Stock Market Latest Updates: Sensex soars 371 points, Nifty close to 9,400; ADB approves $1.5-bn loan to India to fight COVID-19

Coca-Cola commits Rs 100 cr to support fight against coronavirus in India

Beverages major Coca-Cola on Tuesday said it has committed an initial Rs 100 crore to help the healthcare system and communities combat the coronavirus pandemic.

The relief programmes initiated by Coca-Cola in India aim at benefitting and positively impacting over 10 lakh lives across the country, the company said in a statement.

Coca-Cola said its financial contribution will be utilised for various purposes, which include activation of over 50 locations across 10 states in partnership with its bottlers to support the hydration needs of the underserved communities through distribution of beverages during the lockdown period.

Sensex surges 447 points, Nifty reclaims 9,400-mark 

Benchmark indices continued to gain as Sensex soared 446.95 points or 1.41 percent to 32,190.03 while Nifty was up 119.60 points or 1.29 percent at 9,401.90 at around 3.20 pm.

IndusInd Bank was the biggest gainer zooming nearly 17 percent followed by Bajaj Finance (9.33 percent), HDFC (8.27 percent) and ICICI Bank (3.81 percent)

Average spot power price remains low at Rs 2.36 a unit during lockdown

Average spot power price has remained as low as Rs 2.36 per unit on the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) during the lockdown period so far, which began last month to contain the spread of coronavirus.

The IEX has witnessed heightened activity among power distribution companies (discoms) since the coronavirus-induced nationwide lockdown on March 25, according to a statement by the Exchange.

It stated that with a decline in peak demand by almost 25 percent, the Exchange has witnessed high sell-side liquidity, almost at 2.7 times the demand side, which is helping keep the price in the market under check.

The average price in the IEX day-ahead market has been as low as Rs 2.36 per unit during the period from 24 March to 20 April, the statement added.

German retailers seek full reopening from 4 May

German retailers sought on Tuesday to persuade the government to let all stores operate normally from 4 May, saying customers had not stormed back into the smaller shops that were allowed to reopen last week and were behaving prudently.

Stores of up to 800 square metres (8,600 square feet) were allowed to open again last week, along with car and bicycle dealers and bookstores, provided they adhere to strict social distancing and hygiene rules.

The national retailers association (HDE) has criticised the decision to only allow smaller stores to open, calling the move unfair for bigger chains, confusing for customers and saying both large and small shops were capable of respecting the rules.

European stocks inch higher as positive earnings counter oil, Wirecard slump

European shares hovered near two-week highs on Tuesday as a slate of strong earnings reports from companies, including Novartis and UBS, outweighed a slump in oil prices and shares of Wirecard.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.1 percent by 0722 GMT, after closing at its highest level since mid-April on Monday as many countries planned to ease coronavirus-induced lockdown measures.

Europe’s oil & gas sector .SXEP shed 0.6 percent as oil prices sank on concerns about dwindling crude storage capacity worldwide.

BSE brings negative price feature for commodity derivatives segment

BSE will make available the negative price level feature at its trading system for commodity derivatives segment, the leading exchange said on Tuesday.

This comes following a recent global development in the crude oil derivatives market where trading of derivatives contracts happened at negative prices owing to various underlying factors.

In a circular, BSE has informed its trading members of commodity derivative segment that the exchange’s trading system has been modified to accept orders and execute trades at negative prices.

JK Paper approves share buyback up to Rs 100 cr

JK Paper approves share buyback up to Rs 100 cr at maximum Rs 130/Sh pic.twitter.com/kluFdCQVPE

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 28, 2020

Gulf Oil resumes partial operations at Silvassa plant

Hinduja Group firm Gulf Oil Lubricants India Ltd has resumed partial operations of its lube plant at Silvassa in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, following the easing of lockdown restrictions.

“Further to our letter dated 4 March 2020, regarding temporary closure of our Plant operations at Silvassa in wake of COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown, we hereby inform you that based on the permissions received from the local government authorities, the company has resumed partially its plant operations at Silvassa, the UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli (DNH) and is taking up production as per requirements primarily to supply customers in the essential categories,” the firm said in a regulatory filing.

Gulf Oil has a lube blending plant in Silvassa with a capacity of 90,000 kilo litres.

