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Vodafone Idea (VIL) has dropped faster data speed claims, which formed a prominent part of its pay-more-for-priority-treatment offering, and has filed a revised plan with Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). The company has now submitted a new RedX plan with Trai and claims of faster data speeds--a major bone of contention--has been done away with. The company's website is also no longer touting claims of faster speeds for RedX plan, which had been under Trai's scanner over the past few weeks.
The move assumes significance as the Trai late last month slapped a show cause notice on VIL over its priority mobile plan, saying the tariff offer lacked transparency, was misleading and not in compliance with regulatory framework.
Vodafone Idea is an Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group partnership. It is developing world-class infrastructure to introduce newer and smarter technologies, making both retail and enterprise customers future ready with innovative offerings conveniently accessible through an ecosystem of digital channels as well as extensive on-ground presence.

Shilpa Medicare is currently trading at Rs. 593.80, up by 11.15 points or 1.91% from its previous closing of Rs. 582.65 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 586.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 615.60 and Rs. 581.00 respectively. So far 104582 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 692.45 on 11-Aug-2020 and a 52 week low of Rs. 226.35 on 20-Sep-2019.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 615.60 and Rs. 552.40 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 4953.98 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 53.80%, while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 26.84% and 19.36% respectively.
Shilpa Medicare has received an approval to establish whole owned subsidiary in Malaysia for the business operations of the company. The Board of Directors of the company at its meeting held on September 18, 2020 approved the same.
Shilpa Medicare produces and exports consistently high-quality Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Fine Chemicals, intermediates, herbal products and speciality chemical products using sophisticated technology, meticulously following international specifications.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has launched contactless option for accessories, extended warranty and workshop related payments for its entire range of vehicles. The company will be providing contactless payment options to customers not only in the showroom or workshop, but it is also extended to the customer's doorstep through physical point of sale (POS)/e-POS methods, which can accept all major credit/debit cards and e-wallets.
M&M is the flagship company of the Mahindra Group, a multinational conglomerate based in Mumbai, India. Amongst the various business interests of its parent group, the company is mainly involved in the automobile manufacturing. It is one of the leading auto companies of India.

Interglobe Aviation is currently trading at Rs. 1330.60, up by 12.30 points or 0.93% from its previous closing of Rs. 1318.30 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 1319.50 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 1337.70 and Rs. 1310.00 respectively. So far 33870 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 1911.00 on 23-Sep-2019 and a 52 week low of Rs. 765.05 on 24-Mar-2020.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 1354.95 and Rs. 1238.40 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 50935.48 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 74.86%, while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 22.35% and 2.79% respectively.
In its bid to increase confidence in air travel, InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) has launched ‘6E millionth passenger campaign’ for its customers. The airline will reward every millionth passenger with 2 free round-trip tickets across IndiGo’s domestic network, valid till March 31, 2021. IndiGo’s 1st millionth passenger after resumption of services post lockdown, flew on 6E 344 from Bengaluru to Kolkata on September 15, 2020.
InterGlobe Aviation provides air transportation services in India and internationally. The company primarily operates IndiGo passenger airline.

Thomas Cook (India) and its Group Company, SOTC Travel have partnered with India's favourite storyteller, Amar Chitra Katha, to take travellers on an enchanting journey through time, re-living India’s vibrant history and culture with the launch of its Great Indian Journeys. Much loved historical characters have been hand-picked to act as a personal guide through each epic journey, including - Birbal (the witty/wise advisor of Mughal emperor, Akbar), Tenali Raman (poet and social thinker of the mighty Vijayanagar empire), Sudama (childhood friend of Lord Krishna) and Chetak (Rana Pratap’s true war horse and faithful companion).Thomas Cook is currently trading at Rs. 32.50, up by 0.15 points or 0.46% from its previous closing of Rs. 32.35 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 32.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 33.00 and Rs. 32.00 respectively. So far 17644 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 75.78 on 26-Nov-2019 and a 52 week low of Rs. 21.80 on 25-Mar-2020.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 33.10 and Rs. 30.50 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 1229.40 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 65.60%, while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 18.51% and 15.89% respectively.

