Stock Market Latest Updates: Sensex rises over 100 points, Nifty at 9,106; ITC, Asian Paints, Maruti among top gainers

Sensex rises over 100 points, Nifty at 9,106

Market ended on a positive note despite final hour profit booking that erased some of intraday gains.

The Sensex rose 114.29 points or 0.37 percent at 30,932.90 while the broader Nifty was up 39.70 points or 0.44 percent at 9,106.25. 

ITC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack surging over 7 percent. Other gainers included Asian Paints, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti, Bajaj Auto and Sun Pharma.
NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, HDFC and L&T were among the losers.

On the Nifty, Hindalco Industries, Asian Paints, Hero MotoCorp and Maruti Suzuki were among major gainers, while losers were Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, Bajaj Finance and Adani Ports.

Among sectors, except Nifty Bank, all other indices ended in the green. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rose over 0.5 percent each.

Bharti Airtel acquires strategic stake in AI tech firm Voicezen

GE Renewable bags 102.6 MW wind turbine project from Powerica

GE Renewable Energy on Thursday said it has bagged a 102.6 MW wind turbine supply deal from Powerica Ltd for projects in Gujarat.

"GE Renewable Energy has been selected by Powerica Ltd to supply 38 of its 2.7-132 onshore wind turbines to be installed at the Rajkot and Khambaliya wind farms in Gujarat, India," a company statement said.

Both projects were won by clean energy firm Powerica Ltd through a competitive bidding process organised by Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) and Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI), respectively and will have an output capacity of 51.3 MW each.

Hindustan Zinc net profit drops 33% to Rs 1,339 cr in March quarter

Vedanta group firm Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL) on Thursday reported a 33.4 percent decline in net profit to Rs 1,339 crore for the quarter ended 31 March.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 2,012 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19, Hindustan Zinc Ltd said in a filing to the BSE.

Its total income declined to Rs 4,861 crore in the January-March quarter, compared with Rs 6,030 crore in the year-ago period.

HZL Chief Executive Officer Sunil Duggal said, "Industrial activity across the globe is undergoing a level of disruption never seen since the Second World War. In these challenging times, our focus is business continuity and safety of people and operations and supporting our communities affected by the pandemic."

Gold futures drop marginally on weak global cues

Gold futures on Thursday fell 0.75 percent to Rs 46,776 per 10 gram as participants offloaded their holdings following weak trend overseas.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange, gold prices for the June delivery fell by Rs 355, or 0.75 percent, to Rs 46,776 per 10 gram in a business turnover of 2,854 lots.

The yellow metal for the August delivery declined by Rs 403, or 0.85 percent, to Rs 46,937 per 10 gram in 10,663 lots.

In New York, gold was trading 1.03 percent down at $1,734.10 per ounce.

Minimum air fare on Delhi-Mumbai route to be Rs 3,500: Hardeep Singh Puri 

HungerBox team supplies meals to daily wage workers 

The FeedmyBangalore startup was launched three days into the lockdown which was announced on 24 March 2020. The initiative feeds daily wage workers and their families living in camps/slums in Bangalore and Hyderabad.  
 

HungerBox,a food-tech firm has partnered with kitchens and is delivering meals every day as part of the FeedMyBangalore initiative and FeedMyHyderabad initiative.

Sandipan Mitra, CEO and co-founder of HungerBox, said, “One of the things we have quickly done is absorbing some of 200 staff from our food vendors and brought them onto our rolls. We are deploying in them, in compliance with government guidelines, at approximately 40 campuses around the country." 

Uber Connect now available in 5 more cities 

Uber on Thursday announced the availability of its recently launched package delivery service - Uber Connect, in more cities, New Delhi, Noida, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Chandigarh.

Piloted last week in four markets - Kolkata, Jaipur, Guwahati and Gurgaon, Uber’s latest service enables residents to send and receive items from each other within city limits, while maintaining social distancing. 

 
With this expansion, Uber Connect will now be available across nine key Indian cities, the company said in a statement.
 

All packages sent via Uber Connect will be transported on a two wheeler vehicle, be under 5 kilograms in weight, and not include prohibited items such as alcohol, recreational drugs, or dangerous and illegal items.
 
 

Prabhjeet Singh, Director-Operations and Head of Cities, Uber India & South Asia, said, “Uber Connect to five more cities creates earning opportunities for driver partners.”
 

