The government hiked excise duty on petrol by Rs 10 per litre and that on diesel by Rs 13 a litre to mop up gains arising from international oil prices falling to a two-decade low.

The grim result for the industry, the engine of economic growth and jobs, underlined the pandemic's sweeping impact across India as authorities extended a nationwide lockdown.

ITC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, tanking nearly 6 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Titan, Bajaj Auto, Maruti, M&M, L&T and IndusInd Bank.

Forex traders said the weakness in the rupee was largely due to the strengthening US dollar. Besides, rising coronavirus cases in the country also weighed on the local unit.

India's April gasoil exports closed at a four-month high of 2.73 million tonnes, compared with 2.53 million tonnes in March, according to Refinitiv oil research assessments.

Gold prices ended higher in the previous three sessions, and have risen about 17% since mid-March, as uncertainty remained with the virus spreading and as U.S.-China trade tensions re-emerged.

After swinging over 800 points during the day, the 30-share index closed 232.24 points or 0.74 per cent higher at 31,685.75.

Currently, authorised persons of employers have to go to the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) offices to get their digital signatures registered.

Remdesivir is an investigational antiviral drug that may be found effective against the virus that causes Covid-19

Currently, businesses are required to digitally sign GSTR-3B form while filing monthly return and paying taxes.

However, the data only reflect company payrolls through April 12 so the report does not reflect the full impact of COVID-19 on the overall employment situation.

While prices have risen sharply since late April as some countries have started easing lockdowns put in place to combat the worst pandemic in a century, oil continues to be pumped into storage, leaving a massive mismatch between demand and supply.

Indian stocks slid on Thursday, with declines led by banks and Hindustan Unilever, as coronavirus cases in the country crossed 50,000 despite a strict weeks-long lockdown.

GSK has agreed to sell its entire stake in Unilever's Indian business for about 254.8 billion rupees ($3.35 billion) on the open market, cashing in late from the sale of the Horlicks brand.

It further said that although 2020 is a lost year, in terms of trade, India can think long-term and build relations so that it can occupy the space vacated by China.

The move from Kotak Mahindra comes weeks after the top management voluntarily surrendered 15 per cent of their payments for 2020-21.

The company also had to reduce production due to reduced demand.

India is prioritizing medical equipment suppliers, food processing units, textiles, leather and auto part makers among more than 550 products covered in the discussions.

Under this new product, an additional 30 basis points premium will be payable for senior citizen's retail term deposits with "5 Years & above" tenor only.

ONGC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, slumping over 4 per cent, followed by NTPC, Kotak Bank, Titan, Bharti Airtel and PowerGrid.

Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi had earlier written to state chief ministers asking them not to import dry-fuel and take the domestic supply of fuel from Coal India Ltd.

The world's largest steelmaker had posted a net income of USD 0.4 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Participating in the same meeting, Union Minister for MSME and Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari also said "a package is going to be declared".

With five months still left for 2019-20 marketing year to end, the association feels the mills have the potential to fulfil their exports commitments.

Yes Bank's board had to be superseded by the RBI and the government earlier this year after alleged mismanagement under its founder CEO Rana Kapoor.

The minister also noted that the pendency of dues owed to MSME units by the central government, state governments, public sector undertakings and major industries was "very high".

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has written to Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal seeking his intervention in the matter.

The procurement of wheat and rice (second crop) during the ongoing Rabi season has picked up pace despite severe logistical constraints posed due to countrywide lockdown," the food ministry said in a statement.

The state government on Thursday increased the VAT on petrol to 38 per cent from 36 per cent earlier while on diesel to 28 per cent from 27 per cent earlier.

The global market is fearing that India would slide into a 'controlled economy', which would be very damaging, Basu added.

The lender has also hiked interest rates on personal loans against property by 30 basis points.

Sebi also said 'some mutual fund schemes' continued to invest in high risk and 'opaque' debt securities despite the regulatory framework having been amended for safeguarding investors' interest.

She further said that state-owned banks implemented the moratorium announced by the RBI on repayment of loans.

This is the third high profile-investment in Reliance Jio in as many weeks.

The upbeat sentiment follows gains of over 1% in main U.S. and European stock indexes on Thursday.

Cognizant follows January-December as financial year. Its net profit was at USD 441 million in the March 2019 quarter.

Equity benchmark Sensex rallied over 600 points in opening session on Friday as strong gains in index-heavyweight Reliance Industries, massive foreign fund inflow and positive global cues boosted market sentiment.

Forex traders said a positive start of domestic stocks and significant foreign fund inflows supported the local unit.

Moody's Investors Service on Friday said the negative outlook on India's rating reflects increasing risks that GDP growth will remain significantly lower than in the past and partly hints at weaker policy effectiveness to address economic and institutional issues.

The ratings agency said it expected India to see no growth in financial year 2021 and bounce back to a 6.6% GDP growth in FY22.

Overall, the mutual fund industry witnessed net inflows of Rs 45,999 crore across all segments, data by the Association of Mutual Funds in India showed on Friday.

After rallying 645.13 points during the day, the 30-share index surrendered most gains to settle 199.32 points or 0.63 per cent higher at 31,642.70.

Despite crude prices trading at a two decades low, the government had earlier this week hiked excise duty on petrol by Rs 10 a litre and on diesel by Rs 13 a litre to mop up nearly Rs 1.6 lakh crore in additional revenue this fiscal.

Many MSMEs and corporates have also availed the three-month moratorium offered by banks as per the Reserve Bank of India

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget for 2020-21 had pegged gross borrowing in the new financial year at Rs 7.8 lakh crore, higher than Rs 7.1 lakh crore estimated for 2019-20.

Confederation of Indian Industry said a substantive stimulus is required from the government in the form of support to the poor and to the industry.

Japanese brokerage Nomura warned of a likely downgrade of the sovereign by global ratings agencies while American brokerage Goldman Sachs (GS) said RBI will cut rates by another 1 percentage point to arrest the economic slide.

Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund also issued an apology to Sebi and said that comments of its top executive Jenny Johnson were wrongly interpreted, diluting her responses about the reason for winding up of schemes.

The employers' organisations also sought relaxation of the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act to treat the lockdown period as lay-off.

In the year-ago fortnight, bank loans had stood at Rs 96.20 lakh crore and deposits at Rs 124.83 lakh crore.