(Bloomberg) — As the coronavirus prompts talk of an earnings recession for most Asian emerging stocks, there’s an industry that’s holding up: chipmaking.

The worldwide lockdowns due to the virus and the ensuing contractions in output have sparked indiscriminate selling across industries, and dismal earnings forecasts for this quarter and beyond — except for the tech industry.

Micron Technology Inc. last week reported adjusted earnings that beat Street estimates by 24% and predicted stronger-than-expected revenue, fueling optimism about other chipmakers’ prospects. With most of the population in major economies worldwide working or learning remotely, online and ecommerce services are booming,

The world economy will go into recession this year with a predicted loss of trillions of dollars of global income due to the coronavirus pandemic, spelling serious trouble for developing countries with the likely exception of India and China, according to a latest UN trade report.

With two-thirds of the world’s population living in developing countries facing unprecedented economic damage from the COVID-19 crisis, the UN is calling for a

State-run BSNL and MTNL are extending the prepaid pack validity for their subscribers till April 20 in line with sector regulator TRAI’s directive for all telecom operators in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak. This means subscribers can continue to receive incoming calls even after the validity of their prepaid plan is exhausted. BSNL and MTNL will also credit an additional Rs 10 worth of talk-time in their prepaid accounts so they can continue making phone calls or sending SMS even after zero balance.

Union telecom minister Ravi

(Bloomberg) — U.S. stock futures erased losses, as traders reacted to China’s rate cut on seven-day reverse repurchase agreements on Monday. As part of the stimulus, the People’s Bank of China injected 50 billion yuan ($7.1 billion) into the banking system.

Contacts on the S&P 500 expiring in June rose 0.1% at 1:41 p.m. in Tokyo on Monday, erasing a drop that exceeded 3% in early trading. China’s central bank cut the interest rate it charges on loans to banks by 20 basis points, the biggest amount since 2015 as authorities ramp up their response to cushion an economic slowdown.

If the budgetary expenditure for FY21 has to be maintained at the same level as budgeted, the Centre will have to allow a huge fiscal slippage from the budgeted 3.5% of the GDP and incur a fiscal deficit of 5% or higher, owing to the Covid-19 fallout of a much-reduced economic growth and consequent sluggishness in tax receipts.

FE has estimated that just the two high-probable eventualities of nominal GDP size in FY21 being some

Artha Venture Fund (AVF), an early-stage micro-VC fund, has announced an investment of $500,000 (Rs 3.6 crore) in space-tech company Agnikul in its Pre-Series A funding round. Agnikul is an aerospace startup incubated at IIT Madras’ incubation cell (NCCRD). It designs and manufactures launch vehicles capable of carrying up to 100 kg of weight to Lower Earth Orbits (LEO).

AVF, which is sector agnostic, decided to invest in Agnikul as it is doing significant amount of work in the launch of small satellites by reducing the wait time and has the ability

When the oil markets go into a deadly tailspin as they have right now, sooner or later, everybody in the value chain starts to feel the heat keenly. 

Only three months into the year, oil and gas companies are trading at roughly half their valuations as the -49.5% YTD return by the Energy Select Sector Fund (XLE) portends, thanks to crude prices tanking to multi-decade lows.

It was only a matter of time before the shockwaves hit oil refineries, with the sector now sinking into the red.

Gasoline and jet fuel margins have plunged to their lowest levels in more

Even as alcohol for human consumption is outside the Goods and Services Tax (GST) purview, the bottles used to sell ‘liquid courage’ have been found to be at the centre of an unfolding investigation into tax evasion. After the first case in Rajasthan was discovered late last year, GST authorities have alerted all zones, saying this modus operandi could have been adopted by other tax payers as well, officials familiar with the case said.

The case

To assure uninterrupted power supply in the middle of the country-wide lockdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak, the Union power ministry has relaxed payment norms for electricity distribution companies (discoms). The Central government has asked the state-run power generating companies such as NTPC and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) to not curtail supply to the states even if the discoms do not clear payments to them on time.

The lockdown in seen to take a toll on the finances of

(Bloomberg) —

Lawmakers in Washington are making it easier for Americans struggling with the fallout from the coronavirus to draw on the trillions of dollars in their 401(k)s and other retirement accounts.

For a limited time, Americans will be able to withdraw money from tax-deferred accounts without penalties under a stimulus package signed into law Friday by President Trump. Rules on 401(k) loans will be relaxed, and some retirees can avoid so-called required minimum distribution, or RMD, rules that might have been onerous.

Read more: House faces urgency to act on Senate’s $2 trillion virus rescue bill

Some of the