Stock market today LIVE Updates: Sensex zooms 365 points, Nifty at 9,488; Axis Bank shares drop over 6% after Q4 net loss – Firstpost

11:56 (IST)

FIITJEE starts online classes

In a bid to help students appearing for engineering entrance, the online training institute FIITJEE has facilitated Home Based Online Admission Tests to aspiring students.

Considering the academic concerns of students in current locked down situation, FIITJEE has already started online classes, which are the NEXT best experience to its Legendary Classroom teaching. Till the situation gets normal, all classes will be held through online mode.

The Online Admission test for students presently in class VII, VIII, IX, X, XI & XII will be be held on 2-3 May 2020.

“Admission Test will enable eligible students to join program of their choice and get sufficient time for Self-Study, solving assignments, doubt clearance, and tests while gaining better adaptability to the progressive level of difficulty,” said RL Trikha, director, FIITJEE Group

11:49 (IST)

Sensex zooms 365 points, Nifty at 9,488

Sensex surged 365.46 points or 1.14 percent to 32,479.98 while the Nifty was up 107.25 points or 1.14 percent at 9,488.15 at around 11.40 am.

Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, HDFC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp and IndusInd Bank were the major gainers in the Sensex pack.

11:30 (IST)

IndusInd Bank rises over 3%

#CNBCTV18Market | IndusInd Bank reverses losses, up 9% from lows pic.twitter.com/6z8LDJplXD
— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 29, 2020

11:28 (IST)

RBI’s liquidity support for MFs may struggle to be effective: Fitch

The Reserve Bank of India’s liquidity support for mutual funds may struggle to be effective, as its success will hang on banks’ appetite to take up the risks involved, amid low capital headroom and a likely increase in fresh non-performing loans, according to Fitch.

The RBI’s Rs 50,000 crore special liquidity facility for mutual funds (SLF-MF) will provide 90-day repo funding to banks, to extend liquidity to – or purchase commercial paper and debt securities from – local mutual funds.

The size of the SLF-MF appears broadly commensurate with the scale of the funds most at risk, Fitch notes.

11:26 (IST)

Axis Bank shares drop over 6% after Q4 net loss

Shares of Axis Bank on Wednesday dropped over 6 percent in early trade after the company reported a standalone net loss of Rs 1,387.78 crore for March quarter of 2019-20.

The scrip declined 6.15 percent to Rs 427.50 at the BSE. At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), it fell 6.47 percent to Rs 425.95.

Axis Bank on Tuesday reported a standalone net loss of Rs 1,387.78 crore for March quarter of 2019-20 as provisioning for bad loans and contingencies soared.

The private sector lender had reported a net profit of Rs 1,505.06 crore in the same quarter of the previous financial year.

11:22 (IST)

GDP report to show damaged US economy sliding into recession

The US economy began 2020 riding the crest of a record-long expansion with every expectation that its 11th year of growth would not be its last. Then the economy screeched to a sudden halt. And now it’s in free-fall.

On Wednesday, the government will offer a glimpse of how dark the picture has grown and how much worse it could get as the coronavirus pandemic inflicts ruinous damage.

The commerce department is expected to estimate that the gross domestic product, the broadest gauge of the economy, shrank at an annual rate of 5 percent or more in the January-March quarter.

That would be the sharpest quarterly drop in GDP since the Great Recession, which ended in 2009. And it would be the first quarterly contraction in six years.

11:21 (IST)

US Fed likely to pledge support for ailing economy

With the US economy gripped by its worst crisis since the 1930s, Federal Reserve policymakers are expected to offer sweeping assurances Wednesday that they will act as needed to help prevent the damage from growing even worse.

Yet the Fed is unlikely to unveil any new emergency programs. Fed officials have already taken a range of extraordinary actions that have propelled them into new corners of the economy and elevated their bond-buying to new heights.

Chairman Jerome Powell will hold his usual news conference — this time virtually, rather than on site — after the Fed issues its latest policy statement at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

Powell will likely fill in details on some of the nine lending programs the Fed has launched to try to aid the economy and to keep rates low in the face of the coronavirus-induced downturn.

11:19 (IST)

Glenmark Pharma gets tentative USFDA nod for generic anti-diabetes tablets

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals on Wednesday said it has received tentative approval from the US health regulator for its generic Dapagliflozin and Saxagliptin anti-diabetes tablets.

