13:25 (IST)
Indices give up gains as Sensex up 862 points, Nifty holds 9,800-mark
The market erased the gains as Sensex was trading 861.95 points or 2.63 percent higher at 33,582.11 while the broader Nifty was up 248.30 points or 2.6 percent at 9,801.65 at 9,883.10 at around 1.15 pm.
13:21 (IST)
Nine in 10 urban Indians consider banking as most essential service: Survey
Majority of urban Indians consider banking and online home repairs as important essential service during the lockdown, even as nearly three-quarter of respondents said they are satisfied with the available essential services, says a survey.
According to a survey by market research and data company YouGov, nine in 10 urban Indians (89 per cent) picked banks as the most essential service during the lockdown from a list of businesses providing non-essential goods and services.
Banking was followed by the online home repairs, which was considered to be crucial during this time by around three-quarters (74 per cent) of respondents. The onset of summer and the need for AC and fridge servicing could be the reason for placing greater importance on this need, the survey noted.
Interestingly, the survey said many people considered newspapers and magazines as well as pet stores to be of higher importance (61 per cent each) in the current scenario than the availability of alcohol and cigarettes.
13:17 (IST)
Nokia profit up; sales dip with coronavirus supply issues
Finnish telecom equipment maker Nokia has reported improved first quarter profit but said the COVID-19 pandemic dented sales by around 200 million euros ($218 million) mainly due to supply issues associated with disruptions in China.
The company based in Espoo, Finland, reported Thursday net profit of 33 million euros for the January-March period, in comparison to a loss of 116 million euros the previous year. Sales were down 2 percent at 4.9 billion euros.
CEO Rajeev Suri said Nokia didn”t see a decline in demand in the first quarter but noted that as the coronavirus situation develops “an increase in supply and delivery challenges in a number of countries is possible and some customers may re-assess their spending plans.”
13:13 (IST)
Regulatory benefits under SLF-MF scheme to be extended to all banks: RBI
. @RBI says regulatory benefits under SLF-MF scheme will be extended to all banks irrespective of whether they avail funding from the Reserve Bank or deploy their own resources under the above-mentioned scheme pic.twitter.com/p0cJ4GCd0t
— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 30, 2020
13:12 (IST)
G-20 advanced economies to contract by 5.8%: Moody’s
Moody’s Investors Service has lowered its 2020-21 real GDP forecasts for all G-20 economies on the ground that economic costs of coronavirus crisis amid the near shutdown of the global economy are accumulating rapidly.
It now expects the G-20 advanced economies as a group to contract by 5.8 percent in 2020.
Even with a gradual recovery, it expects 2021 real GDP in most advanced economies to be below pre-coronavirus levels.
“Excluding China, we forecast the G-20 emerging market countries to contract 3.5 per cent in 2020, down from our forecast of 3.2 percent growth before the outbreak. We expect China’s economy to grow by 1 percent in 2020,” it said in a research update.
13:07 (IST)
BMW rolls out special service scheme for vehicles owned by doctors
German luxury carmaker BMW on Thursday said it has initiated a special aftersales service scheme exclusively for doctors who own a BMW, MINI or a BMW Motorrad bike and have been working round-the-clock to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a gesture of appreciation towards doctors, the company along with its dealer partners will offer complementary engine oil service at its dealership service centres across the country, BMW Group India said in a statement.
“Doctors have been tirelessly working every day to ensure public health and safety. Complementary engine oil service is a small gesture of appreciation from us and our dealer partners, for the selfless service of our patrons from the medical fraternity,” BMW Group India president (acting) Arlindo Teixeira said.
12:56 (IST)
CavinKare launches gadget disinfectant
CavinKare on Thursday announced the launch of disinfectant brand named Bacto-V.
Under Bacto-V there are two products—gadget disinfectant, surface disinfectant. In the time of coronavirus and lockdowns, in addition to personal gadgets, disinfecting touchable surfaces is also the need-of-the-hour than just cleaning.
Venkatesh Vijayaraghavan, director and chief executive officer – personal care & alliances, CavinKare said, “These innovations have been specially formulated by our team of scientists and are microbiologically tested to be safe and effective.”
Bacto-V Gadget Disinfectant and Bacto-V Multi Surface Disinfectant will be available to consumers across various channels –kirana stores, modern trade and e-commerce platforms.
The multi-surface disinfectant spray is available in 180 ML SKU at Rs 120 and 250 ML SKU at Rs 165 while the Bacto-V gadget disinfectant is available in 100 ML at Rs 249.
