After a week of significant gains, stocks have witnessed a slight correction this morning on selling pressure.
Join us as we follow the top business news through the day.
Expert panel to soon clarify on data sharing between rivals
S. Gopalakrishnan, the Infosys co-founder and angel investor who is heading the expert committee on Non-personal Data Governance Framework, on Thursday said the committee would soon come out with some clarificatory points on sharing of such data between competing businesses or organisations.
“We are in the process of discussing only the clarificatory points on competition. We have said that basically the default status, even if it’s a request from the competitor, data needs to be shared. Only thing is it cannot be an unfair request or it cannot be a request that is just to take advantage of this regulation. So we’re discussing that...whether it’s sensitive or not, if the data is for illegitimate purpose,” Mr. Gopalakrishnan said replying to a query during a virtual press conference.
Indian shares slip as surging coronavirus cases weigh
A moderate correction in stocks after a week of significant gains.
Reuters reports: "Indian shares slid on Friday, dragged by banking and financials as investors offloaded some overbought stocks, while muted Asian markets and rising domestic coronavirus cases added to the pessimism.
The NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.75% at 11,132.50 by 0350 GMT and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.82% at 37,829.60. However, both indexes were on track for a fifth straight week of gains.
The Nifty and Sensex have gained more than 33% each since India first went into lockdown in late March, while coronavirus cases that numbered in hundreds at that time, have touched 1.29 million by Friday morning, according to government data https://www.mohfw.gov.in.
Broader Asian markets saw a muted start as China vowed retaliation against the United States after Washington closed Beijing's consulate in Houston, Texas.
In Mumbai, banking and financial stocks led losses. The Nifty banking index, which tracks both state-owned and private-sector lenders, slid 1.3% and the Nifty financials index shed 1.4%.
Large shadow lender HDFC Ltd was the top laggard on the Nifty among stocks, falling 2.1%, followed by the country's biggest lender by assets State Bank of India, which slid 2%.
Pharma stocks, however, gained for the day with the Nifty pharma index rising 1.3%. Drugmaker Sun Pharma rose 3.8% and topped the Nifty gainers.
Reliance Industries gained for a sixth day in a row, after a media report that Amazon was in talks for a potential investment in the conglomerate's retail arm."
Govt imposes restriction on public procurement from China, other neighbours
Economic tensions continue to rise in tandem with geopolitical tensions.
PTI reports: "Amid border row with China, the government on Thursday imposed restrictions on public procurement from China and other countries with common border.
The Government of India amended the General Financial Rules 2017 to enable imposition of restrictions on bidders from countries which share a land border with India on grounds of defence of India, or matters directly or indirectly related thereto including national security, an official statement said.
The Department of Expenditure has, under the said Rules, issued a detailed order on public procurement to strengthen the defence of India and national security, it said.
As per the order, it said, any bidder from such countries sharing a land border with India will be eligible to bid in any procurement whether of goods, services (including consultancy services and non-consultancy services) or works (including turnkey projects) only if the bidder is registered with the Competent Authority.
“The Competent Authority for registration will be the Registration Committee constituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Political and security clearance from the Ministries of External and Home Affairs respectively will be mandatory,” it said.
The order takes into its ambit public sector banks and financial institutions, autonomous bodies, Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and public private partnership projects receiving financial support from the government or its undertakings, it added.
Observing that state governments also play a vital role in national security and defence of India, it said, “the Government of India has written to the Chief Secretaries of the State Governments invoking the provisions of Article 257(1) of the Constitution of India for the implementation of this Order in procurement by State Governments and state undertakings etc.”
For state government procurement, it said, the Competent Authority will be constituted by the states, but political and security clearance will remain necessary."
Protect financial sector health: Rajan
With the corporate sector poised to suffer massive write-offs and bankruptcies due to the adverse economic effects of COVID-19 and prolonged lockdowns, the government ought to carefully consider the cost that the financial sector could bear as a result and still remain sound, said former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan.
In a scenario where companies would operate at 50-75% of their capacity for the next six to eight months, they would end up accumulating a lot of debt with significantly over-leveraged firms likely facing the bankruptcy process, noted Dr. Rajan, addressing the DBS Asian Insights Conference on ‘The Economies of a Pandemic’ on Thursday.
“That is a given and coming in a big way even in countries that have managed to support their economies [through high levels of stimulus],” he said.