Stock Markets Today LIVE Updates: Benchmark indices extend gains, Sensex above 29,100-mark; India hiring falls 18% in March – Firstpost

12:29 (IST)

Sensex surges over 1,600 points, Nifty above 8,500-mark in afternoon trade

Benchmark indices continued to extend the morning gains as Sensex soared 1639.51 points or 5.94 percent to 29,230.46 and Nifty was up 474 points or 5.86 percent at 8,557.80 at around 12.20 pm.

IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack followed by Axis Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra.

12:21 (IST)

India hiring declines 18% in March

Overall hiring activity in India declined by 18 percent in March, with travel and airlines, hospitality and retail industries witnessing a massive 56 per cent drop in offering jobs as compared to March last year, leading job portal Naukri.com said on Tuesday.

The retail sector saw 50 percent drop in hiring, followed by auto/ancillary (38 percent), pharma (26 per cent), insurance (11 percent), accounting/finance (10 percent), IT-software (9 percent) and BFSI (9 percent), according to the ”Naukri JobSpeak Index” for March 2020.

According to Pawan Goyal, Chief Business Officer at Naukri.com, the hiring activity for the first 20 days on March 2020 saw only a 5 percent decline.

“However, due to the nationwide lockdown, there was a substantial drop in recruitment activity in the last 10 days, which resulted in overall drop of 18 percent in hiring,” said Goyal.

12:19 (IST)

Britannia partners with Dunzo on home delivery of food essentials

Britannia Industries has partnered with on-demand e-commerce platform Dunzo on home delivery of all its products.

Customers can avail Britannia products through the Dunzo app in under an hour of ordering from the ‘Britannia Essentials’ store, a joint statement said on Tuesday.
 

Dunzo’s no-contact delivery will ensure that Britannia essentials such as biscuits, cakes, rusk, croissants, milkshakes, wafers, ghee and dairy whitener, are delivered safely and securely to users across Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Gurgaon, Jaipur, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai, it said

12:16 (IST)

IndusInd Bank deposit shrinks 7% in March quarter

IndusInd Bank has reported a 7 percent decline in deposits during the March quarter due to withdrawals triggered by the Yes Bank crisis.

Deposit base of the bank declined to Rs 2,02,303 crore in the quarter ended March as against Rs 2,16,713 crore in the previous quarter, the bank said in a late-night regulatory filing on Monday.

As a result, the bank’s current account savings account (CASA) ratio slipped to 40.5 percent during the fourth quarter of 2019-20 from 42.4 percent in the third quarter.

On concerns of financial health, IndusInd Bank, promoted by Hinduja Group, has seen withdrawal of bulk deposits from the banks after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) superseded the board of Yes Bank in the early March.

12:11 (IST)

Japan to compile extra budget to fund coronavirus stimulus

Japan will compile a supplementary budget worth 16.8057 trillion yen ($154.45 billion) to help fund stimulus spending to combat its coronavirus outbreak, according to a draft of the spending plan obtained by Reuters.

The government will issue the same amount of additional government bonds to fund the extra budget, with a construction bond issuance at 2.3290 trillion yen and deficit-covering bonds at 14.4767 trillion yen, the draft showed.

12:05 (IST)

Cipla soars nearly 10%

#CNBCTV18Market | Cipla extends gains, trades above 200-day moving average of 469 pic.twitter.com/BPnFzdnyv2

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 7, 2020

11:59 (IST)

Oil gains as hopes rise for production cut

Oil rose on Tuesday amid hopes that the world’s biggest producers of crude will agree to curtail production as the coronavirus pandemic ravages the global economy, even as analysts cautioned the cuts may do little to boost demand.

Brent crude was up by 73 cents, or 2.2 percent, at $33.78 a barrel after falling more than 3 percent on Monday. US crude was up by 97 cents, or 3.7 percent, at $27.05 a barrel, having dropped nearly 8% in the previous session.

The world’s main oil producers including Saudi Arabia and Russia are likely to agree to cut output at a meeting on Thursday, although that would also depend on the United States doing its share, sources told Reuters.

11:52 (IST)

Reverse-migration, labour shortage likely to be long-term impact: Report

Reverse migration of workers since the COVID-19 outbreak has serious public-health implications. With basic sustenance support from the government for three months, many interstate migrants may not return to work soon, according to a research report by Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers.