Singapore to enter into recession this year: Report

Singapore will enter into a recession this year due to the coronavirus pandemic and the city-state’s economic growth could even dip below the forecast range of -4 to -1 percent to record its worst-ever contraction, the country’s central bank said on Tuesday.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in its latest half-yearly macroeconomic review warned of job losses and lower wages, with “significant uncertainty” over how long and intense the downturn will be.

“The Singapore economy will enter into a recession this year,” said the MAS in a 132-page report.

Depending on how the pandemic evolves and the efficacy of policy responses around the world, Singapore’s economic growth could even dip below the forecast range of -4 to -1 percent to record its worst-ever contraction, said the MAS.

Sensex regains 32,000-mark, Nifty up 94 points 

Benchmark indices continued the rally as Sensex surged 357.63 points or 1.13 percent to 32,100.71 while Nifty was up 94.30 points or 1.02 percent at 9,376.60 at around 3 pm.

New cryptocurrency ‘CRO’ to list on CoinDCX crypto exchange

CoinDCX, cryptocurrency exchange and liquidity aggregator, announced that crypto payments pioneer Crypto.com will be listing its cryptocurrency CRO token on the CoinDCX exchange.

It will be traded in two pairs CRO/BTC and CRO/INR. This means, Indian traders trading on the exchange can buy or sell CRO token in exchange of BTC (Bitcoin) or Indian Rupee. 

Following the successful listing of the MCO token on CoinDCX earlier this month, the CRO listing marks Hong Kong-based Crypto.com’s official entrance into the Indian market. 
 
Deposit address open: 28 April 2020 (Tuesday) at 4pm IST / 6:30 pm HKT

Trading starts: 28 April 2020 (Tuesday) at 6pm IST / 8:30 pm HKT

Trading pairs: CRO/BTC & CRO/INR
 
Speaking on the listing, Sumit Gupta, CEO and co-founder of CoinDCX said: “ We are thrilled that CRO is entering India, through our platform, which will help nearly 1.3 billion people in crypto trade CRO through INR. This is also an amazing opportunity for us to encourage more people to enter the crypto market through our ongoing #TryCrypto initiative.”

72 Networks reaches out to remote areas with COVID-19 kits

72 Networks, a pan-India distribution house specialising in last-mile delivery with a special focus on rural areas  has announced their new initiative in which they will be reaching out to rural areas across eight states, covering 46 districts and servicing about 12,000 pin codes with deliveries of COVID-19 protection products and kits.

Srinivas Lingamuthu, CEO & co-founder of 72 Networks said, “We are connecting rural lives with mainstream India for mobility is a problem for many. The government is also hinting towards relaxation in lockdown especially in rural areas post 3 May and for the proper implementation of it, heath and protection kits needs to be provided to the health and factory workers in these areas.”

ADB approves $1.5-bn loan to India to help fund COVID-19 response

Asian Development Bank (ADB) today approved a $1.5 billion loan to the Government of India to help fund its response to the novel #coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic pic.twitter.com/3ojdZukxWk

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 28, 2020

Rupee settles 7 paise higher at 76.18 

The rupee rose by 7 paise to close at 76.18 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday, tracking positive domestic equities and a weak American currency in the overseas market.

This is the second consecutive day of gain for the rupee, during which it has appreciated by 28 paise.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 76.33. During the session it touched an intra-day high of 76.14 and a low of 76.44.

The domestic unit finally settled at 76.18, registering a rise of 7 paise over its previous close.

On Monday, the local unit had settled at 76.25 against the US dollar.

Okinawa hikes dealer margins by 3% to 11% 

Electric two-wheeler maker Okinawa on Tuesday said it has increased dealer margins by 3 percent to 11 percent per sale amid nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The hike, from 8 percent to 11 percent, is effective from 27 April onwards until further notice, Okinawa said in a statement.

The hike in dealer margins is expected to add up to Rs 2,000 per vehicle in a dealer’’s kitty, it added.

If a dealer is selling 100 vehicles in a month, he will end up making an additional profit of over Rs 2 lakh.

Blue Dart Express launches service for medicine delivery to Indians living abroad

Logistics services provider Blue Dart Express on Tuesday said it has launched a service through which customers can send medicines to relatives living abroad.