Zensar Technologies has launched its blockchain based contract management solutions for enterprises. The solutions called Distributed Intelligent Contract Enforcement System (DICES) focuses on contract enforcement while the other solution, called ZenConfluence is an enabling solution on which other applications can run.
DICES is a contract enforcement system which facilitates the conversion and deployment of plain text legal agreements into blockchain-based smart contracts. DICES uses a combination of NLP (Natural Language Processing) and a transpiler (patent pending) to extract the clauses that can be coded to create smart contracts. This helps in tracking and enforce the milestones efficiently, quickly and without manual intervention. ZenConfluence is designed to improve visibility in Hire to Retire cycle for Sub-contractors working for an enterprise. It is designed to improve the entire value chain of subcontracting systems across various enterprise programs across functions like hiring system, payroll, HR systems, finance and invoicing systems etc.
Zensar Technologies, formerly known as ICIL was acquired by the RPG group in 1989. It is a globally focused software and services company spread across eighteen countries across the world

HDFC Bank is currently trading at Rs. 1091.80, up by 20.90 points or 1.95% from its previous closing of Rs. 1070.90 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 1069.75 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 1095.00 and Rs. 1069.75 respectively. So far 413409 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 1304.10 on 19-Dec-2019 and a 52 week low of Rs. 738.90 on 24-Mar-2020.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 1105.00 and Rs. 1053.20 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 598960.35 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 26.10%, while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 58.89% and 14.76% respectively.
Volvo Car India has partnered with HDFC Bank to launch Volvo Car Financial Services to enable buyers get easy finance for its vehicles. The service facilitates finance of up to 100 per cent of ex-showroom price of the car and offers convenient repayment options, with no foreclosure charges under specific conditions.
HDFC Bank is one of India’s premier banks providing a wide range of financial products and services using multiple distribution channels including a pan-India network of branches, ATMs, phone banking, net banking and mobile banking.

Hero MotoCorp has donated five specially designed First Responder Vehicles (FRVs) to the government hospitals in Jaipur and Ajmer, Rajasthan, as part of its ongoing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives towards the COVID-19 relief efforts.
The FRVs have been equipped with a full stretcher with a foldable hood mounted on the side, essential medical equipment such as a detachable first-aid kit, oxygen cylinder, fire extinguisher and other safety features such as LED Flasher Lights, foldable beacon light, emergency wireless public announcement system and siren.
Hero MotoCorp is the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters.

Hindustan Copper (HCL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hindalco Industries for long-term sale of copper concentrate produced by HCL to Hindalco. Under this MoU, around 60% (copper content) of HCL's current copper concentrate production will be utilized by Hindalco in the manufacture of refined copper.
This partnership between HCL and Hindalco will go a long way in building the domestic copper industry by ensuring efficient utilization of the country's mineral resources in a sustainable manner. With this partnership, HCL will be taking a step towards assuring supply of raw material to the Indigenous copper manufacturers. This will also fulfill the country's mission of make in India and AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan.
Hindustan Copper’s principal activities include mining of copper ore, concentration of copper ore into copper concentrate through a beneficiation process and also smelting, refining and extruding of the copper concentrate into refined copper in downstream saleable products.

Saint-Gobain Sekurit India has received an approval to sell / dispose / transfer the leasehold rights received from Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation, for the plots at Bhosari at negotiated price not less than Rs 32.50 crore, subject to the approval of the shareholders through postal ballot.
The Board of Directors at their meeting held on September 18, 2020, approved the same.
Saint-Gobain Sekurit supplies automotive glazing and modular components for the global vehicle manufacturing segment and the replacement market.

PTC India Financial Services (PFS) has received Rs 115.57 crore from Income Tax Department as IT refund for Assessment Year (AY) 2019-20 (Financial Year 2018-19). The company may utilize the amount of refund received in financing sustainable environmental friendly infrastructure projects related to green energy, water sewage treatment plan, electric vehicle charging station etc.
PTC India Financial Services is an Indian non-banking financial institution. The company makes principal investments in, and provides financing solutions for, companies with projects across the energy value chain.

