Author: Finance Khabar

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) said that its goods trade barometer has hit a record low, suggesting that the global merchandise trade registered a historic fall in the April-June period due to the coronavirus pandemic. “Additional indicators point to partial upticks in world trade and output in the third quarter, but the strength of any such recovery remains highly uncertain: an L-shaped, rather than V-shaped, trajectory cannot be ruled out,” the WTO said on its website. World Trade Organisation’s Goods Trade Index Hits Record LowThe barometer reading of 84.5 was down 18.6 points from its year-ago period. In normal times,…

New Delhi: Gold prices in India on August 19, 2020 decline even as prices firm up internationally and hold above $2000 per ounce level. On the MCX, in early trade October gold futures fell by 0.43% or Rs. 231 to Rs. 53340 per 10 gm. Silver too in line was down 0.54% or Rs. 375 to Rs. 69130 per kg. Internationally gold prices surged today, thanks to continuing weakness in dollar and hold above the crucial $2000 per ounce price level. Spot gold was up 0.1% at $2,002.12 per ounce by 0029 GMT, after hitting a one-week high of $2,014.97…

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the proposal for leasing out three airports namely Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports of Airports Authority of India (AAI) through Public Private Partnership (PPP). The Union Cabinet accorded its approval for leasing of three AAI airports namely, Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram for Operation, Management and Development to M/s Adani Enterprises Ltd, who is declared as the successful bidder in a Global Competitive Bidding conducted by the Airports Authority of India, for a period of fifty years. These projects will bring efficiency in service delivery, expertise, enterprise…

Mumbai: The Sensex and the Nifty were also seen throughout the day amid good global cues. However, some profit recovery was also seen in the last hour. In today’s trade, the stock markets closed with lightening. At the end of trading, the Sensex has gained about 86 points and has closed at the level of 38,614.79. At the same time, the Nifty also closed 23 points stronger at the level of 11,408.40. Bank and financial stocks are good in today’s business. Realty stocks also rose. IT, pharma and auto stocks were under pressure. Along with heavyweight stocks, midcap and smallcap…

Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd. has acquired a majority stake in online drug market place Netmeds for about Rs 620 crore, few days after e-commerce giant Amazon announced the launch of its ‘Amazon Pharmacy’ in southern Bengaluru city. The oil-to-telecom conglomerate said that the investment represents around 60 per cent holding in the equity share capital of Vitalic and 100 per cent direct equity ownership of its subsidiaries –Tresara Health Private Limited, Netmeds Market Place Limited and Dadha Pharma Distribution Pvt Limited. Incorporated in 2015, Netmeds represents the Vitalic Health and all its subsidiaries. Netmeds is a fully licensed e-pharma portal…

Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping firm, beat second-quarter profit expectations on Wednesday and said it expects demand to pick up in the third quarter, but warned of a “significant decline” across the year. Despite being negatively impacted by a “sharp drop in volumes” in the second quarter, with revenues falling 6.5% from the same period last year as the global economy was brought to a standstill by the coronavirus pandemic, Maersk upped its full-year guidance on Wednesday. The Danish company reported a 25% rise in second-quarter EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) to $1.7 billion, outstripping the…

PC and laptop major Dell on Tuesday launched a fresh XPS laptop ‘XPS 17’ at a starting price of Rs 2,09,500 in the India market. The laptop features the latest 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processors and up to NVIDIA GeForce GTXTM graphics. The machine is badged with Creator Edition on Dell.com to support hobbyists and creative enthusiasts. “The optional 4K Ultra HD+ (3840 x 2400) resolution provides pinpoint accuracy, precise detail, and sharp images and an immersive viewing experience. The Eyesafe display technology helps reduce harmful blue light while maintaining vivid colours,” the company said in a statement. With…

shares of Birlasoft Ltd rose as much as 15.4 percent to Rs 173.4 apiece on announcing a strategic cloud alliance with Microsoft to help its clients accelerate their digital journey. In a stock exchange filing, the IT services company said that it has plans to scale its current Microsoft cloud business to $100 million. “With this collaboration, Birlasoft is strategically positioned to support its enterprise clients with their cloud transformation needs, right from infrastructure to business applications,” it said. “Building on the current collaboration, Birlasoft will focus on delivering end-to-end services on Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, and Microsoft Dynamics 365,…

On Tuesday, IDBI Bank said it has received shareholders’ approval to raise up to Rs 11,000 crore by issuing shares through various modes. The decision was taken at the bank’s annual general meeting on 17 August 2020, through audio-visual means. The AGM (represented by shareholders) enabled the resolution for issue of shares aggregating up to Rs 11,000 crore (inclusive of premium amount) through various modes of issue, including QIP (qualified institutions placement), said the LIC-backed private sector lender in a regulatory filing. Among other resolutions passed at the AGM were re-appointment of Rajesh Kandwal as a rotational director as a…

The People’s Bank of China has picked up 0.006 percent stake in ICICI Bank by investing Rs 15 crore in the private sector lender’s Rs 15,000 crore qualified institutional placement (QIP) exercise which concluded last week. The Chinese central bank was among 357 institutional investors, including domestic mutual funds, insurance companies and global institutions, that subscribed to the issue The prominent investors were Government of Singapore, Morgan Investment and Societe Generale, according to regulatory filings. While the PBOC’s investment is modest, it has attracted attention amid tensions between India and China, after the Galwan valley clash. In March, the Chinese…