Indices trim gains, Sensex up 128 points, Nifty above 9,100

Indices trimmed the gains as Sensex was trading 127.61 points or 0.41 percent higher at 30,946.22 while the Nifty was up 41.65 points or 0.46 percent at 9,108.20 at around 3.10 pm.

ITC was the top gainers in the Sensex pack surging over 7 percent. Other gainers included Asian Paints, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Maruti and Sun Pharma.

The losers included NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, HDFC and L&T.

Kerala records highest number of cyber attacks

While the sudden outbreak and spread of COVID-19 has led to a continuing lockdown in India, the situation has exposed the netizensto cybercrimes in the country.

K7 Computing’s Cyber Threat Report, an analysis of cyberattacks during the lockdown, has found that Kerala recorded the highest number of cyberattacks during this period. The report analyses various cyberattacks within India during the pandemic and reveals that threat actors targeted the state with COVID-19 themed attacks aimed at exploiting user trust.

The sudden surge in the frequency of attacks witnessed from February 2020 to mid-April 2020 indicates that scamsters across the world were exploiting the widespread panic around coronavirus at both the individual and corporate level.

These attacks aimed to compromise computers and mobile devices to gain access to users’ confidential data, banking details, and cryptocurrency accounts. 

J Kesavardhanan¸founder and CEO of K7 Computing, said, “COVID-19 has created an ideal situation for various threat actors to target individuals and enterprises alike. The panic caused by the stringent lockdown measures and rapid spread of this virus has left many people looking for more information on the situation. Threat actors exploit this fear to their advantage and scam users into downloading malicious software and divulging sensitive information like banking codes."

The need to be cyber cautious has never been greater. This is more so in the case of corporates who have adopted a work from home policy hurriedly without adequate cyber hygiene. We have seen an increase in attacks on enterprises and SME employees as well, he said. 

MedGenome to enhance infectious disease testing

MedGenome Labs Ltd has announced it is collaborating with Dr Iravatham’s clinical laboratory at Hyderabad to enhance Tuberculosis diagnostics offering and gets ICMR approval for RT-PCR testing for COVID-19 with its current partner XCyton Diagnostics

The partnership with Iravatham’s Lab will help integrate MedGenome’s flagship innovation SPIT-SEQ, with various tests offered by Dr Iravatham for tuberculosis and also set up a state of the art BSL2/3 infectious testing lab in Hyderabad .

Corporate revenues drop over 25% during lockdown: Survey

Majority of high-ranking business managers confirm that corporate revenues have already declined by over 25 percent during the lockdown and businesses will take more than a year to return to normalcy, according to a survey.

The survey titled ''Covid-19 and Your Wealth'', conducted by online investment provider Scripbox, reveals the impact of the lockdown on company revenues and job losses.

Nearly 67 percent of top bosses, business owners and founders surveyed said that company revenues have already declined by more than 25 percent during the lockdown.

Further, all respondents believe that business will return to normal only by 2021, while 22 percent business leaders expect it to take more than a year, from when the lockdown ends.

Nifty Bank drops

Not expecting significant growth for insurance industry this year: Bajaj Allianz

Bajaj Allianz Life is not expecting significant growth for insurance industry this year due to coronavirus impact on the economy, a top company official has said.

However, the insurer said, customers will like to buy policies online.

"I think this is an year of survival, not everybody is likely to invest (in policies) when the GDP (gross domestic product) is not likely to do good. This year will not be an year of significant growth," Tarun Chugh, MD and CEO of Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, told PTI in an interview.

Maharashtra govt releases Rs 67 cr for migrants' train travel so far

The Maharashtra government has so far released Rs 67.19 crore through the Chief Minister''s Relief Fund to bear the cost of train travel of the stranded migrant workers to their native places from the state, an official said on Thursday.

The government, which had initially provided Rs 54.75 crore for the purpose, has now released additional Rs 12.44 crore from the CM Relief Fund, an official of the Chief Minister's Office said.

"The state government had already spent Rs 54,75,47,070 to buy the train tickets for migrant workers. The funds had been transferred to the district collectors across the state, where migrant workers had registered themselves to return their home states," the official said.

