Economy
Updated : 2020-10-23 08:18:43
The Indian stock market may open flat on Friday as the SGX Nifty, an early indicator of the opening for the Nifty50, was trading 3.40 points higher at 11,902.20, hinting at a flat start for the domestic market.
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1. Asia: Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed as investors in Asia-Pacific monitor coronavirus developments. Mainland Chinese stocks were mixed in early trade, with the Shanghai composite fractionally lower while the Shenzhen component up 0.12 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 0.35 percent. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 were fractionally higher while the Topix index dipped 0.24 percent. South Korea’s Kospi also shed 0.29 percent. Meanwhile, shares in Australia declined, with the S&P/ASX 200 slipping 0.36 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.27 percent lower, reported CNBC International. (Image: Reuters)
2. US: U.S. stock futures slipped on Thursday night as Wall Street weighed the potential for additional fiscal stimulus, news on the earnings and coronavirus treatment fronts. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dipped 30 points, or 0.1 percent. S&P 500 futures were down 0.1 percent along with Nasdaq 100 futures. The Dow and S&P 500 each gained 0.5 percent during regular trading on Thursday while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.2 percent after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled she and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were making progress in their fiscal stimulus negotiations, reported CNBC International. (Image: AP)
3. Closing Bell: The Indian benchmark equity indices, Sensex and Nifty ended lower Thursday dragged by selling in pharma, IT and banking stocks. The Sensex ended 148.82 points or 0.37 percent lower at 40,558.49 while the Nifty settled at 11,896.45, down 41.20 points or 0.35 percent. Broader indices outperformed the benchmarks as the Nifty Smallcap100 gained 1.and Nifty Midcap100 indices gained 1.1 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively. (Image: Reuters)
4. Crude Oil: Oil prices ticked up on Thursday but struggled to fully recover from the previous session’s losses when a build in U.S. gasoline inventories signaled a deteriorating outlook for fuel demand as coronavirus cases soar. Brent crude futures were up 91 cents, or 2.18 percent, at $42.64 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled 63 cents, or 1.4 percent, higher at $40.64 per barrel. Both contracts shed more than 3 percent on Wednesday in their steepest daily falls in three weeks, reported CNBC International. (Image: Reuters)
5. Rupee Close: The Indian currency closed slightly higher on Thursday as US stimulus talks remained the focus of the markets. The rupee ended at 73.53 against the US dollar as compared to the previous close of 73.58. (Image: Reuters)
6. Uday Kotak On Real Economy In October: Talking about recovery Kotak said, “There are some important aspects we need to keep in mind, one is compared to April and May the situation in October in terms of the real economy, especially in tradable and physical areas, have certainly got much better.” He also said further,”Important factors that are working for us as a country are — extremely strong external account including the current account position, which is giving us much less fragility on the global side. Second huge amount of surplus liquidity around the world is leading to significant investments flows. Third – in India we had extra ordinary accommodative monetary policy with clear guidance and unambiguous way forward. Fourth is an expensive fiscal policy including the packages combined with the fact that revenues have been lower and finally the world has changed the way it is moving away from concentration with dominant countries in a new geo-political framework.”(Image: IANS)
7. Housing Sales To Improve During Festive Season: ANAROCK Property Consultants expects housing sales in the December quarter to rise by 35 percent over the previous quarter boosted by festive demand amid reduced cost of acquisition. The prevailing low home loan interest rates coupled with limited-period government incentives such as reduced stamp duty and registration charges in certain markets may fuel demand as the homebuyers look to take the most advantage of the festive offers and sops given by the developers. (Image: Reuters)
8. Bharat Biotech’s COVID Vaccine Receives Approval For Phase 3: Bharat Biotech has received expert committee approval to conduct phase 3 trials for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate Covaxin. The drug regulator’s expert committee recommended granting approval after assessing data submitted following phase 1 and 2 trials, along with animal challenge study, suggesting “minor amendments” in the protocol. In its meeting on October 20 to approve third phase of trials, SEC said, “After detailed deliberation and based on the available evidences, the committee recommended for grant of permission to conduct Phase III clinical trial subject to the condition that the Primary efficacy endpoint for symptomatic cases should be amended.” (Image: Reuters)
9. Govt Relaxes Norms For Nitrile Gloves: The government on Thursday eased export norms for nitrile or nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) gloves, used by medical professionals, a move aimed at promoting shipments of the protective equipment. Export of these gloves were banned in the country in view of domestic requirements in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak. “The export policy of nitrile/NBR gloves exported…is revised from prohibited to restricted category,” the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) said in a notification. For products under a restricted category, an exporter would need a licence or permission from the government for exports. (Image: Reuters)
10. E-commerce Players Enjoy Festive Sales: A buying spree among consumers during the current festive season has ushered in green shoots of recovery in the retail sector, which was severely affected due to the COVID-19 crisis, while e-commerce companies enjoy a higher pie of sales as people prefer online shopping now, officials said on Thursday. Leading e-tailers have received overwhelming response during their annual festive sale days, while traditional traders witnessed increasing sales in several categories. However, their revenue is still lower than that of last year, they said. A report by RedSeer, a consulting firm, estimates that the festive sales this year are expected to touch USD 7 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) compared to USD 3.8 billion in the same period last year. (Stock Image)
