Despite the price hike in the first week of the month, average cement prices in Q4FY21 are still slightly lower compared to third-quarter average -- it is down by 0.4 per cent

The National People's Congress, China's rubber-stamp parliament, will pass the changes at its annual session which opened on Friday and will last a week

The budget hike was announced by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the country's Parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC)

Iran's rupee reserves in India's UCO and IDBI Bank, the two lenders authorised to facilitate rupee trade, have depleted significantly

China has set its consumer inflation target at around three per cent for the year of 2021, he said

Stock Market Updates Today: HDFC Bank, HDFC, L&T, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank were among top losers, while ONGC, Infosys, Sun Pharma, Mahindra & Mahindra were among top gainers

\"We estimate excise duty on auto fuels in FY22 (April 2021 to March 2022), if it is not cut, at Rs. 4.35 lakh crore versus budget estimate of Rs. 3.2 lakh crore, ICICI Securities said in a note

Asia's third largest economy came out of a technical recession and expanded 0.4% annually last quarter and the recovery is widely expected to gather pace in the year ahead amid hopes a successful vaccine rollout will boost business activity

Sensex, Nifty updates on March 3: Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank were top Sensex gainers

The five year term of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) with an inflation target of 4 per cent and band of 2 to 6 per cent is ending in March 2021. The government in consultation with the RBI, will decide the new inflation band for the MPC for next 5 years. While some suggest the existing 4 per cent target should be continued, others are insisting on a higher band. Some are also asking to review the benchmark itself from CPI to core inflation or WPI. However, there are many other critical factors which also need equal attention from the RBI as well as the government. Anand Adhikari, Executive Editor, Business Today explains in detail.Also Read: Bonds jitters setting markets in 'completely new light': BIS

There are expectations government will continue with existing 4 per cent target with a 2 per cent band on either side for any short term slippages, change the target upward to support growth or change the benchmark itself from CPI to core inflation or wholesale price index (WPI)

\"We are discussing ways in which prices can be kept stable. We will be able to take a view of the issue by mid-March,\" say sources

The Swiss-based BIS also noted how wild retail trading-driven swings in stocks such as GameStop recently had helped whip up volatility

The vaccination programme has released pent-up optimism and \"there is little doubt today that a recovery based on a revival of consumption is underway,\" RBI said.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 8.9% to 25.62

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns had led to a surge in gold prices globally. Most commodity experts see a further downside in the gold prices amid decrease in infections, opening up of economies, and increase in vaccination pace

Although the Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by IHS Markit, eased slightly in February, it was well above the 50-level separating growth from contraction

The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 50.9 last month, the lowest level since last May

Stock Market Updates Today: Sectorally, all the indices were rising, with 1.8% rise in media, financial services, PSU Bank and private banking indices.

BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy said that India's Q3 GDP growth would have been -10 per cent using Laspeyres Price Index Number and -15 per cent using Paasche Index, provided guesstimate of negative growth in MSMEs and informal sector were added to GDP