Business

Stocks slipped on Thursday as investors waited for signs of agreement on a U.S. aid package to counter damage from the coronavirus pandemic, with poor corporate earnings reports also weighing on European shares.

The higher strength will improve compliance for patients by effectively reducing the number of tablets required per day, Glenmark said in a statement.

Gold extended its rally on Thursday to within touch of the previous day's record peak, as the COVID19 pandemic clouded the economic outlook and boosted bullion's safehaven allure, though the rapid pace of gains could prompt some profittaking.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp, the world's fourthbiggest petrochemicals firm, reported a net loss of 2.2 billion riyals ($586.6 million) in the second quarter, its third straight quarterly loss, on impairments and a drop in sales.

He said the RBI needs to focus on whether credit is reaching the stressed areas of the economy and also if the viable firms were able to access credit and not the unviable ones.

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Wednesday ratcheted up the rhetoric on President Donald Trump's handling of the country's increasingly tense relationship with China, saying the Republican's muchvaunted trade deal was "failing."

Rocket Companies Inc, the parent of U.S. mortgage lender Quicken Loans, said its initial public offering (IPO) was priced at $18 per share on Wednesday, below a target range, and that it sold fewer shares than planned.

U.S. private employers hired far fewer workers than expected in July as companies exhausted loans to help with wages and new COVID19 infections flared up across the country, supporting the view that the nascent economic recovery was faltering.

Blackstone Group Inc said on Wednesday it agreed to acquire genealogy provider Ancestry.com Inc from private equity rivals for $4.7 billion, including debt, placing a big bet on familytree chasing as well as personalized medicine.

Oil prices rose to their highest since early March on Wednesday after a large decline in U.S. crude inventories and supported by a weak dollar, but mounting coronavirus infections had investors worried about the demand outlook.

U.S. private employers hired far fewer workers than expected in July as companies exhausted loans to help with wages and new COVID19 infections flared up across the country, supporting the view that the nascent economic recovery was faltering.

BMW expects to make a profit this year if demand continues to recover, despite posting a record loss for its car division in the second quarter after sales slumped 25% because of coronavirus lockdowns, it said on Wednesday.

Indian shares extended gains on Wednesday, driven by Axis Bank and metals stocks, as a series of encouraging earnings reports spurred optimism about a pick up in business activity.

Growth in China's services sector slowed in July from a decade high the previous month, as new export business fell and job losses continued, an industry survey showed on Wednesday, pointing to cracks in the sector's postCOVID recovery.

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Sri Lanka's economy contracted by 1.6% in the first quarter of 2020, government data showed, as lockdowns related to the COVID19 pandemic battered a country still recovering from last year's Easter Sunday bomb attacks.