Colgate profit up marginally

Panasonic pledges 200 mn yen for research, development vaccines for COVID-19

Offering its full support to the collaborative effort between Osaka University, Osaka Prefecture, and others currently undertaking research and development into COVID-19 therapies and vaccines, Panasonic Corporation announced that it is pledging 200 million yen to help underwrite these efforts.

COVID-19 continues to spread across the globe and consensus is growing that the pandemic will last longer than initially expected. Against this backdrop, efforts to exercise self-restraint and remain indoors have led Japan to the point where restrictions on movement are gradually being lifted, as per an official release.

"Japan is now entering an entirely new phase during which it must promote economic recovery while controlling infection rates. Achieving both of these goals relies on the successful development of drugs</a> and vaccines, so rapid deployment of these tools is critically important," the release reads.

Uber expands 'Connect' service to five more Indian cities

Ride-hailing platform Uber on Thursday said its package delivery service ‘Connect’ has been rolled out in five more cities - New Delhi, Noida, Hyderabad, Chennai and Chandigarh.

The service, which was piloted last week in Kolkata, Jaipur, Guwahati and Gurgaon, enables residents to send and receive items from each other within city limits, while maintaining social distancing amid COVID-19 outbreak.

"The positive response to our pilot program last week has encouraged us to expand the availability of Uber Connect,” Uber India and South Asia Director-Operations and Head of Cities Prabhjeet Singh said in a statement.

Rupee rises 19 paise to Rs 75.60 at close

Sensex rises 259 points, Nifty at 9,135

Sensex rose 258.98 points or 0.84 percent to 31,077.59 while the Nifty was up 68.30 points or 0.75 percent at 9,134.85 at around 2.10 pm.

ITC, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Asian Paints, Maruti, TCS and HCL Tech were the top gainers in the Sensex pack.

NTPC, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, L&T, ONGC and Bharti Airtel were among the losers.

NIfty strengthening beyond 9,100 mark at mid-session

The Indian markets at half time continue to rise for second day in a row gaining strength above 9,100 mark, said Aditya Agarwala, Senior Technical Analyst, Yes Securities.

However, following a 100 points gain in trade today it is approaching an intermediate hurdle placed at 9,180; a sustained trade beyond this resistance zone will extend the gains taking the Index higher to levels of 9,250, he said.

"However, failure to take out 9,180 on the upside could lead to minor profit booking dragging the Index lower to levels of 9040. Broader markets are outperforming the headline Indices with gains of 1.50 percent. All the sectoral Indices are trading in the green taking the Nifty higher. European markets however, have opened on a weak note which keep upside capped in our markets as well," Agarwala said.

Skoda Auto Volkswagen resumes production at Aurangabad plant

Skoda Auto Volkswagen India on Thursday said it has resumed production at its Aurangabad plant with reduced manpower and has also commenced work on its India 2.0 project at the Pune facility adhering to all necessary safety protocols amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Aurangabad facility which will be working with reduced manpower in a single shift, will initially produce the new Superb ahead of its launch next week and later include other models and brands as the company scales up its production gradually, the company said in a release.

As port-operations and manpower availability continues to improve, operational efficiency of inbound logistics and parts availability will aid gradual ramp-up to full production capacity, it said.

Ugro Capital reports Rs 20 cr net profit in March quarter

SMEs-focused non-banking lender Ugro Capital on Thursday reported a Rs 20.3 crore net profit in the March quarter, as it completes the first full-year of operations, despite higher provisioning in the wake of COVID-19.

Total income rose 28.4 percent to Rs 37.1 crore in the reporting quarter from Rs 28.9 crore in Q3, the company said.

According to its chairman and managing director Shachindra Nath, the good set of numbers is despite adopting a conservative approach to COVID-19 impact on loans and making Rs 3.3 crore specific provisions for this to ward off any asset quality crisis, and also to ensure that there are no negative surprises because over 80 percent of customers have opted for loan moratorium.

Bajaj Finserv profit declines 

US-based firm leads COVID-19 vaccine race, clinical trials show promising results: Experts

As scientists across the world work frantically to find a vaccine against COVID-19, which continues its rapid global spread, all eyes are on US-based company Moderna’s encouraging early results on a small group of healthy volunteers.

Cautioning that a vaccine is still months, maybe even a year away, experts said the US-based biotechnology firm‘s results have propelled it to a pole position in the race of 118.