Brooks Laboratories has entered into joint venture partnership with SteriScience. The global marketing joint-venture arrangement, shall focus on international markets such as USA, Europe and other regulated markets. Simultaneously the joint venture partners have also entered into manufacturing joint venture towards building a robust carbapenem business with integrated manufacturing capabilities, subject to approval from the shareholders of Brooks. This is a landmark value-accretive partnership, which furthers Brooks' global aspirations.
Brooks Laboratories has wide range of products catering to critical care segment in Parental Section like Beta Lactam, Cephalosporin & General dry powder Injectables, Ampoules and Liquid vials.

Coal India’s subsidiary -- Northern Coalfields has awarded order to Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T) construction arm -- L&T construction for its Metallurgical and Material Handling Business, for a coal processing and load out package to be installed at the Dudhichua Mines located in Uttar Pradesh. The company envisions production to touch 1 billion tonne by 2023-24 to meet the country's demand for coal.
Coal India is the world’s largest coal mining company. It also produces non-coking coal and coking coal of various grades for diverse applications.

IndoStar Capital Finance has raised Rs 50 crore through Secured, Redeemable, Non-Convertible, Rated, Listed, Taxable Bonds in the nature of Debentures and allotted 500 bonds of face value of Rs10 lakh each, for cash, at par, to Kotak Mahindra Bank on private placement basis.
The Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on September 16, 2020 has approved the same.
IndoStar Capital Finance is a non-banking finance company ‘NBFC’ registered with the Reserve Bank of India as a systemically important non-deposit taking company.

Subex has launched Partner Ecosystem Management platform that will allow CSPs to accelerate their digital services portfolio expansion. The platform will allow CSPs to create a value driven partner ecosystem and significantly improve time to market for new services by identifying and quickly onboarding diverse partners. It will also enable digital trust among CSPs and their partners by creating a transparent partner ecosystem.
The company’s Partner Ecosystem Management will provide CSPs a domain agnostic platform to seamlessly collaborate with partners across content, gaming, IoT, 5G, healthcare, manufacturing, and internal ecosystem partners like dealers, resellers, etc. CSPs will be able to score partners based on various KPIs and monitor their performance holistically. The platform will enable increased business visibility, real-time access to reports, and dashboards to make informed decisions on the go.

Oil India has incurred loss of Rs 148 crore in revenue in 100 days from the closure of oil and gas wells in the vicinity of the Baghjan fire in Assam. The blowout at a gas well resulted in the closure of a number of producing oil and gas wells in and around Baghjan in Tinsukia district due to protests by locals. The well was producing 80,000 standard cubic meters per day (SCMD) of gas from a depth of 3,870 meters before the blowout in May.
Oil India, a Navratna Company, is Asia's oldest and biggest pioneer oil exploration and Production Company.

Sundaram Mutual Fund (MF) has launched the Sundaram Bluechip Fund, an open ended equity scheme predominantly investing in large cap stocks. The NFO opens for subscription on September 17, 2020 and closes on September 30, 2020. The Entry load is not applicable for the scheme. The Exit load will be 1%, for redemption within 12 months from the date of allotment and nil, for redemption on or after 12 months from the date of allotment. The minimum subscription amount is Rs 100 and in multiples of Re 1 thereafter.
The scheme’s performance will be benchmarked against its performance to the Nifty 100 TRI index and its fund managers are Rahul Baijal & S Krishnakumar (equity), Dwijendra Srivastava (Fixed Income) and Rohit Seksaria is the dedicated fund manager for investments in overseas securities.
The investment objective of the scheme is to generate capital appreciation by investing in large cap stocks.

Baroda Mutual Fund (MF) has launched the Baroda Large and Mid Cap fund, an open ended equity scheme investing in both large cap and mid cap stocks. The NFO opens for subscription on August 17, 2020 and closes on August 31, 2020. The No Entry load will applicable for the scheme. The Exit load will be nil, if redeemed up to 10% of the Units, on or before 365 days from the date of allotment of Units. If Units are redeemed over and above the 10% limit, on or before 365 days from the date of allotment of Units, the Exit load will be 1% of the applicable Net Asset Value (NAV). If Units are redeemed after 365 days from the date of allotment of Units, the Exit load will be nil. The above Exit Load will be applicable on a FIFO (First-In-First-Out) basis, to all subscription transactions, excluding switch-ins. The minimum subscription amount is Rs 5000 and in multiples of Re 1 thereafter.
The scheme’s performance will be benchmarked against its performance to S&P BSE 250 Large MidCap 65:35TRI and its fund managers are Sanjay Chawla and Ashwani Kumar Agarwalla.
The investment objective of the scheme is to seek long term capital growth through investments in both large cap and mid cap stocks.