To avail the medicine delivery service, customers need to visit any Blue Dart/DHL counter across India and provide valid medical prescription for sending medicines overseas to their family/ friends through the Blue Dart-DHL’s door-to-door express service, the company said in the release.

Blue Dart services have been operational even amid the lockdown with its teams working round-the-clock to ensure priority clearance and delivery of essential commodities, the company said.

Master Trust introduces paperless eKYC trading, demat account 

Master Trust has introduced a completely paperless, eKYC, trading and demat account opening facility for its stakeholders, both customers and partners. The web based instant account opening offers a one stop solution for all investment needs, the firm claimed.

One needs to fill all the necessary details, upload mandatory documents and select segments in which they want to trade and get started.

Once the company verifies the details, it sends a unique account ID and other details to the person who can then proceed to trade on both online and offline platforms. The company has also uploaded Youtube tutorials for both branch eKYC and client eKYC.

Gurmeet Singh Chawla, director, Master Portfolio Services, said, “The procedure eliminates associated risks, which may occur while filling up physical forms and submitting documents. The automated procedure ensures real-time data transfer without any delays that occur during manual intervention. Also, opening an instant account via eKYC does not require any additional payment to the broker.”

Odisha will soon unveil package for revival of industrial sector: Industries minister

Odisha government will soon unveil a comprehensive package for quick revival of the industrial sector which has been severely hit due to the COVID-induced nationwide lockdown, state’s industries minister Dibya Shankar Mishra said on Tuesday.

Agricultural activities, work under MGNREGA and certain construction operations have already commenced following chief minister Naveen Patnaiks directions, Mishra said, adding that steps are being taken to rejuvenate the industrial sector hit by the ongoing lockdown.

“We are examining measures required to put the ailing industries, particularly the MSMEs, back on the rails. We need to ensure the safety and security of the labour force and resume production too,” the minister for Industries, Energy and MSME told PTI in Bhubaneswar.

Coal India slips over 2%

#CNBCTV18Market | Coal India slips further, now at day's low pic.twitter.com/7m5lQ1CWXd

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 28, 2020

IndusInd Bank deploys mobile ATM in Ahmedabad

IndusInd Bank has deployed a mobile Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in Ahmedabad to bring key banking services to the doorstep of residents in wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

 The mobile ATM will be operational across localities, making  3-5 stops in a day between 9 am to 6 pm.

The mobile ATM offers all the services that are available at regular ATMs. Apart from cash withdrawals, key services that can be availed by customers are – ‘Choice Money’ denomination, transferring funds to the registered payee, change of PIN, recharge pre-paid mobile, book fixed deposits, among others.

All necessary precautions in terms of maintaining social distancing while queuing for the ATM and sanitisation are being taken to ensure safety of staff as well as customers at the Mobile ATM.

Startup Nufab launches special fabric for COVID-19 medical workers

Nufab Technical Textiles Pvt. Ltd, a start-up based out of Ambala has developed a unique non-woven fabric, which it claims will significantly reduce infection risk to frontline medical workers, who are facing heightened risk due to COVID-19 pandemic. 
 

The newly developed fabric is soft, comfortable, light weight, impregnable, permeable and above all breathable, which will help frontline medical workers immensely by reducing the infection risk upto 90 percent, the company claimed. 
 
 

Salil Goyal, Director of NUFAB said, “Our new offering is a specialised product and is certified from DRDO. The fabric is recyclable and eco-friendly,” he added.

IT services companies to suspend hiring this year: Mohandas Pai

India’’s information technology services industry would see hiring freeze this year and senior level staff taking a 20-25 percent salary cut due to the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, says IT industry veteran TV Mohandas Pai.

The former chief financial officer of IT services major, Infosys Ltd, said the IT industry has done a “fabulous, unbelievable and remarkable” job in transitioning more than 90 percent of its employees to work from home.

It has achieved this task by setting up infrastructure at home, taking permission from their clients, and making sure that “security and oversight are there.

The chairman of private equity fund Aarin Capital and Manipal Global Education said 25 to 30 percent, may be more, of employees of IT companies will always work from home by rotation even after the coronavirus-inflicted lockdown is lifted and the situation returns to normalcy.

Sensex surges 305 points, Nifty close to 9,400-mark

Benchmark indices extended the gains as Sensex zoomed 304.79 points or 0.96 percent to 32,047.87 while Nifty was up 89.05 points or 0.96 percent at 9,371.35 at around 2.15 pm.

