Business

U.S. stocks fell on Friday as uncertainty over the government's next coronavirus aid exacerbated economic worries related to the pandemic, countering early euphoria from stunning quarterly results by Apple, Amazon.com and Facebook.

U.S. consumer spending increased for a second straight month in June, setting up consumption for a rebound in the third quarter, though the recovery could be limited by a resurgence in COVID19 cases and the end of expanded unemployment benefits.

Dutch healthcare equipment company Philips said on Friday it had not sought to profit by raising the price of the ventilators it manufactures during the coronavirus crisis.

Indian Oil Corp, the country's top refiner, will continue to operate its refineries below capacity in 2020/21 as it sees local and overseas fuel demand remaining subdued, IOC Chairman S. M. Vaidya said on Friday.

After years of gloom, euro bulls will be celebrating the single currency's brisk rally to twoyear highs against the dollar, yet the euphoria is now being tempered by caution over what side effects the rapid runup might bring.

Caterpillar Inc on Friday reported lower secondquarter earnings as the recession sparked by the coronavirus pandemic made customers wary of big purchases, crimping equipment sales.

On a standalone basis, the bottomline was better with a 17 per cent growth at Rs 3,614 crore, as its income jumped 29 per cent to Rs 29,959 crore in the reporting quarter.

Siemens Gamesa named new senior executives on Thursday as the wind turbine maker sought to tackle a coronavirusdriven downturn that has led the group to cut its sales outlook for the year by 1 billion euros ($1.18 billion).

Two big Hong Kong landlords gave a downbeat outlook on Thursday for commercial property in the Asian financial hub, saying they expect the pandemic and local factors to continue to weigh on consumer spending and business for the rest of the year.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday as a slew of positive earnings updates and hopes for assurances of continued support from the Federal Reserve overshadowed concerns about next steps for the government's coronavirus relief plan.

Italian fashion group Prada said on Wednesday sales had recovered sharply in Asia since June after the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic triggered a 40% decline for comparable revenues globally in the first half of the year.

The GST Council was scheduled to meet in July to try and work out the formula to rework the compensation to the States. However, the meeting has not been convened so far.

The government made export of face shields free and permitted outward shipments of 2/3 ply surgical masks and medical goggles with certain conditions.

According to an official statement, the prime minister will join stakeholders from banks and NBFCs on Wednesday to discuss and deliberate on vision and roadmap for the future.

Deliveries of zinc to London Metal Exchange registered warehouses in places such as Port Klang, Malaysia and Singapore, not typical destinations, suggest an unusually large surplus of the metal used to galvanise steel.

Gold hit a record high on Tuesday before the sheer scale of its gains drew a burst of profittaking, which in turn helped the dollar up from twoyear lows and kept equity markets subdued.