Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty rose for a third straight day on Monday amid positive trends in the US markets and continuous foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 344.69 points or 0.55 per cent to settle at 62,846.38. During the day, it jumped 524.31 points or 0.83 per cent to 63,026.

The NSE Nifty gained 99.30 points or 0.54 per cent to end at 18,598.65.

From the Sensex pack, Mahindra & Mahindra climbed 3.71 per cent after the company reported an 18 per cent jump in its consolidated profit for the March quarter and the highest-ever annual profit of Rs 10,282 crore in FY23.

Titan, Tata Steel, HDFC, UltraTech Cement, State Bank of India, ITC, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, HDFC Bank and Bajaj Finserv were the other major gainers.

HCL Technologies, Power Grid, Maruti, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and Hindustan Unilever were the laggards.

In Asian markets, Tokyo and Shanghai ended in the green, while Hong Kong settled lower.

European markets were trading mostly lower. The US market ended with significant gains on Friday.

With days to spare before a potential first-ever government default, US President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached a final agreement Sunday on a deal to raise the nation's debt ceiling and worked to ensure enough Republican and Democratic votes to pass the measure in the coming week.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Friday as they bought equities worth Rs 350.15 crore, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.17 per cent to $76.82 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark jumped 629.07 points or 1.02 per cent to settle at 62,501.69 on Friday. The Nifty climbed 178.20 points or 0.97 per cent to end at 18,499.35.

Equity benchmark indices extended their previous day's rally on Friday, with the Sensex climbing one per cent, amid buying in index major Reliance Industries, fresh foreign fund inflows and a largely positive trend in global markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 629.07 points or 1.02 per cent to settle at 62,501.69. During the day, it rallied 657.21 points or 1.06 per cent to 62,529.83.

The NSE Nifty climbed 178.20 points or 0.97 per cent to end at 18,499.35.

From the Sensex pack, Reliance Industries jumped 2.79 per cent. Sun Pharma, Hindustan Unilever, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel and Titan were among the other major gainers.

Bharti Airtel, Power Grid and NTPC were the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai ended in the green.

Equity markets in Europe were trading lower. The US market ended mostly with gains on Thursday.

The Sensex climbed 98.84 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 61,872.62 on Thursday. The Nifty gained 35.75 points or 0.20 per cent to end at 18,321.15.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Thursday as they bought equities worth Rs 589.10 crore, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.24 per cent to USD 76.44 a barrel.

Global growth may be slowing, Germany, Europe's largest economy, has technically entered a recession, but prospects for India remain relatively better. Goldman Sachs on Friday raised India's GDP growth forecast for calendar year 2023 by 30 basis points (0.3 per cent) to 6.3 per cent, citing a boost in exports.

"There are pockets of strength in services demand — Services PMI clocked a 13-year high of 62.0, domestic air passenger traffic exceeded pre-pandemic levels and services exports have held up despite a slowdown in global growth," said Santanu Sengupta, India economist at Goldman Sachs.

Private sector investment demand has been muted in recent months. But, sequential growth in government expenditure is expected to come in stronger than earlier expected, given spending trends in January and February, said Sengupta. 

Globally, central banks will be bracing themselves for several challenges like geopolitical and climate-related shocks, apart from the burden of debt servicing in rising interest rate regimes among other things. But, India is expected to continue its showdown in pursuing a different pathway of zeroing in on drivers of growth, looking for a renewed surge in resilient manufacturing while supporting the services sector to embrace enhanced efficiency, said Soumya Kanti Ghosh, group chief economic adviser at State Bank of India.

"Locally, domestic consumption and investment stand to benefit from stronger prospects for agricultural and allied activities, strengthening business and consumer confidence, and strong credit growth while supply responses and cost conditions are poised to improve as inflationary pressure is easing," said Ghosh. 

SBI's latest Ecowrap report has forecast GDP growth at 5.5 per cent in the January-March quarter, which should take the full year 2022-23 GDP growth to 7.1 per cent. In comparison, the government's National Statistical Office has projected India's real GDP growth at 7 per cent for the 2022-23 financial year.

