Stock Market Today LIVE Updates: Sensex down 581 points, Nifty dips 205 points at close; all sectoral indices in red

Sensex, Nifty down at close

Yes Bank transfers Puri Jagannath Temple's Rs 389 cr FD account to SBI

Govt transfers 8 executive directors of state-run banks

Asia stocks dive, dollar soars as ECB bazooka fails to ease fears

Dow Jones gains

Coronavirus impact may render 3.8 cr people jobless in tourism, hospitality sector

Oil halts three-day slump but virus outbreak, oversupply still weigh

Oil prices rose nearly 10 percent on Thursday after a three-day selloff drove them to their lowest levels in almost two decades as demand plummeted due to the coronavirus and supplies surged in a fight for market share between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Benchmark Brent, which has lost half its value in less than two weeks, was offered some respite as investors across financial markets assessed the impact of massive central bank stimulus. Brent crude jumped $2.29, or 9.2 percent, at $27.16 a barrel by 0831 GMT, after plunging to $24.52 on Wednesday, its lowest level since 2003.

US crude gained $3.20, or 15.7 percent, to $23.52 after dropping nearly 25% in the previous session to an 18-year low. Analysts said gains were likely to be temporary, as tumbling demand due to the coronavirus outbreak was compounded by the collapse this month of a deal on supply curbs between OPEC and other producers.

Indices nosedive after recovery

Emami approves buyback

The board of Emami has approved the buyback of the company's fully paid-up equity shares for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 194.08 crore and at a price not exceeding Rs 300.

World leaders rush in to shore up panic-hit global financial system

World leaders raced to shore up panic-stricken global markets on Thursday, pouring liquidity into the financial system as investors everywhere dumped assets, switching to dollars in cash amid the escalating coronavirus pandemic.

Policymakers in the United States, Europe and Asia resorted to emergency action as the pandemic left their economies virtually comatose, with quarantined consumers, broken supply chains, paralysed transportation and depleted shops.

There were almost 219,000 cases of coronavirus reported globally, including over 8,900 deaths linked to the virus. Over 20,000 of those cases were reported in the past 24 hours, a new daily record.

Nifty Bank buoyant

SEBI gives 45-day relaxation to firms for filing Q4 results

IndiGo CEO announces pay cut 

The CEO  Ronojoy Dutta has announced a pay cut for most employees. He said he will be taking a 25 percent cut in salary.

Markets make sharp recovery; Sensex, Nifty up

Sensex erased morning losses and was trading in green in the afternoon session

Sensex was trading  252.93 points or 0.88 higher at  29,122.44 at around 2 PM.

Nifty was trading 50.35 points or 0.59 percent at  8,519.15. 

Midcap Index up

Sensex makes sharp recovery

Nifty recovers sharply

FHRAI makes representation to PMO for stimulus package

The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting government intervention and cushion the blow which the hospitality sector is facing on account of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In a representation submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Federation has outlined the challenges posed by the crises, its impact to the industry and the support hoped from the Government.

The submission includes pleading for complete GST holiday for 6 months from both the State and Central government, deferment for fiscal statutory compliance deadlines such as payment of direct and indirect taxes, deferment for repayment of loans, bank EMIs, etc. for a period of 6 months, reduction of bank interest rate by almost 200 basis points with immediate full transmission for working capital, and relief in electricity bills in the form of waiver or subsidy of FAC charges, and electricity duty working capital.

Ashok Leyland hits 52-week low

The share price of Ashok Leyland touched 52-week low of Rs 51.50. It fell 20 percent intraday on 19 March as the company approved the acquisition of upto 19 percent additional equity shares in Hinduja Leyland Finance Limited from the existing shareholders in tranches.

Covid-19 has adversely impacted way of working

Nifty Bank turns positive

CREDAI says property sales, construction affected; seeks bailout package

RBI should cut rates: CII President

Supply chains have been disrupted for sometime; worried about SMEs. RBI should cut rates and cash reserve ratio. Requesting industry to pay SMEs at the earliest, CII President tells CNBC-TV18.

Sensex, Nifty make recovery

Mutual funds add 3 lakh investor accounts in February

Rupee falls below 75 level against US dollar

 COVID-19 likely to impact fiscal numbers, says economist

The COVID-19  is likely to impact India’s fiscal numbers in FY20 though it might be too early to say, possibly in FY21, said .  Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Group Chief Economic Adviser, SBIHowever, it will be completely foolhardy to stick to any mandated fiscal rules in times of current crisis that is now threatening to rip apart the entire global financial ecosystem, he said.