 IndusInd Bank stock surges over 12%

#CNBCTV18Market | IndusInd Bank extends gains, now up nearly 13% pic.twitter.com/aqpCpwPMK3

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 28, 2020

Free video helpline to repair electronic goods

Appliance services provider 247around has launched a free national video helpline to meet the surging demand amid the nationwide lockdown.

The platform will use WhatsApp, and Google meeting integration on 247around proprietary software.

Customers can seamlessly book appointments via a free helpline number – 9555000247, the company said in a statement.

Discoms owe Rs 92,693 cr to power producers in February

Distribution companies (discoms) owed Rs 92,693 crore to power producers in February 2020, registering an increase of 31 percent over the year-ago same month, reflecting stress in the sector.

In February 2019, discoms owed a total of Rs 70,706 crore to power generation companies (gencos), according to portal PRAAPTI (Payment Ratification And Analysis in Power procurement for bringing Transparency in Invoicing of generators).

The portal was launched in May 2018 to bring in transparency in power purchase transactions between gencos and discoms.

In February 2020, the total overdue amount, which was not cleared even after 60 days of grace period offered by gencos, stood at Rs 80,616 crore as against Rs 53,703 crore in the same month of the preceding year.

Onsitego starts remote troubleshooting services for free

Onsitego, the after-sales services company, recently announced the launch of its remote troubleshooting services. The services are available free for people who are facing issues with their mobile phones, laptops, air conditioners or water purifiers. 

Since engineers are not allowed to visit most areas for service, a lot of people have a dead device at home unless they have fixed it on their own.

The company’s remote troubleshooting services include support for software issues, booting and settings related issues for mobile phones and laptops. The support team can remotely access, diagnose and resolve a user’s issue.

Apart from gadgets, Onsitego’s remote support team is also available for air conditioners and water purifiers. The team can assist in resolving issues like water leakage in ACs, cleaning of filters in water purifiers, and general maintenance of these appliances.

Angry Birds maker Rovio lifts profits with lower costs

Rovio Entertainment, maker of the 10-year-old “Angry Birds” mobile game series, on Tuesday reported an almost 75 percent rise in first-quarter profit, helped by lower costs.

The Finnish company, which listed its shares in 2018, said its adjusted operating profit rose to 13 million euros ($14.1 million) from 7.5 million while revenue fell 6 percent to 66.6 million euros.

“The high operating profit of the quarter was driven by the low level of user acquisition and the stability of our key games, especially Angry Birds 2,” chief executive Kati Levoranta said in a statement.

German economy to contract by 6.6% in 2020: Report

German economic institute Ifo on Tuesday said it expected the economy to contract by 6.6 percent in 2020 year-on-year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It said Europe’s largest economy shrank by 1.9 percent in the first three months of 2020 and is expecting a 12.2 percent contraction in the second quarter.

A return to the pre-crisis level is expected for the end of 2021, Ifo said.

IndiGo stock jumps over 4% in intra-day trade

#CNBCTV18Market | IndiGo trades with a gain of over 4% pic.twitter.com/UUP0N1N66N

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 28, 2020

Reliance Industries to consider first rights issue in three decades

India’s Reliance Industries Ltd said it will consider its first rights issue in almost 30 years when its board meets on Thursday, in another attempt to slash its debt.

In an exchange filing late on Monday the oil-to-retail conglomerate said a rights issue would be on the table at the meeting although it gave no details of what exactly was under consideration.

The discussions come after Facebook revealed plans to spend $5.7 billion to buy a 9.99 percent stake in Reliance’s digital arm, raising questions about why the Indian company would need to raise additional capital through a rights offer.

Kone Elevator India offers free cloud technology to keep critical sites operational 

Kone Elevator India, a fully owned subsidiary of Kone Corporation, has announced that it is offering to install Kone ONE 24/7 connected services for free for the first six months for its current customers who operate medical facilities.

This technology can better predict, maintain and take action before breakage, thereby ensuring less equipment downtime and fewer faults, said the company in a statement.

This preventive maintenance system helps the elevator work seamlessly in the hospitals 24/7. 

