Indian share markets witnessed buying interest throughout the day today and ended marginally higher.
Benchmark indices erased some of their gains during the last hour of trading but still ended on a positive note.
The World Bank today said that it is likely to project a steeper contraction of India's economy than 3.2% it had forecasted earlier for the current financial year.
At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 86 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty stood higher by 23 points.
Tech Mahindra and Bharti Airtel were among the top gainers today.
SGX Nifty was trading at 11,432, up by 34 points, at the time of writing.
The BSE Mid Cap index ended up by 0.6%. The BSE Small Cap index ended up by 1.2%.
Sectoral indices ended on a positive note with stocks in the telecom sector and realty sector witnessing buying interest.
Asian stock markets ended on a mixed note. As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng was down 0.7% and the Shanghai Composite stood lower by 1.2%. The Nikkei ended up by 0.3%.
The rupee is trading at 74.82 against the US$.
Gold prices are trading down by 0.5% at Rs 53,287 per 10 grams.
Moving on, market participants were tracking Reliance Industries' share price.
Reliance Retail Ventures has acquired a majority equity stake in the digital pharma marketplace Netmeds for a cash consideration of around Rs 6.2 billion, Reliance Industries said in a late-night statement on Tuesday.
This investment represents around 60% holding in the equity share capital of Vitalic and 100% direct equity ownership of its subsidiaries - Tresara Health Private Limited, Netmeds Market Place Limited, and Dadha Pharma Distribution Pvt Limited, the statement said.
In news from the banking sector, Punjab National Bank (PNB) was among the top buzzing stocks today.
Shares of PNB jumped over 5% in the intra-day trade today after media reports said the US Bankruptcy Court has recognized the claim of Punjab National Bank on the proceeds of any asset sold by the American debtors of Nirav Modi entities.
"This is the first time the MCA has recovered the money from overseas. It is also the first time the MCA has intervened in a foreign case pertaining to an Indian company and recovered the money," said a report by Moneycontrol.
MCA had filed a petition on February 26, 2018, in the bankruptcy proceedings against Nirav Modi in a US court, and sought to have PNB made a party to the sale of any assets of his entities.
Apart from PNB, other public sector banks (PSBs) also witnessed buying interest today.
Canara Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of Baroda, and State Bank of India surged between 2-6% in the intra-day trade today.
According to a Reuters report, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office has asked officials to speed up the process of trimming government stakes in at least four primarily state-owned banks within the current fiscal year.
The four lenders are Punjab & Sind Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, UCO Bank, and IDBI Bank, in which the Indian government owns majority stakes through direct and indirect holdings.
The prime minister's office wrote a letter to finance ministry earlier this month asking it to expedite the process of privatizing these lenders in the current financial year, which ends in March 2021.
How all this pans out remains to be seen. Stay tuned for more updates from this space.
Moving on to news from the pharma space, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories today announced the launch of Avigan (Favipiravir) 200 mg tablets in India for treatment of patients with mild to moderate Covid-19 disease.
The launch is part of a global licensing agreement with Fujifilm Toyama Chemical that grants Dr. Reddy's exclusive rights to manufacture, sell, and distribute Avigan tablets in India. Avigan has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India.
"We are pleased to bring this important innovator medicine to the patients in India. The need for high quality and efficacy, affordability, and better disease management are key priorities for us," said M V Ramana, Chief Executive Officer for branded markets at Dr. Reddy's.
Dr. Reddy's Avigan comes in a complete therapy pack of 122 tablets with a two-year shelf life. To ensure accelerated access to medicine, the company has initiated a free home delivery service in 41 cities across the country.
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories share price ended the day down by 0.1%.
Here's an interesting data on Dr. Reddy's Lab, investing just Rs 100,000 in Dr. Reddy's Labs in 1992, it would have given a whopping Rs 4.89 crores in 2014!
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