Stocks continue to remain volatile this morning with the benchmark indices trading flat after opening with minor gains.
Join us as we follow the top business news through the day.
Indian economy to contract by 4% in 2020-21, forecasts ADB
Hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian economy is expected to contract by 4% during the current financial year, the ADB said in a supplement to its Asian Development Outlook (ADO) on Thursday.
Countries in ‘Developing Asia’ will ‘barely grow’ in 2020, the ADB forecast.
China, however, is expected to record a positive growth of 1.8% in 2020, sharply down from 6.1% in 2019, the lender said.
“Growth in Indian GDP slowed to 3.1% in the last quarter...its slowest since early 2003. Economic growth slowed to 4.2% in the whole of” the last fiscal year as both exports and investment started to contract, the ADB said.
Reliance is net-debt free after ₹1.69 lakh crore fund-raising: Mukesh Ambani
A spree of investments in Jio over the last month or so has helped Reliance significantly reduce its debt load.
PTI reports: "Billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Friday announced that his oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries is now net debt-free after raising a record Rs 1.69 lakh crore from global investors and a rights issue in under two months.
Reliance raised Rs 1.15 lakh crore from global tech investors by selling a little less than a quarter of the firm’s digital arm, Jio Platforms Ltd, and another Rs 53,124.20 crore through a rights issue in the past 58 days.
Taken together with last year’s sale of 49 per cent stake in fuel retailing venture to BP Plc of UK for Rs 7,000 crore, the total fund raised is in excess of Rs 1.75 lakh crore, the company said in a statement.
Reliance had a net debt of Rs 1,61,035 crore as on March 31, 2020. “With these investments, RIL has become net debt-free,” it said.
“I have fulfilled my promise to the shareholders by making Reliance net debt-free much before our original schedule of March 31, 2021,” Ambani said.
Jio Platforms - which houses the country’s youngest but largest telecom firm Reliance Jio, raised Rs 1,15,693.95 crore from leading global investors including Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG, L Catterton and PIF since April 22, 2020.
Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund PIF buying 2.32 per cent stake in the unit for Rs 11,367 crore on June 18 “marks the end of Jio Platforms’ current phase of induction of financial partners,” the statement said.
Alongside, Reliance launched India’s biggest right issue, which was subscribed 1.59 times.
Though the rights issue size was Rs 53,124 crore, the company has got only 25 per cent of the money as the remaining is to be paid only next fiscal."
Sensex jumps over 200 points; Nifty tops 10,100 level
The day has opened for stocks with some minor gains helped by index heavyweights.
PTI reports: "Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 200 points in early trade on Friday led by gains in index-heavyweights Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank amid positive cues from global markets and fresh foreign fund inflows.
The 30-share index was trading 207.64 points, or 0.61 per cent, higher at 34,415.69.
Similarly, NSE Nifty advanced 59.45 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 10,151.10.
Bajaj Finance was the top gainer in the pack, rising around 3 per cent, followed by ONGC, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank and SBI.
Reliance Industries surged nearly 2 per cent to hit its 52-week high of Rs 1,684 after Mukesh Ambani said his flagship firm is now net-debt free after a record Rs 1.69 lakh crore fund raising in under two months.
On the other hand, Infosys, HCL Tech, Hero MotoCrop and M&M were among the laggards.
In the previous session, the BSE barometer settled at 34,208.05, up 700.13 points, or 2.09 per cent, while the broader Nifty jumped 210.50 points, or 2.13 per cent, to 10,091.65.
On a net basis, foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 366.57 crore in the capital market on Thursday, provisional exchange data showed.
According to analysts, besides stock-specific actions, positive cues from global markets and fresh foreign fund inflows buoyed market sentiment.
Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo were trading with gains in early deals, while those in Seoul were in the red.
Stock exchanges on Wall Street ended on a positive note in overnight trade.
International oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.84 per cent to USD 41.86 per barrel."