"India Inc. continues to front lead the economic turnaround while embracing better operational and financial efficiency. In Q4 FY23, around 1,700 listed entities reported top-line growth of 12 per cent, while profit after tax grew by around 19 per cent as compared to the same period the previous year," noted Ghosh. 

Green shoots are also emerging on foreign inflows in capital markets with year-to-date 2023-24 foreign institutional investment (FII) inflows touching $6 billion, he added.

Goldman Sachs, meanwhile, expects a strong trend in services exports and lower merchandise imports to continue. 

"...expect a net export boost in calendar 2023, with real exports growth above 4 per cent year-on-year with flat real imports growth," said Sengupta.

While investments by the private sector remain tepid, he expects government expenditure to pick up in the second half of the 2023-24 financial year before the general elections in mid-2024.

Goldman Sachs has pegged GDP growth for the Jan-March 2023 quarter at 4.9 per cent, 6.5 per cent for April-June, 5.9 per cent for July-September and 8.1 per cent for October-December.

In contrast, the Reserve Bank of India has projected GDP growth at 7.8 per cent in April-June, 6.2 per cent in July-September, 6.1 per cent in October-December and 5.9 per cent in Jan-March of 2024, taking the overall GDP growth in 2023-24 to 6.5 per cent.

Debt-ridden Vodafone Idea, on Thursday, said its consolidated net loss narrowed to Rs 6,418.9 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 2023.

The company recorded a loss of Rs 6,563.1 crore in the year-ago period.

The service revenue increased by about 3 per cent to Rs 10,506.5 crore during the reported quarter from Rs 10,228.9 crore in the March 2022 quarter, the company said in a regulatory filing.

However, Vodafone Idea (VIL) reported a widening of loss to Rs 29,297.6 crore for the fiscal ended March 31, 2023.

The company posted a consolidated loss of Rs 28,234.1 crore in 2021-22.

VIL recorded the first-ever annual revenue growth from services post-merger. Its revenue grew 9.4 per cent to Rs 42,133.9 crore from Rs 38,489.5 crore a year ago.

The capex spend of VIL for the quarter stood at Rs 560 crore, taking the total to Rs 3,360 crore for FY23.

Its total gross debt (excluding lease liabilities and including interest accrued but not due) as of March 31, 2023, dropped to Rs 2,09,260 crore from Rs 2,22,890 crore as of December 31, 2022, due to the conversion of interest dues arising from the deferment of spectrum instalments and AGR dues into equity issued to the government.

In line with the Budget announcement, the finance ministry on Thursday hiked the tax exemption limit for leave encashment upon retirement for private sector salaried employees to Rs 25 lakh.

So far, the tax exemption on leave encashment for non-government employees was Rs 3 lakh which was fixed in 2002, when the highest basic pay in the government was Rs 30,000 per month.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), in a statement, said the aggregate amount exempt from income tax under section 10(10AA)(ii) shall not exceed the limit of Rs 25 lakh, where any such payments are received by a non-government employee from more than one employer.

The increased limit for tax exemption on leave encashment on retirement or otherwise of non-government salaried employees to Rs 25 lakh with effect from April 1, 2023.

"In pursuance to the proposal in the Budget speech, 2023,... the central government has notified the increased limit for tax exemption on leave encashment on retirement or otherwise of non-government salaried employees to Rs 25 lakh w.e.f. 01.04.2023," the CBDT said.

In 2023-24 Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had increased the tax exemption on leave encashment on retirement of non-government salaried employees to Rs 25 lakh, from Rs 3 lakh.

A Delhi consumer forum has directed the SBI Cards & Payments Services Pvt. Ltd. to pay Rs 2 lakh to a person in New Delhi for sending him bill even after his card's expiry and blacklisting him for non-payment of the charges.