 Globally, state loans, income subsidies and tax deferrals are the most common fiscal packages being offered.  In India, the number of active cases has risen to 151 with 14 fresh cases in a single day. "When we analyze the occurrence of active cases in the seven most affected countries apart from China, in the second week, the number of cases jumps almost 7 times compared to the first week.

"In some countries like Iran and Spain even the active cases rose to 13 times in the second week compared to the first week. Though India has already taken plethora of steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19, all eyes are now on the rise in active cases in the current week and next as this determines the extent of our preparedness.

Silver futures rise by Rs 503 to Rs 34,410 per kg

Oil rally loses steam as ECB move fails to calm markets

Economic fundamentals good; do not hoard, says Thailand PM to people

Taiwan’s economic fundamentals remain good and people should not hoard as the government can ensure stable supplies during the ongoing coronavirus crisis, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Thursday.

The government does not rule out spending more to stimulate the economy, and will help the hard-hit airline industry to access T$50 billion ($1.6 billion) in financing, she told a news conference at the presidential office.

Reliance Industries shares continue to fall; further tank 8%

About 25 mn jobs could be lost worldwide due to coronavirus: UN

DoT issues fresh letter to telcos

Crude traders offer deep discounts

Crude oil traders from West Africa to the US Gulf Coast are offering cargoes at deep discounts, desperately trying to attract buyers as global supplies swell and demand plunges.

Oil prices have plummeted to 18-year lows as the global spread of the coronavirus has throttled back air and road travel at the same time as major producers are hiking production after Russia refused to back deeper output cuts at a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies.

The sudden collapse in demand has resulted in a glut of unsold, high quality crude in Nigeria and sent prices at the U.S. Gulf Coast to a discount to benchmark futures, traders said, as Middle East producers flood the market with supplies.

Nifty breaching 8000 marks

Vikas Jain, Senior Research Analyst, Reliance Securities said, “Nifty should find support near 7700 levels as it is 38.2 percent correction from the peak of 12431.

"One can expect some bounce from these levels and sectors like private banks, consumer and pharma can be looked for up move”.

HDFC Bank makes 8% recovery

Ind-Ra revises rating watch on Yes Bank to 'evolving'

Yes Bank halts 4-session rally; shares tumble over 29%

Shares of Yes Bank on Thursday halted its four-session rally and plunged over 29 percent after the company said its single largest promoter Madhu Kapur has pledged an additional 25 lakh share of her family's shareholding in the bank.
     

The scrip plummeted 25.74 percent to Rs 45.15 at the BSE.  On the NSE, it cracked 29.19 percent to Rs 42.80.
               

In the last four trading days, the company's scrip had risen a whopping 142 percent after Moody's upgraded the company's ratings and on announcement of a restructuring plan.

Mild recovery in Sensex, Nifty

Sensex recovered and was trading 1566.84 points or 5.43 percent at 27,302.67.

Nifty Small Cap Index is at 6-year low.

NSE is above 8,000 mark and is trading 437.50 points or 5.17 percent at  8,031.30 

IndusInd Bank recovers

'Rate cuts are need of the hour'

S Naren, executive director and chief investment officer, ICICI Prudential AMC, in an interview to CNBC-TV18 said: Huge rate cuts are required. India has enough foreign reserves to make use of right now. Entire macro environment is extremely favourable for India.

Quantum of open market operations has to be in sync with huge amount of FII selling. India is the strongest emerging market in the world financially. Definitely require open market operations if FIIs are selling in equity and debt market.

Open market operation announcements are too small to mitigate FII selling risk. Investors must double up on investments at current valuations, said 

'Panic is overriding emotion'

“Nothing much has changed. Panic is the overriding emotion right now,” said Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services in Kochi.

The virus, which originated in China, has spread quickly around the globe, killing more than 8,000 people and battering economic activity, which has raised fears of a global recession.

Asia stocks dive, dollar soars as ECB bazooka fails to ease fears

Asian equities took another beating Thursday while the dollar surged as a European Central Bank plan to spend more than USD 800 billion to buy bonds failed to instil optimism in traders that the world is heading for a virus-fuelled economic catastrophe.

In what one analyst said could be a "game changer" for the coronavirus-wracked eurozone, the ECB's so-called Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme aims to give financial markets some much-needed liquidity as investors pull the plug on markets. It said the 750-billion-euro (USD 820-billion) programme was temporary and will be halted when the coronavirus crisis is judged to be over "but in any case not before the end of the year".
               

After announcing the move, ECB boss Christine Lagarde tweeted that "extraordinary times require extraordinary action. There are no limits to our commitment to the euro." Those comments echoed the words of her predecessor Mario Draghi, whose pledge to do "whatever it takes" to preserve the eurozone was seen as a turning point in the region's sovereign debt crisis.

