Lockdown hits market situations

Lockdown hits electricity demand

The shutdown of most economic activity the last few days has, not surprisingly, dented the overall demand for electricity in the country.

Reuters reports on the magnitude of the fall: "National electricity demand fell to 2.78 billion units on March 25, the first day of the three-week total shutdown called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi late on Tuesday.

That was nearly 20% below the average of 3.45 billion units per day in the first three weeks of March, a Reuters analysis of government data showed.

If demand continues at these reduced levels, India's electricity consumption for March is set to decline at the fastest pace year-on-year since October, when power use fell at its steepest in over 12 years due to a broad economic slowdown.

While electricity usage contracted nationally, consumption actually rose slightly in some states, raising concerns that the shutdown may not have been fully observed in all areas, although officials said higher temperatures may have contributed."

Stocks lose most gains after RBI presser:-

The benchmark indices have pared gains made in the morning as the RBI's stimulus measures failed to impress investors.

The Nifty, which was trading close to the 9,000 marks this morning, is now trading below 8,750.

The Sensex which was up close to 1,000 points in the morning is up only around 50 points at the moment.

Stock market update: Stocks pare early morning gains

Ashish Rukhaiyar reports from Mumbai:-

Indian equity indices surged northwards for the fourth consecutive session on Friday though coming off marginally from the highs after the first hour of trade even as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a slew of measures including a cut in key rates.

The 30-share Sensex, which gained 1,179 points to touch a high of 31,126.03, was trading at 30,431.47, up 484.70 points or 1.62% after the RBI announced 75 basis points cut in repo rate and 100 basis points cut in cash reserve ratio (CRR). The broader Nifty was at 8,780.35, 138.90 points or 1.61%. The India VIX index dipped marginally in the morning session.

Banking and financial stocks were among the top gainers with Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the top gainers.


The overall market breadth was also strong with more than 1,200 stocks gaining ground as against around 500 declines.