After yesterday's massive rally, which saw stocks gain over 8%, the benchmark indices are up over 1% after briefly trading in the red this morning.

Growth and unemployment estimates coming from various agencies paint a bleak picture of the economy amid the 21-day economic lockdown.

Join us as we follow the top business news through the day.

Stocks lose most morning gains

The benchmark stock indices, which were up over 3% earlier in the morning session, have lost most of their gains.

Stocks are up less than 1% at the moment, struggling to break above their most recent high reached late last month.

The Sensex is up 200 points while the Nifty is trading below the 8,900 mark.

China's central bank to step up easing, but won't borrow Fed playbook

China has largely refrained from massive stimulus measures to boost the economy since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, but that might be about to change soon.

Reuters reports: "China's central bank will ramp up its policy easing to support the coronavirus-ravaged economy but debt worries and property risks will prevent it from following the U.S. Federal Reserve's steep rate cuts or quantitative easing moves, policy sources said.

China's leaders have pledged to combat the impact from the pandemic that looks to have tipped the world's second-largest economy into its first quarterly contraction in at least 30 years, as mounting job losses pose a threat to social stability.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) will boost credit and lower funding costs, especially for small firms seen as vital for growth and jobs, and accommodate increased fiscal spending, according to three sources involved in internal policy discussions. The sources declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter."

Plunging fuel demand amid COVID-19 lockdown has OMCs worried on all fronts

National oil companies are staring at inventory losses as they have to bring down refinery throughputs because of the plunging demand for fuels following the nationwide lockdown to contain the deadly COVID-19 outbreak.

India is the world’s third-largest energy consumer, but the lockdown has shut businesses, suspended flights, stopped trains and brought almost the entire vehicular movement to a halt, impacting fuel demand.

For the full the month of March, total retail volume has come down by 17%, led by a 26% dip in diesel demand and a 17% fall in petrol. Demand for aviation fuel is down by 33%, according to the national data shared by IOC on a year-on-year basis.

Rupee slips 21 paise to 75.85 against US dollar in early trade

Rising oil prices have played spoiler for the rupee this morning, the currency slipping closer to the 76/USD mark.

PTI reports: "The Indian rupee fell 21 paise to 75.85 against the US dollar in opening trade on Wednesday, as investors braced for a prolonged period of uncertainty as coronavirus cases rise.

Forex traders said rising brent prices and firm US dollar index weighed on the local unit.

The rupee opened weak at 75.83 at the interbank forex market and then fell further to 75.85, down 21 paise over its last close.

The rupee had settled at 75.64 against the US dollar on Tuesday."

Cash is trash?

Data | The lockdown effect on jobs in India

In the two weeks following the lockdown that began on March 24, the estimated share of the unemployed in India has reached a peak. While urban workers are the most hit, rural workers too recorded significant job losses. The labour participation rate (employed plus those searching for jobs) also significantly decreased. Fewer people are actively searching for jobs than before, and of them, more now are unemployed.

The overall unemployment rate (represented by the blue line, left axis) in India, as measured by The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE*), showed a sharp increase in the two weeks following the lockdown (measured on Mar. 29 and Apr. 5). Notably, the overall labour participation rate (represented by the yellow line, right axis) recorded a drastic decrease to 36.1% on April 5 from about 42% two weeks back.

Economy likely to contract by 4.5% in Q4FY2020: ICRA

Some really gloomy estimates coming from ICRA, which predicts a prolonged period of slow growth for the economy.

IANS reports: "Ratings agency ICRA on Tuesday predicted that India’s economy is likely to witness a sharp contraction of 4.5 per cent during Q4FY2020 and is expected to gradually recover to post a GDP growth of just 2 percent in FY2021.

ICRA has sharply cut its forecast for Indian GDP growth in FY 2021, post the Covid-19 outbreak.

Furthermore, ICRA said that it expects the ripple effect of coronavirus to impact India Inc on five major counts of domestic demand slowdown due to regulatory restrictions, lockdown and fear of contagion will impact certain sectors over the near-term.

Purchasing power erosion due to job losses or pay cuts and trickle-down effect of demand deferral will have a longer-lasting impact on some other sectors, especially where demand is discretionary in nature."

Virus to cull 80,000 retail jobs: RAI survey

About 80,000 jobs are expected to be cut by retailers due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey by industry body RAI.

Retailers Association of India (RAI) had conducted a survey of 768 retailers, which employ 3,92,963 people across India, to gauge their view on the impact of COVID-19 on their business and manpower.

“Small retailers are expecting to lay off 30% of their manpower going forward, this number falls to 12% for medium (sized) retailers and 5% for large retailers. On the whole, retailers who were surveyed expect lay-offs of about 20% of their manpower,” RAI said.

Stocks open with minor losses

The benchmark indices opened this morning with a minor loss of around 0.2%. The Nifty and the Sensex were up over 8% at close of trading yesterday.

The Sensex has lost about 75 points while the Nifty is trading above 8,750

Overnight, the Dow Jones closed with a minor loss of 0.12%