1. Asia: MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged 0.04 percent higher. Japan's Nikkei firmed 0.3 percent, but South Korea slipped 0.5 percent. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 were mostly flat. (Image: Reuters)
2. US: Wall Street's main indexes closed higher after a choppy session on Thursday as investors grew more optimistic on trade after reports that the US is considering a delay in imposing tariffs on Mexican imports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 181.09 points, or 0.71 percent, to 25,720.66, the S&P 500 gained 17.34 points, or 0.61 percent, to 2,843.49 and the Nasdaq Composite added 40.08 points, or 0.53 percent, to 7,615.55. (Image: Reuters)
3. Markets At Close On Thursday: The Indian market extended losses to end lower on Thursday, dragged mainly by banking and financial stocks after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut repo rate by 25 basis points for the third time in a row. The Sensex ended 554 points lower at 39,530 while the broader Nifty50 index fell 178 points to end at 11,844. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors sold Rs 1,449 crore in the cash market while domestic institutional investors sold Rs 651 crore. (Image: Reuters)
4. Crude Oil: Brent crude futures were up 50 cents, or 0.8 percent, at $62.17 a barrel by 0041, having risen earlier to $62.41. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 50 cents, or 1 percent, at $53.09 per barrel, after trading as high as $53.33. (Image: Reuters)
5. Rupee & Dollar Index: The Indian rupee closed at 69.27, up 0.01 percent against the US dollar from its previous close. While, the dollar index, which tracks the US currency against a basket of six other major currencies, down 0.03 percent to 97.0150. (Image: Reuters)
6. RBI Cuts Repo Rate: RBI cut its policy interest rate by 25 basis points to 5.75 percent from 6 percent earlier on Thursday in a widely expected move and shifted its policy stance to “accommodative' from “neutral' to boost a slowing economy. (Image: Reuters)
7. RBI On New NPA Norms, Fiscal Consolidation: The Reserve Bank will issue a revised circular on bad loan recognition within the next three-four days, replacing the February 12 circular that was struck down by the Supreme Court. Furthermore, the RBI also said that it expects the government to continue to be "broadly" prudent on the fiscal side. RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said the government had come down between March and May due to the general elections, which also impacted liquidity in the system but public spending has re-started, and systemic liquidity is in surplus. (Image: Reuters)
8. RBI On NBFCs: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it is closely monitoring the developments in the NBFC sector and will not hesitate to take measures to ensure financial stability. The country's largest lender SBI too said it has been closely monitoring its exposure to the NBFC sector for the past 10 months. In a statement, SBI said the overall quality of the NBFC asset portfolio on its books continues to be good. "Challenges faced by accounts like DHFL have already been factored in when we have given our estimate for the stress that the Bank would have to deal with in FY 19-20 and included in our estimates for slippage and loan loss provisioning for the current financial year," it said.(Image: Reuters)
9. Investors Loss In Equities On Thursday: Investor wealth eroded by Rs 2.22 lakh crore on Thursday as markets recorded their biggest single-day fall this year after RBI delivered a rate cut on expected lines, but failed to assuage concerns regarding the NBFC sector. Tracking weak sentiment in the broader market, the market capitalisation (m-cap) of BSE-listed companies tumbled Rs 2,22,304.65 crore to Rs 1,53,19,126.66 crore. (Image: Reuters)
10. Monsoon Expectations In Kerala: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) expects monsoon to hit Kerala in the next 48 hours as "gradually it is showing strengthening." "By this weekend itself, you will see in many parts of the southern peninsula and even Maharashtra some thunderstorm activity, particularly in the coastal areas... so, there will be more moisture coming into the Northern parts and we should expect more rainfall activity," said DS Pai - scientist and head of Climate Service Division, IMD. (Image: Reuters)