Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday cast his vote in Gorakhpur in the sixth phase polling for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and said that the Bharatiya Janata Party will win over 80 per cent of seats in the state.

Adityanath is contesting the polls from the Gorakhpur Urban Assembly seat.

Shares of cement manufacturers traded weak, down 3 per cent in Thursday’s intra-day trade on the BSE on concerns of earnings downgrade due to rising energy cost.

Ambuja Cements, UltraTech Cement, JK Cement, Dalmia Bharat and ACC were down in the range of 2 per cent to 3 per cent. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.24 per cent at 55,603 at 10:40 am.

The omicron strain of Covid-19 is at least 40% more lethal than seasonal flu, according Japanese scientists, underscoring the potential danger of lifting pandemic curbs too quickly and underestimating the virus’s ongoing health risks.

The case fatality rate of omicron in Japan, based on cumulative excess deaths and the number of infections since January, was about 0.13%, according to an analysis by scientists who advise the country’s health minister.

Shares of sugar companies were buzzing on the bourses on Thursday, with most of the frontline stocks trading higher by up to 8 per cent on the BSE on higher ethanol demand due to rising oil prices.

Individually, Balrampur Chini Mills, Dhampur Sugar Mills, Triveni Engineering, Shree Renuka Sugars, Dwarikesh Sugar Industries and Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries rallied between 5 per cent and 8 per cent in the intra-day trade. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.25 per cent at 55,605 points at 10:05 AM.

Shares of Coal India surged 7 per cent to Rs 198 on the BSE in Thursday’s intra-day trade. The stock has rallied 32 per cent in last four trading sessions on improved outlook amid rising commodity prices. The stock of state-owned company now traded close to its 52-week high of Rs 203.85 registered on October 6, 2021.

At 09:38 am; the stock traded 2 per cent higher at Rs 187.95 on back of heavy volumes. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.32 per cent at 55,648.

Amazon.com Inc plans to initiate criminal court proceedings this week against its Indian partner Future Retail for allowing the transfer of assets to a major rival despite a legal prohibition, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

For more than a year, Amazon and Future Group have been in a legal stand-off that has stalled Future's $3.4 billion sale of assets to Reliance Industries.

Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries said on Thursday it would invest 16.7 billion rupees ($220.70 million) to create a joint venture (JV) with U.S.-listed Sanmina Corp for making electronic products in the Asian country.

The JV aims to make hardware for 5G communications, cloud infrastructure, healthcare systems, and defense and aerospace, Reliance said in a regulatory filing.

Shares of Vedanta hit an over 11-year high of Rs 395.25, up 4 per cent on the BSE in Wednesday's weak market, on rising commodity prices. The stock was trading at its highest level since May 2010. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 1.3 per cent at 55,515 points at 10:22 am.

In the past one week, Vedanta has outperformed the market by gaining 12 per cent on higher commodity prices including crude oil and metals as tensions between Russia and Ukraine have flared up and are creating havoc in most of the asset classes. The benchmark index was down 3 per cent during the same period.

Bajaj Auto on Wednesday reported a 16 per cent drop in its total sales to 3,16,020 units in February.

The company had sold 3,75,017 units in February 2021.

Domestic sales last month stood at 1,12,747 units as against 1,64,811 units, down 32 per cent, Bajaj Auto said in a regulatory filing.

India logged 7,554 new coronavirus infections, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,29,38,599, while the active cases dipped to 85,680, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

The death toll climbed to 5,14,246 with 223 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

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