Business

The gross domestic product (GDP) data released by the National Statistical Office earlier on Friday showed that growth in the first quarter of the current fiscal slipped to an over six-year low of 5 per cent.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was up 185.68 points, or 0.5%, to 37,679.80, while the Nifty 50 index was trading higher by 66.60 points, or 0.6%, at 11,124.45.

In January, Infosys had announced that it would buy back shares of the company for an amount aggregating up to Rs 8,260 crore (maximum buyback size) at a price not exceeding Rs 800 per equity share.

The Nifty PSU Banking index rose as much as 6.4% in intraday trade. However, it later pared gains to trade 2.8% higher at 1:05 pm compared with 1.4% rise in the benchmark Nifty 50 index.

In the 2019-20 Budget, the government had increased surcharge from 15 per cent to 25 per cent on taxable income between Rs 2 crore and Rs 5 crore, and from 15 per cent to 37 per cent for income above Rs 5 crore.

Rajiv Kumar said that the government is considering a number of measures which will be taken at an appropriate time to deal with financial stress and unleash animal spirit in the economy.

While pawning gold has long been an option for quick funds in India, several lenders told of unprecedented demand as people struggle to secure loans from banks grappling with bad debt and a shadow lending industry stung by a liquidity crunch.

Traders said cautious opening in domestic equities and foreign fund outflows weighed on the local unit, while weakening of the dollar against some currencies overseas and easing crude oil prices supported the rupee.

After plunging 305 points, the 30-share Sensex settled 267.64 points, or 0.72 per cent, lower at 37,060.37. It hit an intra-day high of 37,406.55 and a low of 37,022.52.

The broader NSE Nifty was trading 0.02% down at 11,014.75 as of 0512 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.06% up at 37,349.80.

Reserve Bank deputy governor MK Jain said in some cases, the lack of compliance has been "recurring", wherein banks have also ignored RBI's instructions to commit the same mistakes time and again.

SBI customers will enjoy other benefits such as waiver in processing fees, pre-approved digital loans and loans with no escalation in interest rates across various categories, the bank said in a news release.

Gold had reached its all-time high mark of Rs 38,670 on Saturday. Silver also fell by Rs 50 to Rs 45,000 per kg due to reduced off take by industrial units and coin makers.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Sun Pharma, TechM, NTPC, L&T, HCL Tech, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, TCS, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, ITC and RIL, rising up to 3 percent.

The inflation in food articles with over 15 per cent weightage in WPI basket stood at 6.15 per cent in July, as against 6.98 per cent in the previous month, data released by the Commerce Ministry showed.

Inflation based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was at 2.02 per cent in June this year and 5.27 per cent in July 2018.