Eight candidate vaccines for COVID-19 are in the clinical evaluation, while 110 are in the preclinical stage, according to the WHO’s latest draft landscape. 

Preclinical development is a stage of research during which important feasibility, iterative testing and drug safety data are collected, while clinical trials are research studies performed on people.

Rajiv Gandhi Nyay Yojya for Chhattisgarh farmers launched

Congress president Sonia Gandhi launched the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay scheme in Chhattisgarh through video conferencing on Thursday and said this was a true tribute to the former prime minister.

Addressing the launch event on the occasion of Rajiv Gandhi''s death anniversary, she lauded the scheme, saying it will bring a change in the lives of farmers and help them become self-reliant.

"Such schemes should be implemented at the ground level to help bring a change in the lives of people. This is a revolutionary scheme and is a true tribute to Rajiv Gandhi. This is a big step taken in lines with the values of Rajiv Gandhi," she said.

Stimulus package does not address immediate concerns of healthcare system: Fitch

Fitch Solutions has said that the latest stimulus package does not address immediate concerns of the healthcare system which is reeling under the pressure of COVID-19 pandemic.

On 11 March, the Ministry of Finance increased allocation - 0.008 percent of the country’s GDP - to the health services division to support an expansion of healthcare spending, Fitch Solutions Country Risk and Industry Research (a unit of Fitch Group) said.

It is to be noted that this is not a new budgetary allocation, but only a rerouting of existing expenditure, it said, adding that the “stimulus package is lacking in addressing the immediate concerns of the healthcare system”.

The unprecedented crisis due to COVID-19 has highlighted the need to increase investment in the healthcare sector in the country.

Despite several healthcare reforms, India is badly placed to tackle the rapid spread of coronavirus.

SEBI revises post-default curing period for credit rating agencies

Markets regulator SEBI on Thursday said that credit rating agencies can deviate from the 90-day period required to upgrade the rating of an entity from default to non-investment grade.

The credit rating agencies (CRAs) can take the decision on case-to-case basis, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said in a circular.

SEBI has noted in a few recent cases of defaults that even though the rated entity was able to correct the default within a relatively shorter span of time, the rating could not be upgraded and continued to be under sub-investment grade due to the extant provisions on post-default curing period.

There is a post-default curing period of 90 days for the rating to move from default to speculative grade and generally 365 days for default to move to investment grade.

Railway to resume bookings at ticket counters soon

Swiggy begins home delivery of alcohol 

Sensex zooms 332 points, Nifty above 9,150-mark

Indices extended gains in the afternoon trade as Sensex zoomed 332.20 points or 1.08 percent to 31,150.81 while the Nifty was up 99.50 points or 1.1 percent at 9,166.05 at around 1.15 pm.

ITC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack jumping nearly 5 percent.

Other gainers included Bajaj Auto (4.14 percent), Hero MotoCorp (3.98 percent), Maruti (3.25 percent), Asian Paints (3.21 percent) and HDFC Bank (2.19 percent).

IRCTC online ticket bookings reach 1.5 lakh-mark in first 2 hours; shares up 5%

Almost 1.50 lakh tickets were booked within two hours of opening the bookings on IRCTC website for the 100 pairs of passenger trains that the railway will operationalise from 1 June, officials said Thursday. 

IRCTCT shares jumped 5 percent to Rs 1400.70 per piece after it resumed ticket bookings on Thursday for trains starting operations from 1 June.

On Wednesday, railway issued a list of 100 pairs of trains including popular trains such as Durontos, Sampark Krantis, Jan Shatabdis and Poorva Express.

This is the second slew of special passenger services that marked the Railways graded restoration of its trains which were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"At 12:00 Hours, 73 trains were available in the system for booking. 1,49,025 tickets were booked having 2,90,510 passengers," said a railway spokesperson.

These trains will have both AC and non-AC classes and fully reserved coaches.

Vedanta's proposed debt-financed acquisition to simplify group structure: Moody's

Vedanta's open offer to acquire the remaining 49.9 percent shareholding it does not own and to delist it from the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is credit positive and a major step in the simplification of Vedanta's complex group structure, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Earlier this week, Vedanta said the acquisition of minority stake will be at a price that is the higher of either the floor price Rs 87.50 per share -- a 10 percent premium over the closing market price of Rs 79.60 on 11 May -- or the price discovered through the reverse book building process.

