09:15 (IST)
Banking declared as public utility service for six months till 21 October
The government has declared banking industry as a public utility service for six months till October 21 under the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act.
Bringing banking services under the provisions of this Act means that the banking sector would not see any strikes by employees or officers during the operation of the law starting from 21 April.
With the latest move, employees and officers of the highly unionised banking sector would not be able to go on strike besides certain other activities, according to an industry expert.
09:14 (IST)
SIDBI to aid of MSMEs
Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) on Thursday said it will provide special liquidity to banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and microfinance institutions for on-lending to micro, small and medium enterprises that are affected by the COVID-19-related disruptions.
The liquidity will be offered to banks, NBFCs and MFIs as term loans for a tenor of 90 days and for a maximum period of one year, Sidbi said.
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"We are seriously working towards helping MSMEs survive the crisis created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Keeping the current situation in mind, we were provided a special liquidity window of Rs 15,000 crore by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to enable MSMEs to tide over their liquidity crunch. The funds will be channelized to MSMEs through eligible banks, NBFCs and MFIs," SIDBI's chairman and managing director Mohammad Mustafa said in a release.
With this facility, MSMEs liquidity issues shall be addressed, timely and adequately, he added.
09:10 (IST)
Unilever withdraws growth outlook
Unilever on Thursday said its growth in India has been hit by both slowing market and the coronavirus-forced lockdown that led to a halt in production and shipping activities for a number of days.
The Anglo-Dutch firm has also withdrawn its growth and margin outlook for 2020, citing the impact of the pandemic and subsequent containment measures taken by authorities and a shift in demand patterns of the geographies where it operates.
Though the FMCG major has witnessed upswings in sales of hygiene and in-home food products, the crisis has affected particularly its food service and ice cream business, Unilever said in its trading statement for the first quarter ended 31 March.
09:08 (IST)
Wall Street rally loses steam after report on coronavirus drug trial
Wall Street was in positive territory on Thursday but surrendered strong earlier gains after a report that an experimental antiviral drug for the coronavirus flopped in its first randomized clinical trial.
All three main US stock indexes trimmed increases of over 1 percent, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq briefly turning negative after the Financial Times reported that a Chinese trial showed that Gilead Science’s remdesivir did not improve patients’ condition or reduce the pathogen’s presence in the bloodstream. Gilead said the results from the study were inconclusive as it was terminated early.
Last Friday, Wall Street rallied in part because of a report that COVID-19 patients in a separate study had responded positively to remdesivir.
The market’s sensitivity to news related to coronavirus therapies reflects investors’ desperation for any indication of when the global economy might be able to start returning to normal.
09:06 (IST)
SGX Nifty points towards GAP down opening
Aditya Agarwala, Senior Technical Analyst, YES Securities, said: “SGX Nifty is pointing towards a GAP down opening for our markets which is currently trading lower by 1 % or 95 points.
"Early risers in Asia are also trading soft at the moment and the declines are led by NIKKEI which is trading lower by 0.80%, rest of the pack is trading lower by 0.60% to 0.40%. Overnight, the US Markets gave up gains in late trade to shut shop mildly lower, while the Dow Jones ended flat, S&P 500 ended in the red. Early morning Dow Jones Futures is trading in the red with cuts of 0.30% leading to this opening weakness across Asia and possibly our markets as well.
"Coming back to our markets, Nifty ended trade with decent gains of 126 points in its previous session; however, it once again failed to breach the 9350-9400 resistance zone which is now becoming a tough nut to crack for the bulls.
"Following a GAP down opening in trade today, a sustained trade below 9200 could trigger extended correction dragging the Index to levels of 9100-8900 on the downside. On the flip side if the Index manages to hold above the 9200 mark it may witness a pullback to levels of 9300-9350," Agarwala said.
09:04 (IST)
Stocks drop on data leak on virus drug trials
#CNBCTV18Market | The global death toll due to the #Covid_19 is now at 1.9 lakh whereas the number of total global cases are above 2.7 million now; Dow futures trading over 100 points lower this morning; Asia follows the suit Hang Seng down 150 Points pic.twitter.com/rqLPVyIyx0
— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 24, 2020
09:00 (IST)
Markets could open in negative
Deepak Jasani, Head-Research, HDFC Securities said: "Indian markets could open in the negative on Friday following mildly negative Asian markets today and flat US markets on Thursday.
"US stocks finished little changed on Thursday, as a strong rally for all three benchmarks hit a snag in afternoon trade, amid reports that suggested that a closely followed experimental drug intended to be used to treat coronavirus delivered disappointing results in an “inconclusive” trial.
