Investors off-loaded banking stocks on the bourses on Monday as record Covid-19 cases stirred fears of virus-induced restrictions across the country. Consequently, market participants panicked on concerns that derailment of economic activity may spark fresh round of non-performing assets (NPAs ) pile up. In the intra-day deals, the Nifty Bank index tumbled 1,493 points, or 4.4 per cent, to hit a low of 32,365 levels while the Nifty Private Bank and PSU Bank indices slipped 4.4 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively. In comparison, the benchmark Nifty50 index dropped over 300 points, or 2.2 per cent, to 14,535 levels by 10:50 am. Among individual stocks, IndusInd Bank plunged 6 per cent, while IDFC First Bank, SBI, Federal Bank, Bandhan Bank, and RBL Bank declined in the range of 4.6 per cent and 5 per cent. Shares of ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, PNB, HDFC Bank, and AU Small Finance Bank, meanwhile, slipped up to 4 per cent.
Manufacturing PMI falls to 7-month low of 55.4 in March
April 05, 2021
Local lockdowns to make April a challenging month for manufacturers, says IHS Markit
Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for India dropped to 55.4 in March as against 57.5 in February. Though this is seven-months low and growth has lost some momentum, still latest reading was indicative of a substantial improvement in the health of the sector that outpaced the long-run series average.
Another bad news is that job creation is still in deceleration mode.
PMI data are released monthly in advance of comparable official economic data. Prepared and released by HIS Markit, it is considered as one of the key high frequency economic indicators. Manufacturing sector has a share of around 15 per cent in GDP (Gross Domestic Products). It is one of key sources of employment.
Fitch Solutions has slashed its 2021 growth forecast for the Philippine economy from 7.6% to 5.8%, noting how tighter quarantine rules implemented to curb the rise in infections will weigh down on domestic activity.
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NEW YORK, April 1 (Reuters) - Asian markets were set to open higher on Friday in a holiday-lightened trading session, riding a surge of strong factory data and falling bold yields that pushed U.S. and European benchmark stock indexes to record highs.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion plan to rebuild America’s crumbling infrastructure added to the enthusiasm for risk assets, as did accelerating vaccine rollouts.
The China Financial Futures Exchange CIS 300 Index Futures index was up 1.76%, the Nikkei futures index was up 1.23% and E-Mini S&P 500 futures index was up 1.18%. Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore were among the Asian countries observing the Good Friday holiday.
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