Union Mutual Fund (MF) has launched the Union Medium Duration Fund, an open ended medium term debt scheme investing in instruments such that the Macaulay duration of the portfolio is between 3 to 4 years. The NFO opens for subscription on August 24, 2020 and closes on September 07, 2020. The Entry load is nil. Up to 15% of the units allotted may be redeemed / switched out without any exit load.  Any redemption / switch out in excess of 15% of units allotted shall be subject to the following exit load: 1% if redeemed or switched out on or before 365 days from the date of allotment; and nil if redeemed or switched out after 365 days from the date of allotment. The minimum subscription amount is Rs 5000 and in multiples of Re.1 thereafter.
The scheme’s performance will be benchmarked against its performance to CRISIL Medium Term Debt Index and its fund managers are Parijat Agrawal and Anindya Sarkar.
The investment objective of the Scheme is to generate income and capital appreciation by investing in Fixed Income Securities and Money Market Instruments.

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund (MF) has declared dividend under ICICI Prudential Fixed Maturity Plan-Series 81-1100Days Plan R. The record date for the same is August 19, 2020. The quantum of dividend on the face value of Rs 10 per unit will be Rs 0.0500 each under regular and direct plan dividend.
The units of the Scheme are listed on BSE. The trading of units of the Scheme will be suspended on BSE with effect from closing hours of trading of August 16, 2020. For the purposes of redemption proceeds, the record date shall be August 19, 2020.

Invesco Mutual Fund has filed offer document with SEBI to launch an open  ended  fund  of  fund  scheme named 'Invesco India Feeder - Invesco Global Consumer Trends Fund' .The New Fund Offer price is Rs 10 per unit. Entry load will be nil and exit load ,if units are redeemed/switched out within 1 year from the date of allotment: it will be up to 10% of units allotted are redeemed/switched out - Nil , any redemption / switch-out of units in excess of 10% of units allotted it will be 1%; if units are redeemed/switched out after 1 year from the date of allotment, no exit load is payable. The scheme currently offers growth and dividend option and seeks to collect a Minimum Target Amount of Rs 10 crores.
The performance for schemes will be benchmarked against MSCI World Consumer Discretionary Index - Net Dividend. The minimum application amount for initial purchase is Rs 1000 each and in multiples of Re 1 thereafter.
The investment objective of the scheme seeks to provide long-term capital  appreciation  by  investing  predominantly in units of Invesco Global Consumer Trends Fund, an  overseas  fund   which  invests   in an international portfolio of companies predominantly engaged in the design, production or distribution of products and  services related to  the  discretionary consumer needs of individuals.

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund (MF) has launched the ICICI Prudential Alpha Low Vol 30 ETF an open-ended Index Exchange Traded Fund tracking Nifty Alpha Low-Volatility 30 Index. The NFO opens for subscription on August 03, 2020 and closes on August 10, 2020. The Exit load and Entry load will not be applicable for the scheme. The minimum subscription amount is Rs 5000 and in multiples of Rs 1 thereafter.
The scheme’s performance will be benchmarked against its performance to Nifty Alpha Low-Volatility 30 TRI and its fund manager is Kayzad Eghlim.
The investment objective of the scheme is to provide returns before expenses that closely correspond to the total return of the underlying index subject to tracking errors.

Axis Mutual Fund has filed offer document with SEBI to launch an open ended equity scheme named 'Axis Value Fund '. The New Fund Offer price is Rs 10 per unit. Entry load is nil and exit load if redeemed / switched-out within 12 months, for 10% of investment: Nil For remaining investment will be 1%, if redeemed/switched out after 12 months from the date of allotment will be Nil. The scheme currently does not offer any plans or options and seeks to collect a Minimum Target Amount of Rs 10 crore.
The performance for schemes will be benchmarked against S&P BSE 200 TRI. The minimum application amount for initial purchase is Rs 5000 each and in multiples of Re 1 thereafter.
The investment objective of the scheme is to generate  consistent  long-term  capital  appreciation  by  investing  predominantly  in  equity  and  equity related securities by following value investing strategy.

