RBI announces 3 targeted LTRO for `25K crore

MUMBAI: To ensure adequate liquidity in the system, especially in the corporate bond market, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced the third targeted long-term repo operation (TLTRO) on April 7 for Rs 25,000 crore.

The central bank announced the LTROS on February 6 and has pumped in liquidity worth Rs 1 lakh crore since then, and the TLTRO was announced on March 27 and has so far done two tranches worth Rs 50,000 crore and the initial target is Rs 1 lakh crore. The second tranche was conducted for Rs 25,000 crore on Friday. The new issue coming up on April 7 is of threeyear tenor, the central bank said.

"The Reserve Bank will conduct TLTROS of up to threeyear tenor of appropriate sizes for a total amount of up to Rs 1,00,000 crore. So far, Rs 50,000 crore have been conducted in two tranches and it has now been decided to conduct another TLTRO operation for Rs 25,000 crore," the RBI said in a statement.

MUMBAI: Equity indices spiralled lower for yet another session on Friday, pressured by heavy selling in bank stocks, as the the steady rise in Covid-19 cases fuelled uncertainty over the economic impact of the pandemic.

Unabated foreign fund outflows and a depreciating rupee, which skidded below the 76-mark against the dollar, further kept investors on the sidelines, traders said.

After hitting a low of 27,500.79 during the day, the 30-share BSE barometer ended 674.36 points or 2.39 per cent lower at 27,590.95. The NSE Nifty shed 170 points, or 2.06 per cent, to finish at 8,083.80.

During the holiday-truncated week, the Sensex lost 2,224.64 points or 7.46 per cent, while the Nifty sank 576.45 points or 6.65 per cent.

Bank stocks came under heavy selling pressure on Friday after Moody's Investors Service changed the outlook for Indian banking sector to negative from stable due to the coronavirus crisis.

Axis Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, cracking 9.16 per cent, followed by Indusind Bank, ICICI Bank, Titan, SBI, Maruti, HDFC and Asian Paints. On the other hand, Sun Pharma, ITC, ONGC, M&M and Tech Mahindra were among the gainers.

With fresh cases of novel coronavirus mounting by the day, concerns over a looming economic recession kept investors on the edge, traders said.

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