Prices of petrol, diesel prices remain unchanged for the third straight day. Over the last three weeks, petrol prices have risen ₹9.17 a litre, while diesel price has gone up by ₹11.14.
Rupee Update
Rupee opened higher at 75.50/$ compared to Wednesday's close of 75.59 against the US dollar
Asian Markets
Asian markets remain on a strong trajectory as the MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside of Japan rose 0.9 per cent with all major indexes trading higher, according to business daily Mint. Markets sentiments were backed by the hope of a vaccine for covid-19, which has killed more 5 lakh globally hurting the economy. Kate Bingham, chair of the UK vaccine taskforce has informed that vaccination is expected “early next year.
Asian stocks also gained due to overnight gains on Wall Street to open higher on Thursday.
US market
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 77.91 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 25,734.97. The S&P 500 was up 15.57 points, or 0.50 per cent, to 3,115.86. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 95.86 points, or 0.95 per cent, to 10,154.63, Xinhua news agency reported.
Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors closed higher, with real estate and utilities up 2.57 per cent and 2.29 per cent, respectively, leading the gainers. Energy shed 2.49 per cent, the worst-performing group.
Shares of Beyond Meat jumped 5.7 per cent following the news that the company's faux-meat products would be available at retail outlets in China.
On the data front, US private sector employment jumped 2.369 million jobs in June, US payroll data company Automatic Data Processing (ADP) reported Wednesday.
Economic activity in the US manufacturing sector grew in June, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said Wednesday. The ISM manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers' Index) registered 52.6 per cent in June, up 9.5 percentage points from the May reading of 43.1 per cent.
(With inputs from IANS)