Edelweiss Mutual Fund (MF) has launched the Edelweiss BHARAT Bond FOF-April 2031, an open-ended Target Maturity fund of funds scheme investing in units of BHARAT Bond ETF-April 2031. The NFO opens for subscription on July 14, 2020 and closes on July 17, 2020. The Entry load is not applicable for the scheme. The Exit load will be 0.10%, if redeemed or switched out on or before completion of 30 days from the date of allotment of units and nil, if redeemed or switched out after completion of 30 days from the date of allotment of units. The minimum subscription amount is Rs 1000 and in multiples of Re 1 thereafter.
The scheme’s performance will be benchmarked against its performance to Nifty BHARAT Bond Index-April 2031 and its fund managers are Dhawal Dalal and and Gautam Kaul.
The investment objective of the scheme is to generate returns by investing in units of BHARAT Bond ETF-April 2031.

Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs has projected a fall in Indias sugar output by 18% Y-o-Y, at 27.3 million tonne (MT) for ongoing 2019-20 season compared to 33.13 in last sugar season 2018-19. According to the industry body Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), the country has produced 19.48 MT of sugar till February of the marketing year 2019-20 (October-September).
Sharp dip in the yield of sugarcane in the major sugar-producing states of Maharashtra and Karnataka, due to drought in some parts and heavy rains and floods in some other parts of these states, has resulted in the overall dip in sugar output.
Even though, the carry-over stock of about 14.5 MT of the previous sugar season and estimated production of about 27.3 MT in the current sugar season, the availability of sugar will be sufficient to meet the domestic consumption of about 26 MT. While, the ISMA, stated that contracts for exports have been made for a quantity of over 3.5 MT. The government has given 6 MT of sugar export quota for mills in the current season.

World Steel Association (worldsteel) in its latest report has stated that crude steel output of India has dipped by 3.26% to 9.288 million tonnes (MT) in January 2020 as compared to same month last year`s 9.591 MT. Meanwhile, the overall crude steel production from 64 countries reporting to the association was at 154.4 MT in January 2020, up by 2.1 % as against January 2019.
China, the world`s largest steel producing country, reported a rise in crude steel production in month of January 2020 by 7.2% at 84.3 MT as against last year same month. However, Japan has reported fall in its crude steel output during the period under consideration, by about 1.3% compared to last year same period. South Korea`s crude steel production was 5.8 MT in January 2020, a decrease of 8% from the corresponding period last year.
worldsteel represents steel producers, national and regional steel industry associations, and steel research institutes. As many as 64 major steel producing countries report data to the body which represents around 85% of global steel production.

Indias coal imports have increased by 8.6% to 21.83 million tonnes (MT) during the month of November 2019 from a year earlier, after previous three straight months of decline.
As per estimates of Coal Ministry, thermal coal, which is been used for electricity generation, imports peaked to 17.65 MT by about 12.3% increase as against previous year same month. While, shipping in of coking coal into the country fell by 5% to 4.18 MT as compared to last year same month.
During August to October, Indian thermal coal imports had marked declines, registering their longest losing streak in over two years. Mainly, the broader economic slowdown worries had weighed on the industrial investments.

