The benchmark stock indices opened the day with modest gains but have since lost ground.

Reliance Industries has managed to strike its sixth deal in just a few months as the company looks to massively deleverage itself.

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

Bad loans to rise sharply, PSBs stare at 6th year of loss: ICRA

With debt servicing capacity of borrowers coming under strain as the country enters a period of possible economic recession, bad loans of Indian banks are expected rise sharply this fiscal, which could lead to yet another year of loss for public sector banks (PSBs), ratings agency ICRA said in a report.

ICRA estimated gross non-performing assets to rise to 11.3-11.6% by March 2021 from an estimated level of 8.6% for March 2020, with fresh gross slippage of 5-5.5% of standard advances in FY21.  The agency said uncertainty on the asset quality of banks remains high with almost 30-40% of the loan book across various banks under the repayment moratorium.

US unemployment claims climbed by 1.88 million last week

The US labor markets shows no signs of tightening even as the economy is reopened gradually.

IANS reports: "The number of US unemployment claims totalled 1.88 million last week as the COVID—19 pandemic continues to sweep the nation, the Labour Department reported.

In the week ending May 30, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits decreased by 249,000 from the prior week to 1,877,000, the ninth weekly decline in a row but remaining staggeringly high, Xinhua news agency quoted the Department as saying on Thursday.

With the latest numbers, 42.6 million initial jobless claims have been filed over the past 11 weeks, meaning that nearly 28 per cent of all Americans employed in February lost their jobs, at least temporarily, according to Tim Quinlan, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities.

“Last week we were excited to see that continuing claims fell, indicating that gross hiring had picked up enough to pull down the number of people receiving benefits.

“There was no such consolation this week, as they rose again to 21.5 million,” Quinlan said on Thursday.

The Labour Department is expected to release its jobs report in May on Friday.

US employers cut a staggering 20.5 million jobs in April, and the unemployment rate soared to a record 14.7 per cent.

Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, a major accounting firm, believed that US unemployment will remain painfully high in May and throughout the summer."

Mubadala to buy 1.85% stake in Jio Platforms for ₹9093.6 crore

Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor, has agreed to invest ₹9,093.60 crore in Mukesh Ambani led Jio Platforms for 1.85% stake, valuing Jio Platforms at enterprise value of ₹5.16 lakh crore.

Jio Platforms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries (RIL), with this investment, has raised ₹87,655.35 crore from leading global technology and growth investors including Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR and Mubadala in less than six weeks.

Jio Platforms, a next-generation technology platform focused on providing high-quality and affordable digital services across India, has more than 388 million subscribers.

Shares edge higher, led by Reliance, financials

The end to the 6-day winning streak yesterday did not deter equity investors this morning.

Reuters reports: "Indian shares edged higher on Friday, helped by gains in financial stocks and a surge in conglomerate Reliance Industries after Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala invested in its digital unit.

The NSE Nifty 50 bluechip index rose 0.74% to 10,100 as of 0347 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.69% at 34,214.63. Both the indexes were on track for second straight weekly gains.

The Nifty 50 has risen 5.36% so far this week, after a similar rally last week.

Reliance Industries Ltd hit a record high on Friday at 1,618 rupees after it said Mubadala Investment Co will buy a 1.85% stake in its digital unit, Jio Platforms, for 90.93 billion rupees ($1.21 billion).

India's top lender by assets, State Bank of India, rose 1.58% ahead of March quarter results later in the day, while the Nifty banking index rose 1.32%.

Meanwhile, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of Japan slipped 0.2%, ahead of Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls data."