12:46 (IST)
SEBI penalises two persons in WhatsApp leak case
Markets regulator Sebi has penalised two persons after finding them guilty of releasing unpublished price sensitive information related to financial results of Ambuja Cements through WhatsApp messages prior to official announcement by the company.
In an order, the regulator levied a fine of Rs 15 lakh each on Neeraj Kumar Agarwal and Shruti Vishal Vora.
Earlier, the regulator penalised them for releasing unpublished price sensitive information (UPSI) related to financial results of Bajaj Auto through WhatsApp messages.
Some news reports had referred to the circulation of UPSI in various private WhatsApp groups about certain companies ahead of their official announcements to the respective stock exchanges.
12:39 (IST)
Truck operations resume in Andhra Pradesh
Easing of lockdown curbs, picking up of Rabi farming season and the prospects of more intra-state movement seem to have perked up the private goods transport sector in Andhra Pradesh with about 30 percent of the trucks started rolling into the roads in the last few days.
Truck operators, however, are unhappy that lorries carrying non-essential commodities are still not being permitted despite clear guidelines from the Centre.
Following considerable easing of restrictions in the ongoing national lockdown, about 30 percent of the trucks have started services and the government has pitched in with its part in providing safety kits to the drivers.
Mostly essential commodities, fruits and paddy are being carried both within and outside the state.
12:32 (IST)
Sensex soars over 1,100 points, Nifty above 9,850-mark
The market extended the gains as Sensex surged 1137.77 points or 3.48 percent to 33,857.93 while the broader Nifty was up 329.75 points or 3.45 percent at 9,883.10 at around 12.20 pm.
Hero MotoCorp was the top gainer in the Sensex pack jumping over 8 percent.
Stock market today LIVE Update: Sensex above 33,000, Nifty surges past 9,800-mark; RIL, HUL share prices gain ahead of Q4 results
New York: Asian equity markets were poised to gain on Thursday, tracking Wall Street’s rally after positive trial results of an experimental COVID-19 treatment, a US Federal Reserve pledge to shore up the economy and a jump in oil prices.
A top US health official said Gilead Sciences Inc’s antiviral drug remdesivir is likely to become the standard of care for COVID-19 after early results from a clinical trial showed it helped certain patients recover more quickly.
Investors expect the ensuing virus treatments to be critical in helping countries emerge from self-imposed lockdowns aimed at curbing the outbreak.
“The markets were up on expectation of the Gilead drug meeting the clinical end point, more regional re-opening in the US, and backstopping by the Fed after the chairman said that it will be overly accommodative,” said Thomas Hayes, chairman of Green Hill Capital.
Australian S&P/ASX 200 futures were up 2.02 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures were down 0.2 percent at 23:00 GMT.
Representational image. Reuters
The Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.06 percent at 19,771.19 on Tuesday. The futures contract is up 3.26 percent from that close. Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday on Wednesday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were up 1.01 percent.
The US economy suffered its sharpest decline in 11 years, with first-quarter gross domestic product contracting 4.8 percent, marking the end of the longest US economic expansion on record.
At the conclusion of its two-day monetary policy meeting, the Fed left key interest rates near zero while Chair Jerome Powell warned the economy would drop at an “unprecedented rate” in the current quarter.
However, Powell also said the economy would pick up as restrictions were lifted and vowed the central bank would continue to support the recovery.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.21 percent, the S&P 500 gained 2.66 percent and the Nasdaq Composite added 3.57 percent.
The safe-haven dollar took a hit from rising risk appetite and the Fed’s pledge to shore up the US economy.
The dollar index, tracking the greenback against six major peers, fell 0.3 percent, with the euro up 0.5 percent to $1.0872. Benchmark US 10-year notes fell 2/32 in price to yield 0.6143 percent, down from 0.61 percent late on Tuesday.
Oil prices surged more than 10 percent after US crude stockpiles grew less than expected and gasoline posted a surprise draw, feeding optimism that fuel consumption would recover as some European countries and US states ease coronavirus lockdowns.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled at $15.06 a barrel, jumping $2.72, or 22 percent. Brent crude futures settled at $22.54 a barrel, up $2.08, or 10.2 percent.
In Europe, automakers shares were lifted after German carmaker Daimler forecast operating profit at its Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans division above the prior-year level and rival Volkswagen said it expected to be profitable on a full-year basis..
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Updated Date: Apr 30, 2020 13:32:56 IST
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