Oil slips awaiting OPEC+ response to US-led crude release

Oil prices ticked lower on Thursday with investors waiting to see how major producers respond to the emergency crude release by major consuming countries designed to cool the market, even as data pointed to healthy US fuel demand.

Niti Aayog paper moots full-stack digital banks

A discussion paper unveiled by government think-tank Niti Aayog has floated the idea of full-stack digital banks to deepen banking services and bridge credit gaps across the country, leveraging technology and massive digitalisation achieved so far.

BigBasket opens 1st physical store, targets 800 in 5 years

Tata Group-owned e-grocery BigBasket has entered offline retail with the opening of its first brick-and-mortar store in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The store, branded Fresho, sells fresh fruits and vegetables.

Data protection panel against hefty penalties on tech giants

In what may spell relief for global technology giants such as Facebook, Instagram, Google, Amazon and Apple, the joint Parliamentary panel on personal data protection bill has recommended against imposing hefty penalties on internet behemoths even in case of serious data breaches and violations, and has left the matter in the hands of the government. Penalties were fixed at Rs 15 crore or 4% of global turnover (whichever is higher) in the original Data Protection Bill of 2019.

Most Asian markets drop as data points to faster Fed taper

Equity markets in Asia mostly fell Thursday as a batch of strong economic data spurred expectations that the Federal Reserve will withdraw its vast financial support and lift interest rates earlier than thought.

Japan’s finance ministry to take corrective action against Mizuho – Nikkei

Japan’s finance ministry is set to take punitive action against the banking arm of Mizuho Financial Group over a lack of compliance with the country’s foreign exchange law, the Nikkei business daily reported late on Wednesday.During the incident that took place on Sept. 30, Japan’s third-largest lender failed to comply with anti-money laundering procedures necessary under the foreign exchange act in transacting overseas remittances, the Nikkei said.

Valuation of Dream Sports hits $8bn

Dream Sports has raised $840 million in a round that values the online fantasy gaming platform at $8 billion. The latest funding was led by Falcon Edge, DST Global, D1 Capital, RedBird Capital, and Tiger Global. Existing investors TPG and Footpath Ventures also participated.

Star Health’s IPO to open on Nov 30, looks to raise Rs 7,000cr

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Star Health and Allied Insurance, the largest standalone health insurance company, plans to have a Rs 7,249-crore initial public offering (IPO). This will comprise an offer size of Rs 5,249 crore from existing promoters and shareholders. The IPO will begin on November 30 and close on December 2.

Paytm up 17%, Central Bank, IOB gain from selloff hopes

Indian Overseas Bank and Central Bank were among the top gainers in the stock exchanges on Wednesday after investors speculated that these might be the two banks lined up by the government for divestment. Meanwhile, Paytm shares continued on their road to recovery, gaining 17% on Wednesday to end at Rs 1,753, but still remain 18% below their issue price of Rs 2,150. This was despite the broader sensex falling 323 points to 58,341.

Crypto bill leads to panic sale, 20% crash

Indian crypto investors resorted to panic selling after the government listed a bill on Tuesday night seeking to ban private cryptocurrencies, while allowing an official digital currency by the RBI. Cryptocurrency prices in the Indian — linked to rupee — market crashed by up to 20% before recovering on Wednesday after exchanges allayed investors’ fears.

Oil steady after OPEC says reserves release to bloat surplus

Oil was steady in Asia after OPEC said a planned coordinated release of reserves may swell a crude surplus expected early next year.Futures in New York traded near $78 a barrel after closing little changed on Wednesday. The projection was made by the group’s advisory body — the Economic Commission Board — ahead of an OPEC+ meeting next week. Some of the cartel’s delegates warned this week that releasing strategic reserves may lead to the alliance holding back crude supply in January.

‘Amazon seeks to pause antitrust review of 2019 deal with Future Group’

Amazon.com Inc has asked India’s Supreme Court to pause an expedited review of allegations that the US firm concealed information while seeking antitrust clearance for a 2019 deal with India’s Future Group, legal papers seen by Reuters showed.The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in June accused Amazon of concealing facts and making false submissions when it sought approval for the $200 million investment into a Future unit in 2019, a deal that is now at the heart of protracted legal disputes between the two sides.Amazon told Reuters at the time that it was confident of addressing the watchdog’s concerns.The Supreme Court approach by Amazon comes as the CCI on Wednesday held a closed-door hearing where the US firm’s lawyers declined to argue and explain their position on the matter, saying they had asked the top court to pause the process.

US new homes sales rise 0.4% in October as prices climb

US sales of new homes edged up 0.4% last month, coming in below expectations as housing prices continued to climb. The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that sales of new single-family homes rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 745,000 last month from 742,000 in September. Economists had expected October new home sales to come in at a 795,000 annual pace. And the September sales rate was revised sharply lower from 800,000 in Commerce’s original report. New home sales were down 23% from a year earlier.

US stocks: Wall Street ends higher

Wall Street ended higher on Wednesday, lifted by gains in Nvidia and other tech stocks, while Gap and Nordstrom shares tumbled following weak quarterly reports.Nordstrom tumbled 29% and Gap slid 24%, after the two retailers reported weak quarterly results and warned of supply chain problems ahead of the crucial US holiday shopping season.

Rupee settled at 74.4

The rupee recovered its initial losses and settled 2 paisa up at 74.40 against the US dollar

In the broader market, BSE midcap and largecap indices suffered losses but the smallcap index ended higher.

Sectoral performance

Sectorally, BSE IT index fell 1.24 per cent, followed by auto, capital goods, FMCG and energy. Oil and gas, banking and finance closed with gains.

The Nifty IT index fell 1.52%, led by losses in Infosys Ltd , Larsen and Toubro Infotech and MindTree Ltd , all down between 2.3% and 3.4%.

Auto stocks fell 1.28%, dragged lower by Eicher Motors and Maruti Suzuki, down 2.39% and 2.34% respectively.

The fast-moving consumer goods sub-index was down nearly 1% on concerns over rising commodity prices impacting margins.