Chennai: The Madras High Court upheld the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to shut down Sterlite Copper, a unit of Vedanta Limited in Thoothukudi, a news report said. The court dismissed the company’s plea to resume operations, over two years after it was shut down by the state government for violating environmental norms. A Bench of Justices TS Sivagnanam and V Bhavani Subbaroyan ordered that the plant cannot be allowed to reopen, and dismissed all petitions by Vedanta, The News Minute reported. The closure order will continue to stand, it said. In 2018, residents from villages around Sterlite, along with social…

Muthoot Finance, NBFC engaged in gold loan business on August 17, 2020 collaborated with Kotak Mahindra General Insurance for offering complimentary Covid 19 insurance to its gold loan customers. On the collaboration George Alexander Muthoot, Managing Director, Muthoot Finance said, “Muthoot Finance as a company always believes in the philosophy of helping people and giving back to society. As a part of our ongoing customer loyalty program and social commitment, we are providing the customer’s insurance coverage with an objective to build confidence and help move ahead in life without any fear.” The company in such trying times is offering…

In July, where the unemployment rate improved, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy said that nearly 5 million salaried people lost their jobs and that the recovery was largely driven by the informal sector. The Mumbai-based think tank also cautioned the rising unemployment in the formal sector, where the total number of jobs lost since the pandemic stands at 18.9 million, is a source of worry. CMIE data showed that 17.7 million salaried jobs were lost in April 2020 and another 0.1 million jobs in May. While June saw a recovery of 3.9 million jobs, an additional 5 million jobs…

Rosen Law Firm, a US-based global investor rights law firm, has announced that it is preparing a class action securities lawsuit on behalf of HDFC Bank shareholders and has asked those who have purchased their securities to join the securities action on their website. The firm said that an investigation is being conducted on allegations that the private lender may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public. On 13 July 2020, The Economic Times reported that HDFC Bank had “conducted a probe into allegations of improper lending practices and conflicts of interests in its vehicle-financing operations involving…

New Delhi: As a way forward to strengthen its position in the online e-commerce space, Mukesh Ambani led oil-to telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries’ plans to take over online furniture firm Urban Ladder as well as milk distribution platform Milkbasket. In accordance with the Times of India report, if the deal with Urban Ladder sails through, Reliance Industries could peg it at around $30 million. Further, the company may infuse more capital into the enterprise for expanding its presence. Likewise, the report suggested that RIL talks with Milkbasket for a takeover deal are also at an advanced stage and the milk…

New Delhi: Yes Bank has launched a new facility called ‘Digital Loans on Securities’. With the help of this, customers will be able to take a quick and hassle-free loan against their mutual funds Yes Bank by sitting at home digitally. No additional documentation will be required. This digital solution has been launched under the bank’s ‘Loan in Seconds’ platform. Customers can set an instant credit limit in exchange for their securities. Through this new facility of Yes Bank, the customer can take loans on both debt and equity mutual funds. Loans up to Rs 1 crore can be taken…

Mumbai: The domestic stock market has seen a boom amid mixed global signals. In the business, both the Sensex and the Nifty have seen gains throughout the day. The Sensex has gained nearly 173 points and has closed at the level of 38,050.78. At the same time, the Nifty closed at 11,259.40 with a strength of 81 points. Business has seen good shopping in the market today and strength has been seen in every sector. Auto stocks have seen a great boom. Bank and financial stocks have been good. There is also shopping in metal stocks. NTPC has been today’s…

Tokyo: Japan’s government data released showed that its economy shrank at an annualized rate of 27.8 percent in the April-June period when compared to the previous quarter, its sharpest contraction ever, due to restrictions imposed amid the coronavirus pandemic. Japan Sees Its Biggest Ever GDP Contraction In Apr-June Amid COVID-19While the contraction was smaller than a 32.9 percent decrease in the US, it was much bigger than a 17.8 percent fall Japan suffered in the first quarter of 2009, during the global financial crisis. The size of Japan’s real GDP shrank to 485 trillion yen, the lowest since April-June 2011…

New Delhi: State Bank of India’s research report Ecowrap expects the country’s GDP to contract by 16.5 per cent during the first quarter of the current fiscal. Earlier in May, Ecowrap had estimated Q1 FY21 GDP contraction at over 20 per cent and now pegs it at much lower contraction of 16.5 per cent for the quarter, “though with the relevant caveats in the current uncertain scenario”, the research report released on Monday stated. It said degrowth in corporate GVA (better than expected results of some financial and non-financial companies) has been significantly better than revenue degrowth in Q1 FY21…

New Delhi: Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Nitin Gadkari on Monday laid the foundation stones for 13 highway projects and inaugurated a Road safety project in the North-Eastern State of Manipur through video conference. Chief Minister N Biren Singh presided over the virtual function, attended by Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, V K Singh, Ministers of the Manipur State, several MPs, MLAs and senior officers from the Centre and the State. These projects involve a Road length of 316 kilometers, with construction value of about Rs 3000 crore. Paving the way for development of Manipur, these roads…