After ending a 5-day winning streak yesterday, stocks are back in the green again today with modest gains at open.

Signs of a brewing economic war between India and China continue to hit the news even as the countries' troops deescalate at the borders.

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

Rupee rises 11 paise to 74.91 against US dollar in early trade

The positive sentiment in equities has brushed off on the rupee.

PTI reports: "The rupee appreciated 11 paise to 74.91 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday tracking weakness in the greenback and gains in the domestic equity market.

Forex traders said positive domestic equities and weak US currency supported the local unit, while foreign fund outflows and concerns over rising COVID-19 cases weighed on investor sentiment.

The rupee opened at 74.94 against the US dollar, then gained further ground and touched 74.91 against the US dollar, up 11 paise over its previous close.

It had settled at 75.02 against the greenback on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.17 per cent to 96.26.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 297.05 points higher at 36,626.06 and broader NSE Nifty rose 76.80 points to 10,782.55.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they sold shares worth Rs 994.87 crore on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.02 per cent to USD 43.30 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the number of cases around the world linked to the disease has crossed 1.20 crore and the death toll has topped 5.48 lakh.

In India, the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 21,129 and the number of infections spiked to 7,67,296, according to the health ministry."

Equity Mutual Funds inflows tumble 95% in June on profit booking: AMFI

Inflows into equity mutual funds (MFs) slumped 95 % to a little more than ₹240 crore in June as investors pulled out from large and multi-cap funds due to profit booking.

This is the third consecutive monthly decline in inflows into equity MFs, Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) data showed on Wednesday.

Overall, the MF industry witnessed a net inflow of ₹7,265 crore across all segments last month, much lower than the ₹70,813 crore in May, primarily due to outflow from liquid funds.

Inflow into equity and equity-linked open ended schemes was at ₹240.55 crore in June as against ₹5,256 crore in May, translating into a decline of 95%.

Sensex jumps over 200 points in early trade; Nifty tests 10,750

A sound start to the day for stocks.

PTI reports: "Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 200 points in early trade on Thursday tracking gains in financial stocks amid positive cues from global markets.

After touching a high of 36,541.53 in opening session, the 30-share index was trading 190.57 points, or 0.52 per cent, higher at 36,519.58. The NSE Nifty was up 54.70 points, or 0.51 per cent, at 10,760.45.

Tata Steel was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 2 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, M&M, SBI and Axis Bank.

On the other hand, Maruti, Reliance Industries, TCS and Titan were among the laggards.

In the previous session, the BSE barometer ended 345.51 points, or 0.95 per cent, lower at 36,329.01, and the broader Nifty shed 93.90 points, or 0.87 per cent, to close at 10,705.75.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday, offloading equities worth Rs 994.87 crore, provisional exchange data showed.

According to traders, market participants followed optimism in global equities, shrugging off concerns over rising number of COVID-19 cases and its impact on economic recovery.

The number of cases around the world linked to the disease has crossed 1.20 crore and the death toll has topped 5.48 lakh.

In India, the number of infections spiked to 7.67 lakh and the death toll rose to 21,129.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading with gains.

Stock exchanges on Wall Street too ended on a positive note in overnight session.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude futures slipped 0.05 per cent to USD 43.27 per barrel."

India again imposes anti-dumping duty on certain types of measuring tapes imported from China

The economic war between India and China continues to heat up despite deescalation at the borders.

PTI reports: "India on Wednesday again imposed definitive anti-dumping duty on certain types of measuring tapes from China for five years to guard domestic manufacturers from cheap imports.

The duty was imposed on ‘steel and fibre glass measuring tapes and their parts and components’ after the commerce ministry’s investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) recommended for continuation of the duty.

The DGTR in its sunset review probe has concluded that there is a continued dumping of the goods from China, and the imports are likely to enter the Indian market at dumped prices in the event of expiry of the duty.

The department of revenue in a notification said it seeks “to levy definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of steel and fibre glass measuring tapes and their parts and components originating in, or exported from, China for a period of five years“.

An anti-dumping duty of USD 1.83 per kg will be imposed on some companies, while others will attract USD 2.56 per kg.

“The anti-dumping duty imposed under this notification shall be effective for a period of five years (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier)...and shall be paid in Indian currency,” it added.

The department had imposed the duty first time on July 9, 2015, for five years."

Downward revision of growth by agencies shows lockdown impact; Jun data points to uptick: EY

Analysts continue to be uncertain about the economic picture going forward.

PTI reports: "The sharp downward revision in growth projections by various national and international agencies indicates the impact of the coronavirus-induced lockdown and inadequate stimulus package, EY said on Wednesday adding that June economic indicators show an uptick in activity.

EY’s current assessment of India’s 2020-21 real gross value added (GVA) growth is 1.9 per cent provided that India sticks to its infrastructure funding plans.

Stating that high-frequency indicators signal slow but steady turnaround, EY said PMI manufacturing and services index, power consumption and forex reserves showed improvement in June. Also, GST collection increased to Rs 90,917 crore in June, from Rs 62,009 crore and Rs 32,294 crore in May and April, respectively.

Speaking at the EY webinar on ‘Rejuvenating Growth - Economic and Trade Policy Pathways’, EY Indian Chief Policy Advisor D K Srivastava said India’s fiscal stimulus at 1.2 per cent of GDP is the third lowest among the major economies of the world, but hoped that as more fiscal space gets created there could be another round of stimulus towards the later part of the financial year.

The growth projections for current year by various global and domestic agencies indicate a sharp contraction ranging from (-)3.2 per cent to (-)6.8 per cent. The more recent the projection, the steeper is the predicted contraction, EY said.

While the World Bank had projected Indian economy to contract 3.2 per cent, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) pegged the growth at (-)4.5 per cent and (-)4 per cent, respectively. S&P and Fitch has projected a 5 per cent contraction, while Nomura said growth would be (-)5.2 per cent in 2020-21.

Among the domestic agencies, SBI and CARE Ratings have projected economy to contract by 6.8 per cent and 6.4 per cent, respectively, while India Ratings pegged it at 5.3 per cent.

Indian economic growth stood at an estimated 4.2 per cent in 2019-20."