Labourer shortage, it is being feared, can hinder economic recovery. The shares of interstate migrants in overall migration and employment are estimated at 15 percent and 20 percent, respectively, it said.

Lack of inter-state migrant labourers may create some shortage but the situation may not turn alarming unless migrants from the same state, too, do not return to work. Worker-deficit states such as Maharashtra, Delhi and Punjab may, however, feel the impact more, the report said.

Labour shortage is already curtailing rabi harvesting. Construction, trade, transportation and hospitality, too, may face temporary shortages. In the medium term, however, the impact of COVID-19 would result in more unemployment rather than labour shortage, the research report said.

11:47 (IST)

Larsen & Toubro wins ‘large’ contract from Indian Army

Engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro on Tuesday said it has won a ”large” contract from the Indian Army for setting up an advanced IT-enabled system to operate the Armed Forces network under the Network of Spectrum (NFS).

Though the company did not mention the exact value of the contract, as per its project classification, the value of a large order ranges between Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 5,000 crore.

The Smart World and Communication Business of L&T Construction has secured a large order from the Indian Army to establish an unified network management system to manage, support and operate the countrywide Armed Forces Network under the NFS, the company said in a statement.

11:45 (IST)

Etihad Airways to test health assessment technology at airports

UAE flag carrier Etihad Airways announced that it would trial a new technology at the Abu Dhabi airport that allows to spot travellers with medical conditions, potentially including the early stages of COVID-19.

The technology, developed in cooperation with Australian company Elenium Automation, will be trialed starting late April and throughout May 2020 through volunteers and outbound passengers, Efe news quoted the airlines as saying in a statement on Monday.

The company seeks to “to gain confidence from passengers to return to travel sooner” after it suspended commercial flights in late March in wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

11:40 (IST)

Gold slips from four-week high

Gold prices eased from a four-week high on Tuesday, as the U.S. dollar and global equities strengthened on signs of a slowdown in coronavirus-related deaths.

Spot gold was down 0.2 percent at $1,657.67 per ounce, after rising to a four-week high earlier in the session. The metal climbed 2.8 percent on Monday. US gold futures rose 1.7 percent to $1,723.

11:32 (IST)

Nissan says impact on auto sector to be clear once lockdown lifted

11:27 (IST)

US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, Zoom Video ink pact

The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) is partnering with Zoom Video Communications to provide free access to video technologies for K-12 education institutions in India. 

USISPF and Zoom will work with the Government of India, state governments, and non-profit organizations in education to ensure that the maximum number of school going children are able to access Zoom’s technologies free of cost and continue their education virtually at an extremely challenging time.

Speaking about the partnership, USISPF president Mukesh Aghi said, “American companies are continuing to step up in all ways possible to help citizens of India during these extraordinary circumstances.The partnership is a win-win between American industry’s technological capabilities and the urgent need to solve the education challenges that India’s students face during this health crisis.”

11:23 (IST)

Sensex reclaims 29,000-mark in morning trade

#CNBCTV18Market | #Sensex reclaims 29,000, up over 5% pic.twitter.com/OPZoTXmSqx

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 7, 2020

11:20 (IST)

East Coast Railway deploys drones to guard assets

In a first, the East Coast Railway headquartered at Bhubaneswar has deployed drones to guard its assets lying idle in yards due to the ongoing coronavirus lockdown, officials said.

“During lockdown, assets like coaches, PRS counters, etc. are out of sight being not in use and locked. This is in addition to the assets in use – yards signalling infrastructure, stations, relay rooms, goods sheds, wagon stock. RPF staff has to ensure safety of each of these assets, whether in use or not,” said Principal chief security commissioner, ECoR, Raja Ram.

“As a large part of ECOR territory is under LWE (left wing extremism) influence areas, keeping an eye 24×7 on all fixed and moving assets in addition to activity centres is a challenge during lockdown. ECoR has, in a first on IR, deployed drones to keep a 24×7 vigil on the entire ECOR territory,” he added.

11:17 (IST)

Sensex surges over 1,400 points, Nifty reclaims 8,400-mark

Market rebounded as the Sensex surged 1408.44 points or 5.10 percent to 28,999.39 while Nifty was up 398.10 points or 4.92 percent at 8,481.90 at around 11.10 am.
 