"Later, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a $484 billion coronavirus relief bill on Thursday, funding small businesses and hospitals and pushing the total spending response to the crisis to an unprecedented near $3 trillion. Now Investors are anxious to see “how quickly EU policy-makers will move towards area-wide fiscal risk-sharing,”.
"In commodities, June crude futures for West Texas Intermediate oil rocketed 20% to settle at $16.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. A reading of US service sector activity from Markit fell to its lowest on record in April, while its manufacturing purchasing manager’s index was at an 11-year low. Domestically, another 4.4 million Americans filed for first-time jobless claims in the most recent week, taking the total to 25 million.
"Stocks in Asia declined in Friday morning trade after an overnight report that raised doubts over a potential coronavirus treatment. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said the one-year interest rate on the TMLF was lowered by 20 basis points to 2.95% from 3.15%.
"Indian markets rallied further on Thursday after bouncing back from the lows of 8946 on Wednesday. The Nifty gained 126.6 points or 1.38% to close at 9,313.9. Technically, with the Nifty moving up further, the short term trend remains up. However further upsides are likely only once the immediate resistance of 9343 is taken out. On falls support is expected between 9044-9170," Jasani said.
Stock market today LIVE Updates: Sensex over 400 points down, Nifty dips in opening session; Narendra Modi to meet Nirmala Sitharaman today
Washington: Asia equities face a bumpy session on Friday after Wall Street pared early gains as optimism over a rebound in oil prices and prospects for further government stimulus were offset by stark economic data showing the toll of the coronavirus pandemic.
Wall Street closed little changed on Thursday in the hope a third straight decline in weekly jobless claims signaled the worst of the pandemic’s impact on the labor market was over.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures were down 0.1 percent but the contract is up 1.4 percent from the Nikkei’s index close of 19,137.95 on Thursday.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 futures were up 0.23 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures rose 0.2 percent.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.39 percent higher
The main US stock indexes lost momentum, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq turning negative at the close, as investors digested a report that an experimental antiviral drug for the coronavirus flopped in its first randomised clinical trial.
Gilead Sciences Inc said the findings were inconclusive because the study conducted in China was terminated early.
Sensitivity to news related to coronavirus therapies reflects investors’ desperation for any indication of when the global economy might be able to start returning to normal, said chief investment strategist at Inverness Counsel, Tim Ghriskey.
“Any piece of bad news is likely to rattle the market,” Ghriskey said. “Investors are keen for a semblance of hope that they can soon crawl out of their homes and get on with some form of normal life, even if with trepidation and fear.”
The US House of Representatives passed a $484 billion bill to expand federal loans to small businesses impacted by the coronavirus outbreak and hospitals overwhelmed by patients suffering from COVID-19.
President Donald Trump, who has said he will sign the bill, said late Thursday that he may need to extend social distancing guidelines to early summer.
The energy index rose 3 percent, easily leading the 11 S&P 500 sectors as oil prices recovered in a tumultuous week that saw US crude futures crash below zero for the first time in history.
The decline on Monday came amid an April rally of US stock indexes eyeing a raft of global stimulus. However, the benchmark S&P 500 remains more than 15 percent below its record high as worsening economic indicators foreshadow a deep global recession.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39.44 points, or 0.17 percent, to 23,515.26, the S&P 500 lost 1.51 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,797.8 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.63 points, or 0.01 percent, to 8,494.75.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.94 percent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.32 percent.
US business activity plumbed record lows in April, mirroring dire figures from Europe and Asia as strict stay-at-home orders crushed production, supply chains and consumer spending, a survey showed.
Meanwhile, in a virtual meeting, divided European Union leaders began their search on Thursday for a joint financial fund of up to 2 trillion euros to help recover from the coronavirus pandemic and avoid economic collapse in the bloc’s poorer south.
The US dollar edged higher against the euro in a choppy session after the meeting of the 27-member bloc leaders ended without any agreement on details.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel signaled she was open to offering major financial support for a coronavirus recovery package, but wanted to see how it would be used before committing.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe’s response to economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus crisis required financial transfers to the hardest-hit regions and not just loans.
Brent rose 96 cents, or 4.7 percent, to settle at $21.33 a barrel, while US crude jumped $2.72, or 19.7 percent, to settle at $16.50. These gains extend oil’s rebound after major oil-producing nations said they would accelerate planned production cuts to combat the dramatic slump in demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic
from Firstpost Business Latest News https://ift.tt/2Y806Lw
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