If successful, said Moody's, the transaction will provide Vedanta better access to future cash surpluses</a> and cash of around 1.4 billion dollars held at Vedanta Ltd and its wholly-owned subsidiary Cairn India Holdings in December 2019.

IndiGo stock falls as govt caps airfare

HMSI to resume manufacturing operations from next week in phased manner

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) on Thursday said it will resume manufacturing operations across its four plants in the country in two phases, with Karnataka-based facility kickstarting the process from next week.

With a 360-degree outlook of balancing the forward and backend linkages across its ecosystem and the evolving market demand, the company has aligned its production plans, HMSI said in a statement.

Production will resume in a phased manner starting 25 May from company''s biggest plant in Narsapura in Karnataka, followed by other three plants from first week of June, it added.

Around 99 per cent of the company's 300 plus supplier plants too have received the necessary approvals to resume their operations and are in advanced stages of resuming production, HMSI said.

Govt caps air fares to shield passengers

Power utility firm CESC raises Rs 300 cr via NCDs

Power utility company CESC on Thursday said it has raised Rs 300 crore through issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs).

"3,000 Non-Convertible Debentures of face value of Rs 10 lakh each aggregating to Rs 300 crore have been allotted today, on a private placement basis, to ICICI Bank Ltd," according to a regulatory filing.

According to the company''s earlier statement, the proceeds of the issue will be utilised for capital expenditure and general corporate purposes.

Nissan introduces online booking process amid coronavirus pandemic

Auto maker Nissan India on Thursday said it has launched a new digital initiative enabling customers to book and buy vehicles online amid coronavirus pandemic.

The company''s SUV Kicks and entire Datsun range can now be booked online, Nissan India said in a statement.

"We are strengthening our commitment in line with our customer centric approach by bringing the showroom experience to customers'' location through a virtual showroom with a digitally enabled car purchase journey," Nissan Motor India Managing Director Rakesh Srivastava said.

It allows customers to experience as well as own products with complete confidence, convenience and with zero physical contact, he added. 

JK Lakshmi Cement shares rally over 11% as Q4 profit jumps two-fold

Shares of JK Lakshmi Cement on Thursday jumped nearly 11 percent after the company reported over two-fold jump in consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter ended on March 2020.

The stock advanced 10.75 percent to Rs 220.80 on BSE, and surged 9.17 percent to Rs 217.80 on NSE.

The company on Wednesday reported more than two-fold jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 98.63 crore for the fourth quarter ended on March 2020, helped by cost reductions.

The company had posted a profit of Rs 39.38 crore in January-March period a year ago, it said in a regulatory filing.

Norms for domestic flyers released

Sensex up 207 points, Nifty holds 9,100-mark

Indices continued to remain in the green zone as Sensex was trading 207 points or 0.67 percent higher at 31,025.61 while the Nifty was up 64.15 points or 0.71 percent at 9,130.70 at around 12.10 pm.

Asian Paints was the top gainer in the Sensex pack rising over 3 percent followed by Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Maruti, ITC, Sun Pharma, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.

The losers included NTPC, L&T, ONGC, HDFC, Tech Mahindra and HUL.

Multiplex stocks rise

JLR India enhances online sales, service set up amid coronavirus pandemic

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) India on Thursday said it has enhanced its online sales and service initiative amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The company, which is part of Tata Motors, already had a significant presence in online sales and has now introduced online service on its website.

"At JLR India, our aim has always been to offer a hassle-free and transparent purchase and service experience for our customers," JLR India President and Managing Director Rohit Suri said in a statement.

With enhanced and updated purchase and service portals, the company is now able to offer the additional benefit of a contactless and safe environment to its customers, he added.

IRCTC stock rallies 5%

Sensex jumps 287 points, Nifty at 9,138 

Indices gained sharply as Sensex jumped 286.85 points or 0.93 percent points to 31,105.46 while the Nifty was up 71.70 points or 0.79 percent at 9,138.25 at around 11 am.

The Sensex opened at 30,904.29 and touched an intra-day high of 31,107.52 and low of 30,765.32 in the morning session.

Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, Maruti, ICICI Bank, SBI and Reliance are the top gainers in the Sensex pack.

Aviation stocks rally as domestic passenger flights to resume from Monday

Aviation stocks on Thursday rallied up to 10 per cent in opening trade after the government announced that domestic passenger flight services will resume from 25 May in a calibrated manner.

