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State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, has set a target of disbursing Rs 700 crore to  MSMEs  in the Mumbai circle by the end of June, to help them tide over liquidity crisis due to the Covid-19  lockdown. Among all banks, SBI controls a market share of 22 per cent in the MSME lending.  "SBI will boost flow of credit to  MSMEs  (micro, small and medium enterprises) in this challenging period by reassessing their working capital limit and also by extending Covid-19 emergency loans. "Overall, we expect to lend Rs 700 crore to  MSMEs  in four districts of Mumbai circle — Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad — by the end of June," the World Trade Centre said in a statement quoting Suresh Nair, deputy general manager (SMEs and financial inclusion) at SBI, as saying after a webinar.   Read Complete Article

Coronavirus concerns , corporate results, and macro data will be the top triggers for Indian indices today. Investors might turn cautious after China's Hubei province reported a record rise in the coronavirus death toll on Thursday, as global health experts warned the epidemic could get far worse before it is brought under control. Health officials in Hubei province said 242 people had died from the flu-like virus on Wednesday that brought the total number of deaths in the province to 1,310. Market participants will also react to macro numbers released post market hours yesterday. Retail inflation in January rose to a multi-year high of 7.59 percent, while industrial output contracted 0.3 percent in December, against a growth of 1.8 percent in November, data showed. The figures might dent investors' outlook on the revival in the Indian economy. On the results front, almost 615 companies, including BPCL, Page Industries, Nestle India, and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise...

The news overnight on the US-Iran front is set to push the domestic indices higher today as oil prices recede to their cheapest level since mid-December. The United States and Iran backed away from the brink of further conflict in the Middle east as US President Donald Trump said Iran’s missile strikes had not harmed any Americans and that Tehran appeared to be "standing down". On its part, Iran has offered no immediate signal it would retaliate further to the January 3 strike. Oil reversed its gains and now sits cheaper than it was before the killing of the Iranian commander, Qassem Soleimani. Brent futures nursed overnight losses of 4 per cent to trade at $65.44 per barrel. Besides this, investors will now shift their focus to the December quarter results and pre-Budget newsflow. Stock-specific development, the Rupee's trajectory, and foreign fund flows will also affect sentiment. Shares of Bharti Airtel will be in focus today as the wireless telephony m...