The Gem Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) stated that Indias exports of gems and jewelry slipped 8.45% to Rs 21,146.59 crore in January 2020, as against previous year same month`s Rs 23,099.57 crore. The country`s exports during April 2019 to January 2020, witnessed a fall of 4.78% to Rs 2,16,076.06 crore as against previous year same period`s 2,26,933.91 crore.
Shipment of cut and polished diamonds (CPD) in the month of January also dropped by 4.92% to Rs 11,757.08 crore as against previous year same month`s Rs 12,365.89 crore. While for the first 10 months of FY20 the CPD slipped by 16.04% to Rs 1,14,982.97 crore as against previous year same period`s Rs 1,36,941.69 crore.
The overall gold exporting in January also dipped by 2.21% to Rs 6,337.12 crore as against previous year same month`s Rs 6,480.26 crore. Although, overall gold jewelry exporting during April 2019 to January 2020 has marked a gain of 5.33% to Rs 71,981.43 crore as against previous year same period`s Rs 68,340.74 crore.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has said potato production of India increased 51% to 52.5 million tonnes (MT) in over a decade. Its production had stood at 34.7 MT in 2008. He pegged the potato output to grow about 3% annually till 2050. He added that the production of potato rose 34 times in seven decades while the area under cultivation grew by 9.3 times.
India is the second-largest producer of potato after China in the world. Together, both the countries contribute 38% to the world`s total potato production. Tomar further said the country also needs to increase the crop`s exports.
He expressed concerned over crop losses, saying the damage to the crop currently stands at 16 per cent that needs to be reduced. He also said that experts and researchers will have to find a way out to develop high-quality and disease-resistant variety of potato seed which would consume less water and meet the challenges of global warming.

The Economic Survey 2019-20 has showed that India produced 64.3 million tonne (MT) of crude steel and 59.73 MT of finished steel during April-October, 2019-20. The Survey also noted that the steel sector achieved a growth of 5.2 per cent during April-November period of the ongoing financial year as compared to 3.6 per cent in the year-ago period.
As per the survey, India produced 109.2 MT of crude steel during 2018-19 and in the current financial year (FY) till October 2019, crude steel production was 64.3 MT, displaying a growth of 1.5 per cent over corresponding period of last year with utilization capacity of 77.4 per cent. Similarly, it noted that production of finished steel was 137.2 MT in 2018-19 and 59.73 MT during April-October 2019.
The Survey further said as per RBI studies on corporate performance, demand conditions for the manufacturing sector weakened in second quarter of 2019-20, with a contraction year-on-year in nominal sales. It added that petroleum products, iron and steel, motor vehicles and other transport equipment companies were the major contributors to slowdown.

Indias gold imports has dipped by 6.77% to $23 billion during April-December 2019 as against last year same period`s $24.73 billion. This has contributed to trim the countrys current account deficit (CAD) to $118 billion during the period, compared to last year`s $148.23 billion.
India, the largest importer of gold, imports about 800-900 tonne of gold annually in volume terms. The government had increased import duty on the metal to 12.5% from 10%, to mitigate the negative impact of gold imports on trade deficit and CAD.
Meanwhile, gems and jewelry exports declined 6.4% to $27.9 billion in April-December this fiscal. The country`s imports in terms of value dipped by 3% to $32.8 billion in 2018-19. According to RBI data, the CAD narrowed to 0.9% of gross domestic product or $6.3 billion in July-September 2019 from 2.9% or $19 billion in corresponding period previous year.

The government is considering lifting ban on exports of onion as fresh arrival of the commodity has started softening its prices in the domestic market. Arrival of fresh onion will further soften the prices in the domestic market so there is a need to lift the export ban. Onion prices have come down to around Rs 60-70 per kg depending upon quality and locality from the peak of Rs 160 per kg last month.
Fresh onion is available from January to May. In September 2019, the government had banned the export of onion to increase availability of the commodity in the domestic market and contain rising prices. The government had also imposed stock limits on traders.
Retail onion prices had skyrocketed in Delhi and other parts of the country due to supply disruption from flood-affected growing states like Maharashtra. Onion production is estimated to have declined by around 25% in the Kharif and late Kharif seasons of 2019-20 crop year compared to the previous year due to late monsoon and then excess rains in the major producing states.