InterGlobe Aviation shares zoomed 9.88 percent to Rs 1,002 on the BSE. SpiceJet also jumped 4.88 percent to Rs 42.95 -- its upper circuit limit.

Domestic passenger flight services will resume from May 25 in a calibrated manner, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday.

All scheduled commercial passenger flights have been suspended in India since 25 March, when the government imposed a lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Backlogs, second wave of layoffs keeping US weekly jobless claims high

Millions more Americans likely filed for unemployment benefits last week as backlogs continue to be cleared and disruptions from the novel coronavirus unleash a second wave of layoffs, pointing to another month of staggering job losses in May.

The Labor Department’s weekly jobless claims report on Thursday, the most timely data on the economy’s health, could also offer some early clues on how quickly businesses rehire workers as they reopen and of the success of the government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

“None of these states had systems set up to process the unprecedented amount of claims in one fell swoop, so there are backlogs,” said Steve Blitz, chief US economist at TS Lombard in New York.

“We continue to read of firms cutting their workforce and these are firms that were not immediately impacted by the mandated contraction from COVID-19.”

A broad shutdown of the country in mid-March to contain the spread of COVID-19 has resulted in the worst labor market since the Great Depression and undermined the broader economy.

AAI issues guidelines for resuming domestic flight services

Lufthansa in advanced talks for state rescue deal worth about $10 bn

Airline Lufthansa said on Thursday it is in advanced talks with the German government’s economic stabilisation fund over a rescue deal worth up to 9 billion euros ($9.9 billion), including the state taking a 20 percent stake in the company.

Lufthansa said in a statement that the deal would involve the government taking two seats on its supervisory board, but it would only exercise its voting rights as a whole in exceptional cases such as protection against a takeover.

Lufthansa has been in talks with the government for weeks over aid to help it weather the coronavirus pandemic and what is expected to be a protracted travel slump, but it has been wrangling over how much control to yield in return for support.

World Bank names financial crisis expert Carmen Reinhart as chief economist

The World Bank on Wednesday named former Bear Stearns executive Carmen Reinhart as its chief economist, tapping a financial crisis expert who also currently serves on advisory boards of the IMF and the New York Federal Reserve.

World Bank President David Malpass said in a statement Reinhart’s experience and insights would prove invaluable as the coronavirus pandemic heaps economic pain on developing countries. She starts at the bank on 15 June.

Reinhart, a professor at Harvard University, published a book entitled “This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly,” together with economist Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University in 2009.

The book called for stricter regulations and an early-warning system to sound the alarm about financial bubbles, arguing that central bankers, policy makers and investors tended to ignore the telltale signs of a bubble.

Japan exports fall most since 2009 as pandemic wipes out global demand

Japan’s exports fell the most since the 2009 global financial crisis in April as the coronavirus pandemic slammed world demand for cars, industrial materials and other goods, likely pushing the world’s third-largest economy deeper into recession.

The ugly trade numbers come as policymakers seek to balance virus containment measures against the need to revive battered parts of the economy, with the risk of a second wave of infections only complicating this challenge.

The central bank will hold an emergency meeting on Friday to work out a scheme that would encourage financial institutions to lend to smaller, struggling firms. Policymakers are also considering cash injections for companies of all sizes.

Ministry of Finance data on Thursday showed Japan’s exports fell 21.9 percent in April year-on-year as US-bound shipments slumped 37.8 percent, the fastest decline since 2009, with car exports there plunging 65.8 percent.

Strides Pharma to conduct trials in India for potential COVID-19 drug

Indian pharmaceutical company Strides Pharma Science Ltd said on Thursday it has got regulatory approval to conduct clinical trials of antiviral drug favipiravir, considered a potential treatment for COVID-19.

The Bengaluru-based company has received approval from the Drug Controller General of India to conduct trials of favipiravir in the country, Strides Founder and Non-Executive Chairman Arun Kumar said on a post-earnings conference call, without giving any more details.

Strides’ announcement comes after Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd said last month it became the first pharma company in the country to get the nod to conduct favipiravir trials.

The Mumbai-based company has initiated late-stage clinical trials and expects study results by July or August.

