaling it will raise rates more dramatically because of inflation concerns, which has sent jitters through a market priced to perfection.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.5% while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.1%.

Back home, Indian share markets opened on a positive note following the trend on SGX Nifty.

Benchmark indices extended gains as the session progressed today, following a sharp sell-off yesterday.

Investor sentiment has turned jittery yesterday following huge sell-off across global markets as fears of a faster-than-expected hike in US interest rates weighed on the markets.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 477 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 140 points.

ICICI Bank and Wipro are among the top gainers today. HDFC, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index is up 0.6%. The BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 0.7%.

All sectoral indices are trading in green with stocks in the banking sector, energy sector and consumer durables sector witnessing most of the buying.

Shares of Titan and KPIT Technologies hit their 52-week highs today.

The rupee is trading at 74.39 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading up by 0.1% at Rs47,489 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading up by 0.1% at Rs60,450 per kg.

Gold inched higher, hovering close to a two-week low hit in the previous session, after the chief of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the Omicron variant cannot be considered 'mild', while stronger yields capped bullion's gains.

Crude oil prices rose today as an uprising in Kazakhstan stoked worry that crude supply from the OPEC producer could be disrupted at the same time output has dropped in Libya.

In news from the insurance sector, HDFC Life on Thursday announced the closure of the acquisition Exide Life deal, which will pave the way for increasing its presence in the south India market. 

The private sector insurer acquired a 100% stake in Exide Life from its parent Exide Industries after issuing over 87 m shares at an issue price of Rs685 and a cash payout of Rs7.3 bn, aggregating to Rs66.9 bn.

Exide Industries now holds a 4.1% stake in HDFC Life.

The insurer said the deal is closed subsequent to receiving all relevant regulatory approvals and it will soon initiate the merger of Exide Life with itself.

In a statement, the company said,