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 company also had to reduce production due to reduced demand.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

Earlier, such registrations/approvals were granted without any specific expiry period unless specifically withdrawn by concerned tax authority.

The deal could be completed as soon as this month, though no agreement has been finalised and plans may change.

Sidharth Nath Singh informed the participants, through video conferencing, about the developmental projects being undertaken in the state; including the Jewar Airport, said to be key to improving the state's airways connectivity.

While the first instalment of the SGB 2020-21 series was open for subscription from April 20 to 24, the current issue will be open from May 11 to May 15.

Taylor Fritz and Addison Rae beat Kei Nishikori and DJ Steve Aoki in the final of the Mario tennis charity tournament.

Tennis is one of several social-distancing-compatible sports the Austrian government has allowed to resume as they ease the Covid-19 lockdown.

National Football League said they are planning to announce the schedule for full regular season by late next week.

The Checkmate Covid-19 Blitz Open, organised to raise funds for Kerala's fight against Covid-19, was won by Grandmaster SL Narayanan.

FINA announced that world championships were due to be held in Fukuoka next year from July 16-August 1 but will instead take place from May 13-29 in 2022

The next sumo 'basho' or tournament had been scheduled to begin on May 24, after organisers delayed the event by two weeks over the pandemic.

India will be represented by Viswanathan Anand, Vidit Gujrathi, P. Hari Krishna and Koneru Humpy at the online Nations Cup.

PGA Tour decided to ensure status for all players, exempt in 2019-20, to retain their status for 2020-21, too.

A statement said 'appropriate testing measures' would be put in place to protect the health of players, production crew and others on site.

BWF chief Thomas Lund said the restrictions on international travel due to coronavirus has complicated the picture for badminton to resume.

Mary Wilson, a multiple sclerosis sufferer, hoped to qualify for Tokyo Paralympics but being 56-year-old, she recognises that with Covid-19 roadblock, time may not be on her side.

Kashmiri athletes like Afreen Hyder, Aijaz Hassan, Vilayat Hussain and more have to make do with the restricted spaces and still stay fit during Covid-19 lockdown.

Taylor Fritz said that the tennis authorities are looking to stage the US Open but he was unsure if they will be able to do that.

South Korea's sporting industry emerged from the coronavirus shutdown with baseball while football and golf will soon follow suit.

Money though the Player Relief Programme, run by ATP, WTA, Grand Slam organisers and ITF, will be divided equally among men and women.

The nomination inviting process usually begins in April but was pushed back due to Covid-19 lockdown and now, the final date of submission has been fixed at June 3.

Social-distancing restrictions are still in place in Australia, so 'normal' full-contact training will not resume for another week at least.

NSFs and State Olympic Associations have been asked to collect feedback from the stakeholders such as athletes, coaches, support staff, central and state government ministries, match officials and sports administrators

FFT president Bernard Giudicelli said the protocol proposed was "favorably received by the sports ministry" and could lead to the resumption of training and other amateur activities.

PV Sindhu said that senior Indian players with international experience can coach and help youngsters during the coronavirus lockdown.

World Archery executive board had suspended all its events till August 31, resulting in a huge losses to the federation.

Athletes always must go out carrying the proper documentation showing that they are allowed to be out, otherwise they can be subjected to fines.