Govt to procure products for CAPF canteens via KVIC

Mastercard to allow staff to work from home until virus fears subside

Mastercard Inc will not ask employees to return to its worldwide corporate offices until they are comfortable that the sometimes fatal coronavirus is under control with vaccines or other measures, a senior executive told Reuters on Wednesday.

The world's second-largest payment processor is also looking at its real-estate footprint and considering consolidating offices, Chief People Officer Michael Fraccaro said.

"We expect in the coming weeks and months that more employees will continue to work from home than come into office," he said. "And we are OK with that. We support that choice."

While some Mastercard staff have young children or parents to look after, others are concerned about taking public transport to work.

Oil prices climb as US stock drawdown eases supply glut fears

Oil prices advanced on Thursday as a drawdown of US crude inventories and output cuts by major producers helped ease concerns about a supply glut, though lingering fears over the global economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic capped gains.

Brent crude futures for July delivery were trading up 33 cents, or 0.9 percent, at $36.08 per barrel, rising for a second day.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for July were up 20 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $33.69 a barrel, extending its gains into a sixth straight session.

US crude inventories fell by 5 million barrels last week, against expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.2 million-barrel rise, Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed, while stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub dropped by 5.6 million barrels.

Rural market demand will pick up much faster: ITC

Dollar firm as Sino-US tension prompts caution

The dollar clawed back some of the week’s losses on Thursday, as investors brought a more cautious tone to trade, while Sino-US tensions and weak economic indicators dampened the mood.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars gave back about half of their overnight rises, as did the euro. The British pound was pressured as soft inflation stoked more talk of negative rates.

The risk-sensitive Aussie was last at $0.6561, nearly 1 percent under the 10-week peak it hit on Tuesday. The kiwi NZD=D3 was about 0.6 percent below its Tuesday top at $0.6124.

Malaysia to strengthen trade ties with India after palm oil purchases

Malaysia voiced its commitment to further strengthen diplomatic and trade ties with India, after the world’s largest edible oil buyer renewed purchases of Malaysian palm oil, in a sign of improving relations between the two countries.

Indian buyers contracted up to 200,000 tonnes of Malaysian crude palm oil for June and July, after a four-month gap following a diplomatic row.

Malaysia’s exports to India in January to April fell to 96,145 tonnes, down 94 percent from the same period in 2019, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali said on Thursday.

Gold slides as economic recovery hopes dent safe-haven bids

Gold fell on Thursday, pressured by hopes of a swift recovery from the coronavirus-driven recession although losses were capped by prospects of more stimulus and bleak data.

Spot gold slid 0.6 percent to $1,738.97 per ounce. US gold futures slipped 0.6 percent to $1,740.80.

Global equities and crude prices surged overnight on hopes of a rapid recovery from the coronavirus-driven recession.

“There is still some optimism and risk-on sentiment about the possibility of a vaccine and talks of lockdown easing and growth slowly picking up,” said National Australia Bank economist John Sharma.

Rupee rises 10 paise to Rs 75.69 in opening trade

GMR Energy's stake sale of GMR Kamalanga Energy to JSW Energy put on hold

The divestment transaction for the sale of GMR Energy’s entire stake in GMR Kamalanga Energy Ltd to JSW Energy has been put on hold on account of outbreak of COVID-19, according to a regulatory filing.

In February, JSW Energy had signed a share purchase agreement to acquire 100 per cent of GMR Kamalanga Energy, which owns and operates a 1,050 MW (3x350 MW) thermal power plant in Odisha, for Rs 5,321 crore (subject to working capital and other adjustments).

"The transaction… has been put on hold due to the outbreak of the pandemic COVID-19 and nationwide lockdown, and will be revisited once the situation normalises," GMR Infrastructure - the parent company of GMR Energy - said in a filing to BSE on Thursday.

The company said that even in these hard times, with demand falling across the country, the pithead plant of GMR Kamalanga Energy is fully operational, adding that the government announcing series of reforms along with Rs 90,000-crore package to discoms for easing liquidity is a step in the right direction for the power sector.

Sensex rises over 150 points, Nifty above 9,100-mark

Indices extended the gains as Sensex was trading 158.57 points or 0.51 percent higher at 30,977.18 while the Nifty was up 43.10 points or 0.48 percent at 9,109.65 at around 10 am.

Market opened on positive note amid mixed global cues. 

