1. Covid-19: India Allows Stranded Workers Home To Head Home
The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in India moved closer to the 32,000-mark as the country nears the scheduled end of a 40-day on Sunday. More than 1,000 people have died because of the virus in the country.
🔹India added 1,813 new cases of Covid-19 over the last 24 hours, taking the total tally to 31,787, according to the health ministry’s 5 p.m. update.
🔹This includes 1,008 deaths and 7,797 patients who recovered.
🔹Over the 24 hours, there have been 71 deaths and 770 recoveries.
🔹Meanwhile, the Indian government has ordered states and union territories to facilitate the inter-state movement of stranded people including migrant labourers in the country.
🔹Those travelling back home will have to be assessed by local health authorities and kept in home quarantine folllowing their arrival.
🔹The state of Punjab has extended curfew restrictions for two more weeks.
Globally, coronavirus cases crossed 31 lakh leaving over 2.17 lakh people dead.
🔹France and Spain took cautious steps toward reopening, while new cases rose for the first time in three days in Germany as the government weighs removing more curbs.
🔹Fatalities in the Netherlands rose to 4,711, surpassing the official tally of in mainland China.
🔹Malaysia reported the highest daily increase in new cases since April 16 due to infections among people who returned from overseas.
2. Risk Aversion Across Banks Delays Relief To Economy
Burdened with an already elevated level of bad loans—a legacy of imprudent lending nearly a decade ago—banks are not willing to take the risk of a further deterioration in asset quality. Some increase in bad loans is inevitable given the weakness in the economy and lenders are trying to keep this in check.
🔹The extent of risk aversion seen across banks is perhaps best encapsulated in this one data point.
🔹Banks are parking more than Rs 7 lakh crore at RBI’s reverse repo window, earning just 3.75 percent on it.
🔹So much so, that the RBI may now need to a open a new window, known as the Standing Deposit Facility, through which is accepts excess bank reserves at much lower rates without offering collateral in return.
3. U.S. Economy Shrinks; Focus Shifts To Fed’s Next Steps
The record-long U.S. economic expansion is over. Gross domestic product contracted at a 4.8 percent annualised rate in the January-March period, the largest drop since 2008, according to Commerce Department data released Wednesday.
🔹The median projection in survey of economists had called for a 4 percent drop.
🔹With estimates for a second-quarter contraction that would be a record in data going back to the 1940s, the first-quarter figures effectively confirm that a recession has begun, ending the expansion that began in mid-2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis.
With interest rates near zero, Federal Reserve policymakers are likely to turn attention to other steps they could take to ensure a strong U.S. economic rebound once the coronavirus lock-down ends.
🔹The Federal Open Market Committee is all but certain to keep its benchmark overnight rate in a target range of 0-.25 percent, where it was lowered at an unscheduled FOMC on March 15 to help soften the pandemic’s blow.
🔹Powell can expect questions on whether the Fed is prepared to expand the scope of some of its lending programs, provide assistance to specific industries, and is it considering yield-curve targeting, among other topics.
4. U.S. Stocks, Oil Rally; Nifty Gains For Third Day
U.S. stocks advanced amid renewed hopes for a drug to fight the coronavirus, helping investors shrug off data showing the biggest economic contraction since 2008 in the first quarter.
🔹The S&P 500 Index climbed more than 2 percent after Gilead Sciences Inc. said that its experimental drug to treat coronavirus helped patients recover faster.
🔹Big tech shares added to the rally, with Google parent Alphabet Inc. pacing gains after posting better-than-estimated sales.
🔹WTI oil futures rebounded after plunging 27 percent in two sessions.
Indian equity markets gained for the third day in a row, its best winning streak in a month, tracking positive cues from Europe and from futures in the United States.
🔹The S&P BSE Sensex ended 1.9 percent higher at 32,720, taking its weekly advance to 4.5 percent.
🔹The NSE Nifty 50 index ended above the 9,500 mark at 9,553, up by 1.8 percent. The benchmark is up 4.3 percent this week.
🔹Thirty eight out of the 50 Nifty stocks ended the day with gains.
🔹Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Metal index ended as the top sectoral gainer with gains of 3.75 percent.
🔹Hindustan Unilever fell as much as 2.5 percent in trade after Bloomberg reported that GlaxoSmithKline Plc will offload its entire stake in the company.
5. After Franklin Templeton’s Wind-Down, Credit Risk Schemes See Outflows
🔹Investors have started exiting credit schemes as Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund’s decision to freeze six such plans on liquidity concerns has triggered fresh turmoil in India’s debt market.
🔹Multiple fund houses have seen a contraction in assets under credit schemes since April 24 when Franklin Templeton announced that it is winding down its schemes, according to data released by Association of Mutual Funds in India.
🔹Kotak, Aditya Birla Sun Life and HDFC mutual funds are among the firms that have seen assets under credit schemes fall by more than 20 percent during the period.
6. Vodafone Idea Gets Some Relief From Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has directed the revenue department to release Rs 733 crore in tax refunds to Vodafone Idea Ltd.
🔹The telecom major had however moved court for release of tax refunds worth Rs 4,759 crore.
🔹On the other hand, Vodafone Idea had relied on previous Supreme Court decisions and tax law provisions to say all refunds have to be processed within one year unless it’s detrimental to the department’s interests.
🔹Since no correspondence from the revenue department was received in this time period, the company has the right to claim refund.
But the apex court noted that the tax department had followed the statutory requirements in issuing notices to Vodafone.
7. Court Stays Interim Relief For Indiabulls Housing
The Delhi High Court stayed an interim relief granted by its lower bench to Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd. from any coercive action if the non-bank lender fails to make payments to its debenture holders.
🔹The April 15 order of the single-judge bench was appealed before the division bench by the Mutual Funds Association of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India and IDBI Trusteeship Services Ltd.
🔹The two-judge bench comprising Justice Siddartha Mridul and Justice Talwant Singh has now listed the case for final arguments on May 4, Abhishek Baid, counsel for IDBI Trusteeship, told
Markets closed higher. Nifty 50 closed at 9536.80 (155.9, 1.7%) , BSE Sensex closed at 32720.16 (605.6, 1.9%) while the broader Nifty 500 closed at 7786.95 (114.5, 1.5%)
Market breadth is in the green. Of the 1617 stocks traded today, 959 were gainers and 574 were losers.
💫HDFC Securities is a BUY on IndusInd Bank and Ambuja Cements post results.
💫Hexaware is rising today after posting results showing 26.3% YoY net profit growth, and 25.4% YoY revenue growth.
💫Bandhan Bank, TCI Express among top afternoon gainers in markets today.
💫While Hindustan Unilever is expected to see a good quarter in its food and essential items vertical, its home and beauty products are likely to see a hit in Q4, bringing overall volumes down, analysts say.
💫While parent company Reliance is likely to struggle with historically low refining margins, Reliance Jio is expected to deliver a strong performance in Q4 on subscriber addition as well as earnings improvement from tariff hikes.
💫Markets are higher in morning trade. Nifty 50 was trading at 9453.00 (72.1, 0.8%) , BSE Sensex was trading at 32368.95 (254.4, 0.8%) while the broader Nifty 500 was trading at 7728.70 (56.3, 0.7%). Market breadth is in the green. Of the 1397 stocks traded today, 870 were gainers and 436 were losers.
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