The benchmark stock indices have opened this morning with further losses after the sharp fall of over 2% witnessed on Monday.Overnight, global stocks witnessed a sharp fall as well affecting sentiments in India this morning.Join us as we follow the top business news through the day.10:20 AM‘Privatise select PSU banks’Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan on Monday suggested that the government should privatise select public sector banks, set up a bad bank to deal with NPAs and dilute the Department of Financial Services’ role.The reforms are necessary to ensure growth of banking activity without the periodic boom-bust cycles, Dr. Rajan and former RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya said in a paper titled ‘Indian Banks: A Time to Reform?’.“Re-privatisation of select PSBs can then be undertaken, bringing in private investors who have both financial expertise as well as technological expertise; corporate houses must be kept from acquiring significant stakes, given their natural conflicts of interest.
10:00 AMIndian shares fall; rising COVID-19 cases, lockdown fears in Europe hurt sentimentAfter yesterday’s sharp fall, stocks have opened the day with further losses.Reuters reports: “Indian shares inched lower on Tuesday after a sharp sell-off in the previous session, as rising global COVID-19 cases and concerns over fresh lockdowns in Europe weighed on sentiment.The broader NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.1% to 11,233.50 and the S&P BSE Sensex 0.09% to 37,995.39 by 0348 GMT. Both the indexes fell more than 2% on Monday.India’s federal police on Monday said they had registered a case against dairy company Kwality Ltd and its directors for allegedly cheating a consortium of banks of around 14 billion rupees ($190 million).Asian shares dropped on Tuesday due to concerns about new pandemic lockdowns in Europe and possible delays in fresh U.S. stimulus.In India, total novel coronavirus cases touched 5.49 million as of Monday, while the COVID-19 death toll in the United States approached 200,000.Among sectors, the Nifty metals index slid 1% and the Nifty public sector index 1.1%. Both the indexes were the top drags.”9:30 AMInvestors lose ₹4.23 lakh cr. as global sell-off hits stocksThe Sensex dived 812 points while the Nifty closed below the 11,300-mark on Monday, in tandem with a global sell-off after a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Europe stoked fears of another round of lockdowns.Denmark, Greece and Spain have imposed fresh curbs to tackle a surge in infections. Britain too is considering a second lockdown, prompting investors in Europe to offload travel, consumption and banking stocks.Falling for the third straight session, the BSE Sensex ended 811.68 points, or 2.09%, lower at 38,034.14. The NSE Nifty tumbled 2.21% to 11,250.55. IndusInd Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, sliding 8.67%, followed by Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, M&M, Maruti and Axis Bank.