In collaboration with IBM Watson, Kone 24/7 connected services is a cloud-based solution using sensors, which collects data on a range of parameters on equipment performance and powerful analytics to identify deviations.

The Renal Project to serve COVID-19 positive dialysis patients

In India, there are around 13-15 lakh dialysis patients and around 25 percent of the 60,000 dialysis patients in Mumbai suburban region are affected because of the closure of their dialysis provider due to several reasons.

These include running out of supplies, to a COVID-19 positive patient or staff found at the hospital or dialysis center. To address the difficulties faced by the kidney patients for, The Renal Project has started operations at its new Dombivli (Mumbai outskirts) site for COVID-19 positive kidney patients.
 

 
“A COVID-19 patient has nowhere to go for life-saving dialysis treatments”, said Shashank Moddhia, founder of The Renal Project.

His venture runs a chain of dialysis micro centers alongside a newly constructed dialysis ward in the Neon hospital in Dombivli.

This hospital is one of the few places allocated for COVID-19 positive patients by the local municipal corporation.

Piaggio Vehicles extends warranty and free service period

In the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic, Piaggio Vehicles Pvt Ltd (PVPL), a 100 percent subsidiary of the Italian Piaggio Group, has announced the extension of warranty and free service period for its small commercial vehicle customers.

The company has extended a two-month extension for both warranty and free service  periods for vehicles whose warranty and free services expire between  1-3 May.
 

Apart from the warranty and service period extension, all the vehicles of PVPL customers will be sanitized free of cost within 15 days after the lockdown is over.

Service of free sanitisation can be availed at all the authorized PVPL workshops. Customers can also contact the dealerships for any support after the lockdown is over

Oil prices remain under pressure

#CNBCTV18Market | Crude remains under pressure with Nymex slipping up to 20% pic.twitter.com/OxlSzlFCPw

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 28, 2020

Tata Motors plans to raise Rs 1,000 cr via issue of debentures

Tata Motors on Tuesday said it is looking to raise Rs 1,000 crore through issue of debentures.

“The company is desirous of offering rated, listed, unsecured, redeemable, non-convertible debentures aggregating Rs 1,000 crore in three tranches,” Tata Motors said in a regulatory filing.

In this regard the company is planning to hold a meeting of its duly constituted committee of the board on 5 May, it added.

The fund-raising is pursuant to the approval of the board’’s resolution passed at its meeting held on 27 March 2020, the auto major said.

Sensex jumps over 250 points, Nifty above 9,350-mark

Benchmark indices continued the rally as Sensex jumped 272.98 points or 0.86 percent to 32,016.06 while Nifty was up 71.65 points or 0.77 percent at 9,353.95 at around 1.30 pm.

IndusInd Bank zoomed over 10 percent  in the Sensex pack while HDFC (5.22 percent), Bajaj Finance (4.91 percent), Axis Bank (4.84 percent), ICICI Bank (3.88 percent) and Tech Mahindra (2.65 percent) also rose.

India’s rating could come under pressure if fiscal outlook deteriorates: Fitch

Fitch Ratings on Tuesday said India’’s sovereign rating could come under pressure if there is further deterioration in fiscal outlook as a result of lower growth or fiscal easing.

It said that given the extended lockdown, India is likely to announce further fiscal easing to support growth and its assessment of India’’s rating in such a case would be guided by our judgement of its probable medium-term fiscal path in the post-crisis environment.

“Further deterioration in the fiscal outlook as a result of lower growth or fiscal easing could pressure the sovereign rating in light of the limited fiscal headroom India had when it entered this crisis,” Fitch said in a statement.

Work from home: Professionals complain of stress, insomnia, anxiety

Insomnia, backaches, restlessness, stress and anxiety are among the side effects people are facing from prolonged work from home as the country entered the fifth week of the lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Many companies and firms shut office operations after the nationwide lockdown was announced on 25 March. Initially imposed for 21 days, the lockdown was extended to 3 May as the number of COVID-19 cases increased in the country.

Suresh Sharma, a Delhi-based techie, said he spends most of his time either in front of his laptop screen or on his mobile phone, sometimes hours at a stretch.

“I was initially enjoying working from home. However, with the passage of time, I realised it had taken a toll on my health. While working in my office space, I would be attending meetings and interacting with people. But, now, absolutely everything is online,” he said.