Global healthcare major Johnson & Johnson on Friday said it has applied for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in India.

Earlier on Monday, the company had said that it remained committed to bringing its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to India and looks forward to ongoing discussions with the Indian government.

Mahindra & Mahindra on Friday reported a consolidated net loss after tax from continuing and discontinued operations at Rs 331.74 crore in the first quarter ended June 30.

The company had posted a consolidated net profit after tax from continuing and discontinued operations at Rs 54.64 crore in the first quarter last fiscal, M&M said in a regulatory filing.

Shares of Tata Chemicals on Friday jumped nearly 10 per cent after the company reported a multi-fold jump in consolidated net profit for the June quarter.

The stock gained 9.70 per cent to its 52-week high of Rs 844 on BSE.

On NSE, it jumped 9.71 per cent to its 52-week high of Rs 844.

The Supreme on Friday ruled that Future Retail's $3.4-billion deal to sell its retail assets was bound by an arbitrator's order that put the transaction on hold. This is a big boost to partner Amazon, which had sought to block the deal.

Amazon and Future had been locked in legal battles over the deal, with the US firm accusing the Indian group of violating pre-existing contracts when it sold its assets to rival Reliance Industries. Future has denied any wrongdoing.

Vaccine maker Novavax announced Thursday it has asked regulators in India, Indonesia and the Philippines to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine -- offering its shot to some low-income countries before rich ones with ample supplies.

US-based Novavax partnered with the Serum Institute of India to apply in the three countries, and plans later this month to also seek the World Health Organization review needed to be part of the COVAX global vaccine programme.

The United States hit a six-month high for new Covid cases with over 100,000 infections reported on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, as the Delta variant ravages areas where people did not get vaccinated.

The country is reporting over 94,819 cases on a seven-day average, a five-fold increase in less than a month, Reuters data through Wednesday showed.

Shares of Vodafone Idea (Vi) surged 18 per cent to Rs 7.04 on the BSE in the intra-day trade on Friday, a day after the government introduced a Bill in Parliament to nullify the provision of retrospective tax in the Income Tax Act. With today’s gain, the stock of the telecom services has bounced back 55 per cent from Thursday's intra-day low of Rs 4.55 on the BSE.

At 09:47 am, Vi was trading 16 per cent higher at Rs 6.88, as compared to a 0.04 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

The highly-transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 has now been reported in 135 countries, according to the World Health Organization which said the cumulative number of coronavirus cases reported globally could exceed 200 million by next week.

The COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update dated August 3, released by WHO, said globally 132 countries have reported cases of the Beta variant and 81 countries of the Gamma variant.

Shares of Bharti Airtel hit an over six-month high of Rs 614 as they rallied 7 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade on Thursday, in an otherwise range-bound market, as analysts believe the favourable industry structure of two players is a good enough kicker for an eventual hike in tariff as well as superior digital play in the medium to long term. The stock of the telecom services provider was trading at its highest level since February 11, 2021. It had hit a 52-week high of Rs 623 on February 4, 2021. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.05 per cent at 54,396 points at 12:10 pm.

Shares of SBI Life Insurance Company hit a record high of Rs 1,174, up 3 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade on Thursday after US private equity fund CA Emerald Investments, an affiliate of Carlyle Asia Partners, offloaded its entire 1.9 per cent stake in the company via multiple block deals. The stock of the life insurer surpassed its previous high of Rs 1,147.95 touched on July 29, 2021.

At 10:55 am, SBI Life traded 1.2 per cent higher at Rs 1,150.45 on the BSE, as compared to a 0.14 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex.

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