The New Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, comprising its president Monika A. Srivastava and members Kiran Kausal and Umesh Kumar Tyagi, directed the company to pay the amount to M.J. Anthony, a former journalist, for "deficiency in providing services".

The forum noted that the company had blacklisted him in the CIBIL system of the wilful defaulters maintained by the RBI, which resulted in the rejection of his applications for credit cards from another bank where he had maintained regular account for nearly two decades.

"This Commission is of the view that the SBI Cards & Payments Services Pvt. Ltd. has been deficient in providing services to the complainant and though the damage/loss occasioned to the complainant in terms of credit rating cannot be measured in terms of money yet punitive damage ought to be awarded against OP (opposite party) therefore, OP is directed to compensate the complainant by paying a sum of Rs 2 lakh as compensation within two months from the date of this order failing which the sum payable would be Rs 3 lakh," the forum said.

The forum passed the order on May 20 on Anthony's complaint seeking compensation, claiming that he had requested the company to cancel his card in April 2016 much before its expiry and not to renew it.

He did not use the card for any transaction after April 9, 2016 and had destroyed the card according to rules, he said, adding that no payment was due at that time on the card.

In September, the complainant received a letter from the company about the cancellation of his card, however, the company continued to send bills relating to the card ignoring his protest e-mails, he said.

The bills were to the tune of Rs 2,946 by May 18, 2017 inclusive of late payment charges and penalty, he said.

He stated that in the same letter, the company had warned him to pay the bill otherwise it would "have adverse impact on the credit history as maintained by the credit Bureau and may hamper future credit requirement".

The company further blacklisted him in the CIBIL system of the wilful defaulters maintained by RBI and he had trouble in getting loans or credit card.

During the argument, the company had denied the allegations.

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, has implemented the final phase of job cuts as part of its plan to eliminate a total of 10,000 roles. This round of layoffs, which affected various departments and operations, marked the conclusion of a three-part restructuring initiative announced in March. Employees in teams such as marketing, site security, enterprise engineering, program management, content strategy, and corporate communications took to LinkedIn to announce their layoffs. Additionally, positions in units focused on privacy and integrity were also affected.

Earlier this year, Meta became the first major tech company to announce a second round of mass layoffs, after letting go of over 11,000 employees in the previous fall. These cuts brought the company's headcount back to its mid-2021 levels, following a period of rapid expansion that had doubled its workforce since 2020. Despite the layoffs, Meta's shares have seen significant growth in value, making it one of the top performers in the S&P 500 index, largely due to its cost-cutting measures and focus on artificial intelligence.

Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, stated in March that the majority of the second round of layoffs would occur in three stages over several months, with most of the process concluding in May. However, he also mentioned the possibility of smaller rounds of layoffs continuing beyond that. The cuts have primarily affected non-engineering roles, emphasizing the importance of engineering positions within the company.

Zuckerberg has committed to a substantial restructuring of the business teams and a return to a more optimal ratio of engineers to other roles. Even within the technology teams, non-engineering positions such as content design and user experience research have been significantly reduced. In April, during a company town hall, Zuckerberg disclosed that around 4,000 employees were laid off, following a smaller impact on recruiting teams in March.

Meta revealed that the latest round of cuts would impact approximately 490 employees at its international headquarters in Dublin, representing almost 20% of its Irish workforce. Notably, two top executives in the Indian market, Avinash Pant (director of marketing) and Saket Jha Saurabh (director and head of media partnerships), were also let go. These executives did not provide immediate comments on the matter.

The layoffs at Meta follow a period of declining revenue growth due to high inflation and a digital advertising pullback resulting from the e-commerce boom during the pandemic. Furthermore, Meta has been investing billions of dollars into its Reality Labs unit, focused on the metaverse, which incurred a loss of $13.7 billion in 2022. The company is also working on strengthening its infrastructure to support artificial intelligence initiatives.

Aviation watchdog DGCA asked crisis-hit Go First to submit a comprehensive plan for the revival of its operations, a source said on Thursday.