IndusInd was the top gainer in the Sensex pack surging 15.45 percent while Axis Bank (9.52 percent), HCL Tech (9.09 percent) and Mahindra & Mahindra (9.04 percent) also zoomed in the morning trade

10:58 (IST)

CRISIL deploys corporate kitchen to serve 10,000 daily meals 

CRISIL has opened up its corporate kitchen facility at its Mumbai headquarters to prepare hygienically cooked, nutritious meals on a daily basis to the economically weaker sections of the society.

Starting at about 5000 meals a day, the facility has been scaled to provide 10,000 daily meals in a few days. 

Under ‘The 10K meals project’, the administration team is utilising the currently idle kitchen facilities at Crisil’s Powai office to be able to offer meals ensuring safety and hygiene protocols.

The food is distributed through its Foundation’s network of non-government organisations (NGOs). Apart from the Foundation, the initiative is supported through funds contributed by CRISIL employees. 

10:56 (IST)

Stock market auctions should drive broker innovation

The sharp rise in trading volumes during closing auctions at global stock markets requires more innovation by brokers to capture value for buy-side investors, one of the world’s largest asset managers said on Tuesday.

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which runs Norway’s $950 billion sovereign wealth fund, said the growing popularity of end-of-trade auctions reflects deep structural changes, including that more money is managed by bigger firms.

Gradually introduced by major stock markets since the late 1990s, auctions held in the final minutes of trade were initially seen as an efficient, hard-to-manipulate way to establish end-of-day prices.

10:51 (IST)

Samsung Electronics beats first-quarter estimates

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Tuesday its first-quarter operating profit likely managed to rise slightly from a slump a year earlier, as solid chip sales helped cushion the blow from the coronavirus pandemic on smartphones and TVs.

The global leader in semiconductors is benefiting from higher demand for chips from laptop makers and data centres amid the coronavirus-driven shift to working from home.

But at the same time the South Korean tech giant is also expecting a bigger hit to its mobile and consumer electronics sales in the current quarter as the novel coronavirus sweeps through Europe and the United States – key markets for its premium smartphones and TVs.

10:49 (IST)

JSW Steel says to recommence operations once lockdown ends

As the 21-day lockdown period is nearing end, private steel maker JSW Steel has started preparing to scale up its production.

On 25 March, the Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel said the company has decided to scale down or suspend production during the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The manufacturing operations in all of its locations have been either scaled down or suspended, it said adding that consequently, the capacity utilisation is expected to go down significantly during this lockdown period.

10:46 (IST)

Tata Power Solar receives the letter of award for CPSU-II

Tata Power Solar receives the Letter of Award for CPSU-II from NTPC for 300 MW project pic.twitter.com/jYFn65txln

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 7, 2020

10:43 (IST)

Railway asks cement firms to unload goods from freight trains

The railway has asked cement firms to offload their goods from freight trains so that they can be used to supply essential commodities to various parts of the country, sources said.

With the lockdown in place, the national transporter is using about 50-60 rakes per day to ferry food grains but there is demand for more, the sources said.

Around 300 goods trains full of cement bags are lying idle because cement companies are in no hurry to unload them as the construction business has come to a standstill due to the coronavirus outbreak.

With the railways having waived off its demurrage and wharfage charges, companies were not losing any money by not offloading their goods, officials said.

10:40 (IST)

DeHaat raises Rs 83 cr from investors

Agritech platform DeHaat on Tuesday said it has raised $12 million (Rs 83 crore) from investors, including Sequoia India, for business expansion.

Based in Gurgaon and Patna, and founded in 2012 by IIT, IIM and NIT alumni, DeHaat is a technology-based platform offering full-stack agricultural services to farmers, including distribution of high quality agri inputs, customised farm advisory, access to financial services, and market linkages for selling their produce.

DeHaat has raised $12 million (Rs 83 crore) in Series A round led by Sequoia India, with participation from FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank. 

10:37 (IST)

Crude prices swing after Donald Trump’s tweet

The crude prices surged by 30 percent, skyrocketing for its largest single day percentage gain in history of crude markets on a single tweet from President Trump that Saudi Arabia and Russia would cut production by 10Mb-15Mbpd, said Motilal Oswal Institutional Equities.

The whole market looks like a different planet now after concept of alliance of Saudi-US showed depth of crisis facing the global oil industry as well as its growing importance to the US economy but not at the stage of something that is being seriously considered. Yet, there remains confusion in market as indeed, immediately, Russia shot down the idea that there was some agreement.

