Here are today’s highlights: Markets End Slightly in Red, Inflation Lowers, SBI Reduces Select FD Rate, & More
Sensex ▼0.25% Nifty ▼0.21%
The markets ended lower today even though they opened in the green. Banking and financial stocks dragged the index down.
IT stocks performed very well with HCL Tech gaining more than 10%. Other IT stocks like TCS, Wipro, and Infosys performed well too.
Top Gainers (Nifty)
HCL (▲ 10.16%)
TCS (▲ 4.94%)
Wipro (▲ 4.74%)
Infosys (▲ 3.46%)
UPL (▲ 3.39%)
Top Losers (Nifty)
Bharti Airtel (▼ 3.57%)
Bajaj Finance (▼ 2.93%)
Bharat Petroleum (▼ 2.71%)
Power Grid Corp (▼ 2.08%)
SBI (▼ 2.07%)
Inflation: CPI Softens Over July; WPI Positive Again
Consumer Price Index (CPI) in August stood at 6.69% as compared to 6.73% in July 2020.
Food inflation for the previous month was 9.05%, down from 9.27% in July 2020.
Wholesale Price Inflation (WPI) rose 0.16% previous month as against a contraction of 0.58% in July. WPI was in the negative zone between April and July this year.
The wholesale food index in August stood at 4.07% and 4.32% in July.
WPI takes into account the inflation in wholesale goods whereas CPI reflects inflation at a retail, consumer level.
SBI Lowers FD Interest Rate by 0.2% for 1-2 yr Tenure
The bank has slashed the interest rate for fixed deposit (FD) with the tenure of 1 year to 2 years. The rate used to be 5.1% per annum. The new rate is 4.9% per annum.
For senior citizens, the effective rate for the tenure was 5.6% per annum and the new rate will be 5.4% per annum.
These new rates will be effective from September 10, 2020.
Interest rates for all other tenures remain unchanged. They were last changed on 27th May 2020.
Parliament Monsoon Session Starts Today
The first day of the Parliament’s monsoon session occurred today. This session will be 18 days long.
The monsoon session of the Parliament usually starts in mid-July every year. However, this year, due to the lockdowns, the session has been delayed.
Many precautionary measures have been taken which include - seating separated by glass sheets, UV irradiation in the air-conditioning system, among other more usual measures like thermal screening, wearing masks, sanitization, etc.
25 members of parliament (MP) have been found to be positive today in the mandatory testing carried out. Besides MPs, a few other officials working in the Parliament complex were also found to be positive.
Government May Infuse Rs 20,000 Crores in PSBs
The government is seeking the parliament's approval to infuse Rs 20,000 crore in public sector banks for the current financial year.
The capital infusion will be attempted through recapitalization bonds into PSBs. The government has already infused Rs 3.5 lakh crore in the last few years.
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