Month: March 2020

By Administrator_India Capital Sands India’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports are set to surge in the June quarter as a move to provide free cooking gas coincides with lower crude processing by refiners hit by collapsing local fuel demand, company officials said. Indian refiners are processing less crude oil into fuels like LPG as industries close during a 21-day nationwide lockdown from March 25, aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus. The outbreak has also hit overseas fuel demand. Last week India announced it would provide free cooking gas cylinders to poorer citizens for three months, under a scheme meant to nudge them to adopt the cleaner fuel. Normally beneficiaries of the scheme get LPG at cheaper rates. India’s LPG imports could rise by as much as 700,00...

By Administrator_India Capital Sands Singapore’s central bank aggressively eased its monetary policy on Monday, as widely expected, with the city-state’s bellwether economy bracing for a deep recession due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Monetary Authority of Singapore manages monetary policy through exchange rate settings, rather than interest rates, letting the Singapore dollar rise or fall against currencies of its main trading partners within an undisclosed band. Economists said the changes are the most aggressive easing since the 2009 financial crisis and also come as the central bank forecast deflation and a sharp economic contraction in 2020. The MAS said it would adopt a zero percent annual appreciation rate for its Singapore dollar policy band, known as the Nomina...

By Administrator_India Capital Sands A new OPEC+ deal to balance oil markets might be possible if other countries join in, Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund said, adding that countries should also cooperate to cushion the economic fallout from coronavirus. A pact between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers, including Russia (known as OPEC+), to curb oil production to support prices fell apart earlier this month, sending global oil prices into a tailspin. Dmitriev and the Energy Minister Alexander Novak were Russia's top negotiators in the production cut deal with OPEC. The existing deal expires on March 31. "We are in contact with Saudi Arabia and a number of other countries. Based on these contacts we see that if ...

By Administrator_India Capital Sands After India imposed a 21-day nationwide lockdown on Tuesday to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the plywood factory near Uttar Pradesh’s state capital Lucknow where Surendra Pandey works was forced to shut down. On Thursday morning, with no way of earning a living, the 28-year-old labourer set off on a 110-kilometre (68-mile) walk back to his home village. “I tried catching a bus or truck yesterday, but there is no transport available on the road, so I decided to walk,” he told Reuters, some 30 km (19 miles) into his journey. “There is no food available on the roads but thankfully a few citizens offer us food, biscuits and water. It’s better to be home than to be here in the city without food and water.” Officials say the shutdown o...

By Administrator_India Capital Sands The government will provide free rice/wheat and pulses to poor for the next three months, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said during a press briefing on March 26. She announced the Prime Minister Gareeb Kalyan Scheme of Rs 1.70 lakh crore, for which the measures, include Rs 50 lakh insurance cover for all frontline medical 'warriors', Sitharaman said. The Scheme will be in two silos - one food related and one for cash transfer - largely under direct benefit transfer , she added. "The government announces the Prime Minister Gareeb Kalyan Anna Yojana for 80 crore people, which is 2/3rd of the population," she said.The finance minister announced, "each person will get 5 kg of rice or wheat  ove...

By Administrator_India Capital Sands Equity benchmark indices on Wednesday (March 25) closed in the green amid expectations of fiscal measures being announced by the government. The Sensex was up 1,861.75 points or 6.98% at 28535.78, while the broader Nifty ended up 516.80 points or 6.62% at 8317.85.  Major gainers on the Nifty were Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Grasim Industries and UPL and top loser stocks were Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, IOC, and Coal India. About 1194 shares advanced, 976 stocks declined, while 153 shares remain unchanged. During the afternoon trade, equity benchmark indices ticked up by 4 per cent as Asian shares extended a rally after Wall Street`s strong rebound overnight. At 1 pm, the BSE Sensex was up by 1,175 points or 4.41 p...

By Administrator_India Capital Sands India ordered a 21-day lockdown of its 1.3 billion people on Tuesday to try to protect the world’s second most populous country from the coronavirus spreading around the world. Health researchers have warned that more than a million people in India could be infected with the coronavirus by mid-May, prompting the government to shut down all air and train travel, businesses and schools. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the powerful leader of the world’s biggest democracy went further, saying nobody in the world’s biggest democracy will be allowed to leave their homes for the next three weeks from midnight on Tuesday. “The only way to save ourselves from coronavirus is if we don’t leave our homes, whatever happens, we stay at home,...

By Administrator_India Capital Sands The euro zone is sinking into the biggest economic crisis in its history as measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic bring much of the business world to a standstill. IHS Markit’s measure of private-sector activity plunged to the lowest since the index was started -- and the currency bloc was formed -- more than two decades ago. The meltdown was across the region, according to the report published Tuesday. Services fared worse than manufacturing, particularly consumer-facing industries such as travel, tourism and restaurants. The composite reading fell to 31.4 in March from 51.6. “Business activity across the euro zone collapsed in March to an extent far exceeding that seen even at the height of the global fi...