The growing momentum for some sort of agreement among major oil producers to reduce the world’s massive oversupply hinges on cooperation from countries beyond OPEC+, notably the US, but how realistic is this? Saudi Arabia is looking toward oil producers among the G20 nations to bolster any OPEC-plus actions.

Of list of G20 countries, only a handful have any significant oil production, and even fewer have any sort of export capabilities. Chief among these is the US, but other major producers include Brazil, Canada and Mexico.

All this has sent prices up, although the “when,” “how,” and “who” of the potential deal remain unclear.

And the larger the universe of players, the more difficult it will be to implement an agreement

10:30 (IST)

Market trims early gains, Nifty slips below 8,300-mark

Market trimmed early gains as the Sensex was trading 1141.42 points or 4.14 percent higher at 28,732.37 while the broader Nifty was up 313.95 points or 3.88 percent at 8,397.75 at around 10.20 am.

India, the world’s main supplier of generic drugs, has lifted restrictions on the export of 24 pharmaceutical ingredients and medicines made from them, the government said in a statement.

10:27 (IST)

Rupee opens 21 paise higher at 75.92 against dollar

The rupee rose 21 paise to 75.92 against the US dollar in the early trade on Tuesday.  

10:18 (IST)

HUL surges over 7% to record high

#CNBCTV18Market | HUL surges to record high pic.twitter.com/RBVKIFFsd4

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 7, 2020

10:15 (IST)

Indonesia raises $4.3 billion in first pandemic bond

Indonesia has raised $4.3 billion in its first so-called “pandemic bond”, which included the longest-dated dollar debt tranche ever issued in Asia, according to a term-sheet seen by Reuters.

The deal was finalised in the US overnight and sold in tranches of 10.5 years and 30.5 years, worth $1.65 billion each, and a $1 billion 50-year tranche.

It was Indonesia’s largest bond deal and the first time a 50-year dollar deal has been issued in Asia, not including rolling hybrid transactions, according to the term-sheet.

10:09 (IST)

Dollar dips as virus worries persist despite some signs of hope

The dollar fell against the yen on Tuesday as US stock futures erased gains and traded lower in a sign some investors remain concerned about the economic shock posed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The pound clawed back some recent losses against the dollar, but sentiment for sterling remains fragile after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved to intensive care after his coronavirus symptoms worsened.

The yen was supported against major currencies after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe unveiled fiscal stimulus worth almost $1 trillion to offset the economic impact of the coronavirus.

10:07 (IST)

GSV bids $2.5 billion for Malaysia Airlines

Privately held Golden Skies Ventures (GSV) has made a $2.5 billion offer to fully take over the holding company of ailing state carrier Malaysia Airlines, with financing from a European bank, its executives told Reuters on Monday.

GSV, which was set up by former Malaysia Airlines officials and professionals with aviation experience, made the proposal a month ago, as airlines around the world were hammered by travel restrictions following the coronavirus pandemic. 

“(We have secured) in excess of $2.5 billion from the bank. We will take about three to four months to get the long-term financing,” Chief Executive Shahril Lamin told Reuters in a phone interview.

10:02 (IST)

Asian stocks rally

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul rallied up to 2 percent. 

09:41 (IST)

US banks grapple with system glitches

The US government’s $350 billion small-business rescue program was plagued by paperwork and technical issues as it lurched to the end of a fourth day on Monday, with some banks experiencing major glitches with the processing system, according to industry groups, bankers and an email seen by Reuters.

The problems with the program, which is jointly administered by the Small Business Administration and the U.S. Treasury Department, threatened to delay putting much-needed funds into the hands of small businesses hurt by the coronavirus crisis.

Three banking officials told Reuters US lenders were unable to process loan applications for hours on Monday after the SBA’s online portal crashed around midday. A senior administration official denied the SBA system had crashed, and said the agency continued to process loans and add lenders.

Since the program opened on Friday, banks have struggled to access the clunky system and the paperwork involved has changed more than once, industry sources said.

“We know that your efforts have been frustrated with system issues, policy questions and slower than usual responses,” the Small Business Administration’s regional offices wrote to bankers on Saturday evening, according to an email seen by Reuters.

09:30 (IST)

Stocks in focus

#CNBCTV18Market | These financial names are in focus after reporting Q4 updates pic.twitter.com/ZrEtlwd4pZ

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 7, 2020

09:29 (IST)

IndusInd shares up 10%

All 30 Sensex stocks were trading in green at 9.22 AM. Private bank stocks are leading gains at this hours.

IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the top gainers on the S&P BSE Sensex.

09:25 (IST)

Sensex, Nifty open high

The benchmark indices opened higher on Tuesday.

At 09:17 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 1,224.05 points or 4.44 percentat 28815.00. The Nifty up 338.90 points or 4.19 percent at 8422.70.

About 766 shares have advanced, 93 shares declined, and 35 shares are unchanged.

09:22 (IST)

RBI reduces trading hours for debt, currency markets from today

The RBI has reduced the trading hours of debt as well as currency markets from Tuesday in view of the lockdown following the outbreak of coronavirus.
The revised market timings will be effective during 7-17 April, 2020, the central bank said in a circular on Friday.

The market will open at 10 AM instead of the current 9 AM and closing timings too have been revised to 2 PM for all segments. The lockdown has adversely impacted the functioning of financial markets, the RBI said.

The market timings have been revised in order to “minimise these risks” and to ensure that market participants maintain adequate checks and supervisory controls while optimising thin resources and ensuring safety of personnel, it said.

09:19 (IST)

Growth could slip below 3% in current fiscal if COVID-19 proliferates: KPMG

India’s growth could slip below 3 percent in the current fiscal if COVID-19 proliferates within India, lockdown extended and global economy slips into recession, a KPMG report said.

It said the three major contributors to GDP — private consumption, investment and external trade — will all get affected due to the spread of the pandemic.

The KPMG report presented three scenarios to explain the economic effects of COVID-19. In the scenario of quick retraction across globe by April-end to mid-May, the report said “India’s growth for 2020-21 may be in the range of 5.3 to 5.7 per cent, though this scenario looks distant at this moment”.

In the second scenario where India is able to control COVID-19 spread, but there is a significant global recession, the KPMG report said India’s growth is expected to be in the range of 4-4.5 per cent.

However if the pandemic proliferates and there is global recession then it would be a double whammy for the economy as it will have to bear the brunt of both domestic and global demand destruction, KPMG report said.

09:14 (IST)

Money market to open at 10 AM

#CNBCTV18Alert | Money market to open at 10 am today as per RBI guidelines pic.twitter.com/uWnB8L1jIw

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 7, 2020

09:08 (IST)

JSW’s crude steel output down in Q4

#JustI | JSW Steel’s Q4 crude steel production slips 5% 4 mt Vs 4.2 mt; FY20 crude steel production slips 4% at 16.1 mt Vs 16.7 mt (YoY) pic.twitter.com/btadgmIzhP

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 7, 2020

09:06 (IST)

JLR UK shares slip

March #AutoSales | Tata Motors: Total JLR UK sales slip 30.9% at 17,175 units Vs 24,862 units (YoY)

Total Jaguar UK sales down 41.4% at 4,794 units Vs 8,182 units (YoY)
Total Land Rover UK sales down 25.8% at 12,381 units Vs 16,680 units (YoY) pic.twitter.com/b60S7wdtXp

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 7, 2020

09:05 (IST)

Sensex, Nifty trade positive in pre-opening session

Benchmark indices are trading positive in the pre-opening session with Nifty above 8400.

At 09:01 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 928.30 points or 3.36% at 28519.25, and the Nifty up 381.70 points or 4.72% at 8465.50.

09:03 (IST)

Asian shares poised to climb higher

Asian markets looked poised on Tuesday to attempt another day of gains after stocks rallied on signs of a slowdown in coronavirus-related deaths, as oil prices resumed their decline on doubts about a potential Saudi-Russian pact to cut output.

Hong Kong futures were up and Australia futures also rose in early trade.

Nikkei futures opened lower but were 2.3 percent above the cash close. The yen eased 0.01 percent as traders awaited more details on the government’s stimulus package.

On Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to roll out an unprecedented economic stimulus, equal to 20 percent of economic output, as his government vowed to take “all steps” to battle deepening fallout from the coronavirus.

09:03 (IST)

US stocks buoyant

#CNBCTV18Market | US stock market had its best day since March 24. Dow finishes up 1,627 points, posting its third-biggest point gain ever. The S&P 500 jumps 7% to its highest level since March 13 pic.twitter.com/k6ldLHcJHJ

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 7, 2020