Rupee opens markedly lower

Rupee hits fresh low

The rupee hit a fresh record low of 75.0100 against the dollar, as a flight into cash and worries about tightening liquidity boosted demand for the world’s reserve currency.

'Haven't seen such a stock market before'

Sunil Singhania, Founder, Abbakkus Asset Management to CNBC-TV18: I haven't seen such a market in my career and finding it difficult to invest until the stability returns.

"We can't call this as a bottom, but the valuations are compelling, however removing capital gains tax will improve sentiment," he said.

Japan may hand out cash to households in stimulus package to battle virus fallout

Japan will look into offering cash payouts to households as part of a stimulus package that could be worth more than $276 billion to combat the widening fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, joining efforts across the world to roll out huge fiscal support to fend of recession risks.

Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said the stimulus package, likely to be compiled by the government in April, will be bold enough to fend off a crisis he described as potentially more serious than when the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 jolted financial markets.

'Looks like a repeat of 2008'

This looks like repeat of 2008, no point in trying to find a bottom right now, said Samir Arora in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

"There is no approach to the market. Investors should sit on the sidelines for now. India is shooting itself in the foot with respect to lot of industries. Would not look at indulging in any bargain hunting. Shouldn't be obsessed with the desire to catch the bottom. India's system takes too long to react. May buy in the future, not buying anything today. Economic recovery will take longer than stock market recovery," he said. 

Metals hit new lows

LME three months copper plunged below the $5000 mark, Aluminum and nickel also hit fresh lows. Precious metals were down across the board and Oil remained on the defensive as well. 

Dollar continues to rule strong

US dollar continues to power higher as things remain very unsettled. Investors deal with an enemy that they cannot quantify or discount.

The easiest choice is to ride out the storm by seeking out safe havens, although in such times we have to admit that nothing feels all that safe, said YES Securities.

US stocks react on concerns of economic fallout

US indices closed lower as concerns about economic fallout continues to haunt Wall Street, said YES Securities.

ECB announced a new Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme that will deploy €750 billion to purchase securities to help support European economy. Failure to sustain rallies shows bearish bias in Indian indices.

Nifty registers minor recovery

DBS says Singapore recession inevitable in 2020 due to coronavirus

Singapore’s economy will contract by 0.5 percent in 2020, the city-state’s biggest bank DBS said on Thursday, adding a recession was inevitable due to an expected hit from the coronavirus outbreak.

DBS’s prior estimate was for the economy to grow 0.9 percent.

HCL traded at 16-month low

Indices at record 3-year lows

Wall Street slumps again as fears continue to spiral

US stocks deepened their selloff on Wednesday and the Dow erased virtually the last of its gains since President Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration, as the widening repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic threatened to cripple economic activity.

The benchmark S&P 500 index ended down 5.2 percent, though it pared losses late in the day as the US Senate passed legislation to provide billions of dollars to limit the damage from the outbreak through free coronavirus testing, paid sick leave and expanded safety-net spending.

Fed moves to ensure liquidity in money market mutual funds

The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday night rolled out its third emergency credit program in two days, announcing it would make loans to banks that offer as collateral assets purchased from money market mutual funds.

The new facility through the Boston Federal Reserve bank will offer “support for the flow of credit to households and businesses” by ensuring the $3.8 trillion money market mutual fund industry can sell its holdings of US Treasury bonds and other high-quality assets at full value if investors ask to withdraw their cash.

Oil rockets nearly 20 percent as investors hail coronavirus stimulus spending

Oil prices surged as much as nearly 20% on Thursday, bouncing back from days of heavy losses in a relief rally that may yet be short-lived, analysts warned, but which was stoked by economic stimulus efforts to ward off a global coronavirus recession.

Brent crude LCOc1 was up $2.10, or 8 percent, at $26.98 a barrel by 0028 GMT after tumbling 13 percent on Wednesday in a third day of relentless selling. US oil CLc1 gained $3.44, or 17 percent, to $23.81 a barrel after slumping nearly 25 percent in the previous session.

Dollar surges, stocks fall as ECB fails to stop panic

The dollar surged, bonds plunged and global markets struggled to find their footing on Thursday as the European Central Bank’s latest promise of stimulus provided only brief solace while the world struggles to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

US stock futures EScv1 fell 2 percent. The Australian dollar was crushed, falling 3.3 percent to a more than 17-year low, and Asian markets gave up initial gains made after the ECB had announced a bond-buying program.

Sensex tanks 1898 points 

Market trades negative in opening session

Stock market slumps

Bank Nifty hit fresh 3-year low, down 6.24 percent dragged by Bandhan Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. 

All 30 securities under Sensex are trading in the red

Market plunges in opening session