The budget carrier, which is undergoing a voluntary insolvency resolution process, stopped flying on May 3.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) advised the airline on May 24 to submit within a period of 30 days a comprehensive restructuring plan for a sustainable revival of operations, the source at the regulator said.

Further, the watchdog has asked the airlines to furnish the status of availability of operational aircraft, pilots and other personnel, maintenance arrangements and funding, among other details, the source added.

The source said the revival plan, once submitted by Go First, will be reviewed by DGCA for further appropriate action.

The logistics sector in India is expected to grow in double digits and reach $350 billion by 2025. The value of the Indian logistics sector was $250 billion in 2021. Growing at an impressive CAGR of 10-12 per cent, it may reach $350 billion by 2025.

The sector is a very significant source of employment generation, employing 22 million people in 2022, with the number of employees expected to grow by five per cent over the next five years. This was revealed in a concept paper by GS1 India, a standards organisation under the aegis of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, in collaboration with apex trade bodies and key government agencies.

The concept paper also mentions the critical challenges faced by the Indian logistics sector and the potential for improvement and growth. As per the paper India currently spends 13-14 per cent of its GDP on logistics costs, compared to the global average of around eight per cent of GDP. This has created a competitiveness gap of $180 billion in 2020 that will widen to $500 billion by 2030. India ranked 42 on the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) for 2018, far behind its international peers such as Germany, the UK, Japan, Austria, China and the United States.

The paper points out that despite the growth and potential there are multiple challenges that confront the logistics sector in the country. Logistics costs in India account for 14 per cent of GDP, with 60 per cent direct costs and 40 per cent indirect costs, compared to an average of 10 per cent indirect costs in developed countries. Logistics firms in India also face challenges due to a lack of visibility among trading partners and consumers, leading to supply disruptions and delays in the value chain. Besides this India is only in the early stages of process automation, lagging behind global practices that provide transparency and real-time data in supply chain activities.

The paper also points out that approximately 60 per cent of cargo is transported via road in India, while rail and water transportation account for a smaller share. This leads to high logistics costs and reduces competitiveness in exports. The Indian logistics segment also has to deal with poor physical infrastructure, including modal and terminal transport, national highways, freight train speeds, and port facilities and in turn hinders the growth of the logistics sector in India. The sector is also dominated by unorganised companies, leading to fragmentation, low margins, limited investments, and challenges in streamlining supply networks. At the same time the retail market is also largely unorganized, affecting the complexity of the supply chain.

However, interestingly as per the Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS ) 2022 survey, states, such as Telangana, Punjab, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh etc., have performed excellently and could act as role models for other states to imbibe best practices and logistical development models. In terms of the quality of infrastructure, the states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Telangana led the scoreboard. Madhya Pradesh has the largest warehousing capacity in the country while Gujarat and Karnataka lead in the road infrastructure.

Off late the government of India has launched the National Logistics Policy to create a trusted, reliable, cost-effective, resilient, and technologically equipped logistics ecosystem in the country for rapid growth and bridging the competition gap with global competitors which is aimed at reducing logistics costs: The policy aims to reduce logistics costs from 14-18 percent of GDP to eight percent by 2030, aligning with global best practices. As per the NLP the aim is to be the among the top 25 countries in the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) by 2030. The policy also aims to create a data-driven decision-support mechanism for an efficient logistics ecosystem.

GSI recommends that the aim should be to eliminate data inaccuracies and inconsistencies in logistics operations, reduce logistics costs by enabling interoperability, simplifying processes, providing unique identification, harmonising information, reducing duplicity, and standardising information exchange besides implementing the National Logistics Policy effectively.

Ola Electric, which makes electric scooters, is gearing up for a stock market listing by the end of the year despite the tepid market conditions.

According to a Reuters report, the company, founded by Bhavish Aggarwal and backed by investors like SoftBank Group Corp and Tiger Global Management, has roped in global investment bank Goldman Sachs and Kotak Mahindra to manage the share of sales. More investment banks are likely to be added soon.