Airline stocks were trading higher after Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri on Wednesday tweeted that domestic flights services might resume from 25 May in a gradual manner.

Bajaj Auto was the top gainer in the Sensex pack rising over 4 percent. Other gainers included Hero MotoCorp, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

The losers included NTPC, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, ONGC and PowerGrid.

Centre has no more announcements to make: Nirmala Sitharaman

Cipla gets final nod from USFDA for migraine treatment nasal spray

Cipla Ltd on Thursday said it has received final approval from the US health regulator for Dihydroergotamine Mesylate nasal spray, indicated for the treatment of migraine headaches.

"It has received final approval for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Dihydroergotamine Mesylate nasal spray 4mg/mL from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) with a competitive generic therapy (CGT) designation," the company said in a filing to BSE.

An Abbreviated New Drug Application is an application for a US generic drug approval for an existing licensed medication or approved drug.

NBFCs unhappy over govt's liquidity scheme

Robots sanitise containment zones in Chennai

Tea plucking begins at Assam

Fed debates longer-term crisis-fighting plan

Federal Reserve policymakers, still working to fully roll out a multi-trillion-dollar effort to shore up financial markets and an economy cratered by the coronavirus pandemic, last month dove into a new debate: how best to support the economy during a recovery they now agree could be slower and more fraught than initially thought.

Among ideas US central bankers discussed at April’s policy-setting meeting, according to minutes released Wednesday: more detailed guidance for the path of short-term interest rates, and capping long-term interest rates.

The Fed used the former in the last crisis; the latter would be a first for the Fed. There was no discussion of negative interest rates, a controversial approach to policy supported by U.S. President Donald Trump and in use in Europe and Japan, but seen by U.S. central bankers as risky and ineffective.

Markets open in green

Indices open higher

Indian indices opened higher on May 21 with Nifty above 9,100 level.

At 09:17 IST, the Sensex was up 136.13 points or 0.44% at 30954.74, and the Nifty was up 46.45 points or 0.51% at 9113. About 504 shares have advanced, 192 shares declined, and 40 shares are unchanged.

Stocks to watch out for

Nirmala Sitharaman to hold meeting with PSU chiefs today

Strides gets DCGI approval for Favipiravir trials  

Mitsubishi UFJ Fin sells 2.1% stake indirectly: Dr Reddy's

World Bank names Harvard professor as chief economist

World Bank Group President David Malpass announced that Harvard University professor, Carmen Reinhart has been appointed as its new vice president and chief economist, effective on 15 June.

"I am very pleased to welcome Carmen to the World Bank Group, as we boost our efforts to restore growth and meet the urgent debt and recession crises facing many of our client countries," Malpass said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Carmen has dedicated her career to understanding and surmounting financial crises in both advanced and developing economies in order to achieve growth and higher living standards," he said.

Reinhart, an economist on international finance and financial crises, is widely known for her award-winning scholarly history book on financial disasters, "This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly", written with Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff, reports Xinhua news agency.

The appointment came after the World Bank announced Tuesday that its emergency operations against COVID-19 have reached 100 developing countries, home to 70 per cent of the world''s population

Around 23 countries interested in Apple-Google tech

'Reliance Jio-Facebook deal to benefit Paytm'

Markets to open weak

Aditya Agarwala, Senior Technical Analyst, YES Securities, “The Indian markets are slated to open marginally in the red as guided by the SGX Nifty which is currently trading down 33 points from previous close. Further, early risers in Asia are showing a mixed reaction in opening trades. NIKKEI, HANGSENG, JAKARTA and STRAIT are trading marginally in the red while TAIWAN and SHANGHAI markets are in the green. Overnight US markets ended trade in the green with handsome gains, however, Dow Jones Futures currently is trading in the red with a cut of 0.50% which could weigh on Indian markets as well.   

"The Nifty ended trade the previous session with a strong closing gain of 2%. Banking stocks lead the charge to pull the Nifty higher in late trade. However, following a GAP down opening in today’s session it will be crucial for the Bulls to keep the Nifty Index above the 9,000 support zone, a sustained trade above 9000 could trigger another short covering rally taking the Index to levels of 9160-9250. On the flip side if bears push the Index below the 9000 levels then fresh bouts of selling may drag it lower to levels of 8950-8900-8870. Overall Nifty continues to oscillate within a broad range between 8,800-9,300.”