The approval granted by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc, USA, is for the strength of 10 mg/5 mg tablets, the generic version of Qtern tablets of the same strength of AstraZeneca AB, the company said in a statement.

Citing IQVIA sales data for the 12-month period ending February 2020, the company said Qtern tablets, 10 mg/5 mg had achieved annual sales of approximately $10.4 million.

Glenmark’s current portfolio consists of 162 products authorised for distribution in the US and 44 abbreviated new drug applications pending approval with the USFDA, the company said.

11:13 (IST)

Traders await economic package from govt: CAIT

Raising a strong demand for an economic package for the trading community with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said that now it is the high time the government announces a relief economic package for the business community which is the worst sufferer of COVID-19.

In a communication to Sitharaman, the CAIT said that the government has announced several packages of other sections of economy but the trading community is still awaiting the package.

The CAIT also said that if an adequate package is not given to traders, the domestic trade in the country is likely to collapse to a large extent. Since, the retail sector is largest employment provider after agriculture, it is all the more necessary to provide relief to this sector.

11:12 (IST)

Global lobbying groups call for delay to India’s new digital tax

Nine lobbying groups including the US Chamber of Commerce have urged India to delay a new digital tax that will hit firms such as Facebook and Google as they are battling the fallout of the coronavirus, a letter seen by Reuters showed.

From 1 April India imposed a new 2 percent tax on foreign billings, or transactions where companies take payment abroad for digital services provided in India. The tax also applies to foreign e-commerce transactions on sites such as Amazon.com.

The tax, inserted into budget amendments passed in March, caught the industry off guard as it was not part of the main proposals India’s finance ministry had presented in parliament a month earlier.

The nine groups, from the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia, wrote a joint letter to India’s finance minister on Wednesday, urging that the tax be delayed by nine months and for an industry-wide consultation before implementation.

Stock market today LIVE Updates: Markets open in green, Sensex up, Nifty above 9,400-mark; IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank fall

Asian equities made cautious gains in early trade on Wednesday following mixed US corporate earnings while oil prices looked set for more wild swings as storage concerns capped optimism about easing coronavirus lockdowns.

Technology stocks drove all three major US stock indexes into the red, though they remained within 20 percent of their February all-time highs.

“There was a big sector rotation as money left high value, growth sectors in tech like Amazon and went to value and cyclical sectors like energy, industrial, financials,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at Inverness Counsel in New York.

Alphabet Inc’s earnings beat analysts’ estimates for quarterly revenue as its Google unit posted double-digit advertising growth despite the coronavirus-induced slowdown. While users were searching more, they were looking up less commercial topics and advertisers were cutting spending.

In early Asian trade, Japan’s Nikkei index slipped 0.06 percent. Australia was up 0.3 percent and South Korea climbed 0.2 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2 percent at 467.95.

Markets were looking for any forward guidance from the US Federal Reserve, which is due to issue a policy statement at the close of its two-day meeting on Wednesday. The European Central Bank meets on Thursday.

Representational image. Reuters.

Analysts said it was unlikely the Fed would make further major policy moves, given the scope and depth of its efforts to counter the economic damage caused by the coronavirus.

Reassuring UBS earnings lifted European banks nearly 5 percent, while Wall Street digested upbeat numbers from industrial conglomerate 3M Co, a maker of N95 respirator masks, and drugmaker Pfizer Inc.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.13 percent, the S&P 500 lost 0.52 percent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.4 percent.

The greenback gave back some earlier losses as stocks came off their highs on concerns the coronavirus could spread further than previously thought if businesses reopened prematurely.

The dollar index against a basket of currencies fell 0.089 percent. The euro slipped 0.11 percent to $1.0816 while the euro index eased after Fitch cut Italy’s credit rating to BBB-, just one notch above ‘junk’ status.

The Japanese yen strengthened 0.35 percent versus the greenback at 106.87 per dollar, while sterling was last trading at $1.242, down 0.06 percent on the day.

The benchmark 10-year US Treasury rose 12/32 in price to yield 0.6161 percent, from 0.654 percent late on Monday.

Oil prices ended mixed with Brent up on positive sentiment about the easing of lockdowns, while US crude traders remained cautious as storage capacity were filling up fast.

Crude prices rose in post-settlement trading after data showed a slightly smaller-than-expected buildup in stockpiles.

US crude recently rose 2.66 percent to $13.12 per barrel, and Brent was at $20.74, up 3.75 percent on the day.

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Updated Date: Apr 29, 2020 11:56:55 IST

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