10:15 am
Banks call on government to ease pressure on Vodafone Idea
State Bank of India (SBI)-led banks have called upon the government to give more time to Vodafone Idea to clear its tax dues and spectrum charges. Reuters reported citing two bankers and a government official familiar with the matter.
The court last year ordered the government to pay just over $8 billion to settle long-standing dues to the debt-ridden firm. Vodafone holds about 44 per cent stake in the company and Aditya Birla holds about 27 per cent.
In June, Vodafone Idea’s then-non-executive chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla warned that if the government fails to come to the mobile carrier’s rescue, “the financial situation will take its operations to an irreversible point of collapse”.
9:45 am
Retail inflation dips to 5.3% in August
Retail inflation fell for the third straight month to 5.3% in August on softening prices of food items like vegetables. PTI informed of.
Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based retail inflation declined to 5.3% in August from 6.69% in the same month a year ago. Food inflation declined at a very fast pace to 3.11% in August 2020 from 9.05%.
Food inflation was also lower at 3.96% in the preceding month of July.
9:25 am
Sensex, Nifty open with strength
Indian benchmark equity indices, Sensex and Nifty opened higher after a flat start on the previous day. At 9:15, Sensex opened 0.52% higher at 58482.62, while Nifty opened 0.37% higher at 17,420.35.
All sectors were in the green with the biggest gainers in media, metals, banks and realty.
9:15 am
oil boosts benefits
Oil prices extended gains on concerns that another hurricane could disrupt supplies in Texas while US industry struggles to return to production after Hurricane Ira, Reuters informed of.
Brent crude rose 0.2% to $73.66 a barrel, while US Texas Intermediate rose 0.3% to $70.68 a barrel, continuing their gains from the previous day.
“Nicholas’ concerns prompted the buyout as it is likely to affect the area devastated by Ida, although the force is not expected to be as strong as Ida’s,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, research general manager at Nissan Securities. Reuters.
9:00 am
Asia shares mixed
Asian stocks were mixed while the dollar held steady as investors await US inflation data to see if the Federal Reserve will ease stimulus, Reuters informed of.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.13% and Chinese blue chips 0.2%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.31% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng also fell into negative territory.
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