Press "Enter" to skip to content

Stock Markets LIVE Updates: Work going on, we are very close to economic package: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman – Firstpost





























































































Stock Markets LIVE Updates: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the government is preparing an economic package to tide over the crisis created by coronavirus pandemic.

“We are readying an economic package to help us through the corona lockdown and will be announced soon,” Sitharaman said in a tweet.

Sitharaman to address media at 2 pm

The finance minister will address a press conference at 2 pm on Tuesday

Sensex zoomed 877.65 points or 3.38 percent to 26,858.89 while Nifty jumped
248.10 points or 3.26 percent to 7,858.35  in the afternoon trade on Tuesday.

Infosys rallied 10 percent after the US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) gave a clean chit to the Indian company in the whistleblower case.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly asked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and NITI Aayog to work out an economic relief plan in the wake of the rise in coronavirus cases in the country.

Economic package may be made for daily wagers, corporates and empolyees, reported CNBC TV18 quoting government sources.

Equity benchmark indices staged a major recover in the late morning trade. Sensex soared over 600 points while the broader Nifty jumped above 7,800-level.

Sensex was trading 672.70 points or 2.59 percent higher at 26,653.94 and the Nifty surged 191.15 points or 2.51 percent to 7,801.40 at around 11.45 AM.

Infosys is the top gainer in the Sensex pack at 7.85 percent. Other gainers included HUL, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints, Reliance Industries, TCS, ONGC, HCL Tech and NTPC.

Investors said other central banks can be expected to follow suit with bold measures to ease the strained financial and credit markets.

Earlier, the BSE Sensex opened in the red and was down by 40 points to 25,941 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 20 points to 7,591.

Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were mixed with Nifty IT ticking up by 4.1 percent, pharma by 2.8 percent, and FMCG by 1.5 percent. But Nifty private bank was down by 1.4 percent and realty by 1.3 percent.

Among stocks, IT major Infosys was the top gainer, moving up 7.9 percent to Rs 568.40 per share. Tech Mahindra edged up by 3.8 percent, HCL Technologies by 3.5 percent and Wipro by 3.4 percent.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries was up by 3.1 percent to Rs 911.65 while FMCG majors Hindustan Lever and Britannia gained by 6.1 percent and 2.8 percent respectively.

The other prominent gainers were Adani Ports, Cipla and Sun Pharma.

However, IndusInd Bank plunged by nearly 15 percent to Rs 286 per share. Titan, Bharti Infratel, Hero MotoCorp and Bharat Petroleum Corporation traded with a negative bias.

Meanwhile, the Asian stocks rallied on Tuesday as the US Federal Reserve’s sweeping pledge to spend whatever it took to stabilize the financial system eased debt market pressures, even if it could not offset the immediate economic hit of the coronavirus.

#CNBCTV18Market | Asian indices trade sharply higher, currently at day’s high#CoronavirusOutbreak pic.twitter.com/yXsaQX5sn2

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) March 24, 2020

While Wall Street seemed unimpressed, investors in Asia were encouraged enough to lift E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 by 1.9 percent and Japan’s Nikkei by 4.9 percent.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 1.2 percent, though that followed a drop of almost 6% on Monday. South Korea and Australia also recouped a little of their recent losses.

In its latest drastic step, the Fed offered to buy unlimited amounts of assets to steady markets and expanded its mandate to corporate and muni bonds.

The numbers were certainly large, with analysts estimating the package could make $4 trillion or more in loans to non-financial firms.

“This open-ended and massively stepped-up program of QE is a very clear signal that the Fed will do all that is needed to maintain the integrity and liquidity of the Treasury market, key asset-backed markets and other core markets,” said David de Garis, a director of economics at NAB.

“COVID-19 developments remain the wild card, as is the development of government policies to support cash flow and the economy.”

The Fed’s package helped calm nerves in bond markets where yields on two-year Treasuries hit their lowest sine 2013, while 10-year yields dropped back sharply to 0.77 percent.

Yet analysts fear it will do little to offset the near-term economic damage done by mass lockdowns and layoffs.

Speculation is mounting data due on Thursday will show U.S. jobless claims rose an eye-watering 1 million last week, with forecasts ranging as high as 4 million.

Goldman Sachs warned the US economic growth could contract by 24% in the second quarter, two-and-a-half times as large as the previous postwar record.

A range of flash surveys on European and US manufacturing for March are due later on Tuesday and are expected to show deep declines into recessionary territory.

While governments around the globe are launching ever-larger fiscal stimulus packages, the latest US effort remains stalled in the Senate as Democrats said it contained too little money for hospitals and not enough limits on funds for big business.

The logjam combined with the stimulus splash from the Fed to take a little of the shine off the US dollar, though it remains in demand as a global store of liquidity.

“The special role of the USD in the world’s financial system – it is used globally in a range of transactions such as commodity pricing, bond issuance and international bank lending—means USD liquidity is at a premium,” said CBA economist Joseph Capurso.

“While liquidity is an issue, the USD will remain strong.”

The dollar eased just a touch on the yen to 110.90 after hitting a one-month top at 111.59 on Monday, while the euro inched up to $1.0754 EUR= from a three-year trough of $1.0635.

The dollar index stood at 102.120, off a three-year peak of 102.99.

Gold surged in the wake of the Fed’s promise of yet more cheap money, and was last at $1,564.51 per ounce having rallied from a low of $1,484.65 on Monday.

Oil prices also bounced after recent savage losses, with US crude up 64 cents at $24.00 barrel. Brent crude firmed 53 cents to $27.56.

Find latest and upcoming tech gadgets online on Tech2 Gadgets. Get technology news, gadgets reviews & ratings. Popular gadgets including laptop, tablet and mobile specifications, features, prices, comparison.

Updated Date: Mar 24, 2020 14:39:26 IST

Tags :

Asian Stocks,

Coronavirus,

COVID-19,

Debt Market Pressures,

Federal Reserve,

Financial System,

Fiscal Stimulus Packages,

Goldman Sachs,

Layoffs,

Lockdowns,

NewsTracker,

Nikkei,

Stock Markets,

US Fed,

Wall Street