1. Wall Street | A positive jobs report drove US stocks modestly higher Friday, but a parallel rise in Treasury yields signalled a downside, the good news could push the Federal Reserve to curtail its massive stimulus policies faster than expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 144.39 points, or 0.41 percent, to 35,208.64, the S&P 500 gained 7.44 points, or 0.17 percent, to 4,436.54 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 59.36 points, or 0.4 percent, to 14,835.76.
2. Asian markets | Asian shares wobbled on Monday amid sharp losses in gold and oil prices, while the dollar held near four-month highs after an upbeat US jobs report lifted bond yields. Sentiment was shaken by a sudden dive in gold as a break of $1,750 triggered stop loss sales taking it as low as $1,684 an ounce. It was last down 2.2 percent at $1,723. Holidays in Tokyo and Singapore made for thin trading conditions, leaving MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 0.1 percent. Japan’s Nikkei was shut but futures were trading just below Friday’s close.
3. Indian market on Friday | Indian equity benchmark indices ended lower Friday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept the policy rates unchanged. The Sensex fell 215.12 points, or 0.39 percent to end at 54,277.72, while the Nifty closed 56.40 points, or 0.35 percent lower at 16,238.20. Broader markets, smallcap and midcap indices ended marginally higher. Among sectors, pharma, realty, media and financial services indices witnessed selling pressure, while Nifty Auto, Nifty Private Banks, Nifty Metal, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty IT ended in the green.
4. Crude oil | Oil prices dropped further after suffering their largest weekly drop in four months amid worries coronavirus travel restrictions would threaten bullish expectations for demand. Brent fell $1.30 to $69.40 a barrel, while US crude lost $1.29 to $66.99.
5. Rupee | The rupee inched 2 paise higher to close at 74.15 (provisional) against the US currency, marking its fifth straight session of gains on Friday, after the announcement of RBI monetary policy. At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened at 74.11 and hit an intra-day high of 74.10 and a low of 74.22. It finally closed at 74.15, higher by 2 paise over its last close.
6. US jobless claims down 14,000 to 385,000 as economy rebounds | The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week by 14,000 to 385,000, more evidence that the economy and the job market are rebounding briskly from the coronavirus recession. The Labor Department reported Thursday that unemployment claims a proxy for layoffs dropped last week from a revised 399,000 the week before. The applications have more or less fallen steadily since topping 900,000 in early January.
7. Sebi amends rules to empower independent directors | Sebi has overhauled the rules pertaining to the appointment, removal and remuneration of independent directors to ensure their independence and effectiveness. Under the new rules, appointment, re-appointment and removal of independent directors in a listed company will be done through a special resolution of shareholders. In the special resolution, the number of votes in favour of the resolution should be at least three times those against the resolution. The new rules will be applicable from January 1, 2022.
8. Sebi board agrees in principle to 'controlling shareholders' concept | Sebi on Friday agreed “in-principle” to a proposal to move from the concept of promoter to “controlling shareholders”, and decided to reduce the minimum lock-in period for promoters post an IPO. The watchdog has also decided to streamline the disclosure requirement of group companies.
9. Forex reserves surge by $9.42 bn to all-time high of $620.57 bn | The country's foreign exchange reserves surged by USD 9.427 billion to a record high of USD 620.576 billion in the week ended July 30, according to the latest RBI data. In the previous week ended July 23, the reserves had declined by USD 1.581 billion to USD 611.149 billion.
10. FPIs invest Rs 1,210 crore in Indian market in first 5 trading sessions of August | Overseas investors were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,210 crore in Indian markets in the first five trading sessions of August on the back of domestic factors. In equities, they invested Rs 975 crore during August 2-6, as per depositories data. In the debt segment, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pumped in Rs 235 crore. This took the total net investment during the period under review to Rs 1,210 crore.