Indian equity benchmarks traded in a range bound manner with a positive bias for most part of the day but witnessed sudden fall in final hour of trade which forced to close Friday’s session on negative note. Benchmarks made positive start, tracking gains in Asian peers. Sentiments remained positive with report that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will purchase government securities under open market operations (OMOs) for an aggregate amount of Rs 10,000 crore on September 24, 2020. Some support also came with data showing that investment in the Indian capital market through participatory notes (P-notes) climbed to over Rs 74,000 crore till August-end, making it the highest level in 10 months. This marks the fifth consecutive monthly rise in the investment through the route, also signaling at growing confidence of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in the local market.
Though, key indices failed to hold initial gains and entered into a negative territory in last hour of trade amid cooling off buying interest across sectors. Traders turned wary as domestic ratings agency -- ICRA warned that divesting majority stake in state-run lenders by the government will be ‘credit negative’ for such public sector banks (PSBs). Some concern also came with report that advance tax collections fell 25.5 per cent to Rs 1,59,057 crore in the second quarter of the fiscal. However, markets managed to trim some losses in final minutes of trade, taking support from report that the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) subscribers who lost their job due to the COVID-19 situation can claim unemployment relief of 50 per cent of wages under the Atal Bimit Kalyan Yojana. 
On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly in green on Friday, despite slump in Wall Street following Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s dour economic outlook along with lackluster US economic data. Separately, data showed the key inflation gauge in Japan went negative again last month amid a steep drop in the cost of hotel accommodation. European markets were trading mostly in red amid worries about the second wave of coronavirus infections in the region. Leading scientists advising the U.K. government have proposed a two-week national lockdown in October to try to tackle the rising number of coronavirus cases. Back home, on the sectoral front, defence stocks were in limelight as the government permitted foreign direct investment (FDI) of up to 74 per cent under automatic route in the defence sector with a view to attracting overseas investors. There was some reaction in insurance sector’s stocks as regulator Irdai is mulling over a plan to allow the tenure extension of COVID-19 specific insurance products as the vaccine for the disease is seemingly away by some more time.
Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 134.03 points or 0.34% to 38,845.82, while the CNX Nifty was down by 11.15 points or 0.10% to 11,504.95.
The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 39,200.42 and 38,635.73, respectively and there were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.26%, while Small cap index was down by 0.32%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 3.50%, Telecom up by 2.69%, Realty up by 1.96%, Utilities up by 1.18% and Power up by 0.82%, while Finance down by 1.16%, Bankex down by 1.13%, Consumer Durables down by 0.69%, FMCG down by 0.50% and Capital Goods down by 0.43% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 3.73%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.72%, NTPC up by 2.48%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.29% and Sun Pharma up by 2.23%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 2.39%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.07%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.92%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.73% and Titan Company down by 1.67% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, investment in the Indian capital market through participatory notes (P-notes) climbed to over Rs 74,000 crore till August-end, making it the highest level in 10 months. This marks the fifth consecutive monthly rise in the investment through the route, also signaling at growing confidence of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in the local market.
According to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) data, the value of P-note investments in Indian markets--equity, debt, hybrid securities and derivatives--rose to Rs 74,027 crore till August-end from Rs 63,228 crore clocked by the end of July. The figure at August-end was the highest level of investment since October 2019, when the total value of P-note investments in the Indian markets stood at Rs 76,773 crore. The rise in FPI participation through P-notes shows their rise in confidence, since the 15-year lows of P-notes participation in March 2020. 
P-notes are issued by registered foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to overseas players who wish to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly. They, however, need to go through due diligence.
The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 11,584.10 and 11,446.10 and there were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddys Lab up by 9.92%, Cipla up by 7.11%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.76%, Bharti Airtel up by 3.73% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.85%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 2.28%, Shree Cement down by 2.00%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.85%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.85% and Maruti Suzuki down by 1.82% were the top losers.
European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 8.46 points or 0.14% to 6,041.46 and France’s CAC fell 10.42 points or 0.21% to 5,029.08, while Germany’s DAX increased 28.78 points or 0.22% to 13,236.90.
Asian markets ended mostly higher on Friday, despite slump in Wall Street overnight following Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s dour economic outlook along with lackluster US economic data. Data showed that the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to 860,000. Chinese shares ended higher on expectations of fresh supportive measures to boost the virus-ravaged economy, with the Chinese yuan holding on to recent gains against the dollar. Japanese shares ended slightly up amid yen’s weakness after data showing the key inflation gauge in the country went negative again last month. Further, optimism surrounding Japan’s new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s policies also offered some support.

       COPPER: -850 MT

       ZINC: -1850 MT

       LEAD: -1025 MT

       NICKLE: -1194 MT

       ALUMINIUM: -13575 MT

LME Cancelled Warrants

       COPPER: -[0.05]

       ZINC: -[0.18]

       LEAD: -[]

       NICKLE: -[0.08]