The company, which is trying to capture India's electric vehicle market which is still in the nascent stages, is yet to finalise the amount of money it plans to raise through the IPO (initial public offering). It is expected to seek a valuation higher than $5 billion, Reuters quoted a source as saying.

In its last fundraise in 2022, the company was valued at $5 billion.

In the fiscal year 2022-2023, Ola Electric sold 730,000 units, a three-fold increase in sales volumes. The company currently offers two electric scooters, S1 and S1 Pro.

Meanwhile, the total amount raised through IPO more than halved to Rs 52,116 crore in FY23 from an all-time high collection of Rs 1,11,547 crore in the previous fiscal. A mere 37 companies hit the main board listing process in FY23, much lower than 53 IPOs in FY22.

The German economy shrank unexpectedly in the first three months of this year, marking the second quarter of contraction that is one definition of recession.

Data released Thursday by the Federal Statistical Office shows Germany's gross domestic product, or GDP, declined by 0.3 per cent in the period from January to March. This follows a drop of 0.5 per cent in Europe's biggest economy during the last quarter of 2022.

Two consecutive quarters of contraction is a common definition of recession, though economists on the euro area business cycle dating committee use a broader set of data, including employment figures. Germany is one of the 20 countries that use the euro currency.

Employment in the country rose in the first quarter and inflation has eased, but higher interest rates will keeping weighing on spending and investment, said Franziska Palmas, senior Europe economist for Capital Economics.

Germany has experienced a technical recession and has been by far the worst performer among major eurozone economies over the past two quarters, Palmas said, predicting further weakness ahead.

The figures are a blow to the German government, which last month boldly doubled its growth forecast for this year after a feared winter energy crunch failed to materialise. It said the economy would grow by 0.4 per cent up from a 0.2 per cent expansion predicted in late January a forecast that may now need to be revised downward.

Economists said high inflation hit consumer spending, with prices in April 7.2 per cent higher than a year ago.

GDP reflects the total value of goods and services produced in a country. Some experts question whether the figure alone is a useful indicator of economic prosperity given that it doesn't distinguish between types of spending.

The eurozone economy scraped out meagre growth of 0.1 per cent in the first quarter, according to initial estimates, with inflation eroding people's willingness to spend as their pay fails to keep pace.

The US also has reported disappointing growth estimates that kept alive fears of a recession in the world's largest economy.

The International Monetary Fund predicted this week that the United Kingdom would avoid falling into recession this year after previously expecting it to be one of the worst performing among the Group of Seven leading industrial nations.

IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said Tuesday that we're likely to see the UK performing better than Germany, for example.

Luxury automaker BMW India, on Thursday, said it has launched new version of Z4 Roadster in the country priced at Rs 89.3 lakh (ex-showroom).

The model comes as a completely built-up unit (CBU).

"It is the epitome of driving pleasure with its powerful engine, rear-wheel drive and a vehicle concept centered around agility," BMW Group India president Vikram Pawah said in a statement.

The petrol powered three-litre six-cylinder engine helps the car surge from 0-100 km/hr in 4.5 seconds.

The Z4 Roadster comes with various many driver assistance features like active park distance control (PDC), rear view camera assisted optional parking assistant function and driving assistant function among others.

Rishad Premji, executive chairman of Wipro, has taken a voluntary salary cut for the fiscal year ended March 2023. According to a recent filing made to the Securities and Exchange Commission in the US, Premji will receive a compensation of $951,353—almost 50 per cent less than that of his remuneration in the last fiscal.

According to CNBC, this is the first reduction in compensation earned by Premji since the pandemic when he took a cut of 31 per cent. For the year 2019-20, he was compensated a total $0.68 million against $0.98 million in the previous year. Besides the compensation, Premji is entitled to a commission at the rate of 0.35 per cent on incremental consolidated net profits.

Wipro's Chief Financial Officer Jatin Pravinchandra Dalal has also seen a reduction in his compensation, according to reports. The Bengaulru-based IT company has presented these details in the Form 20-F filed with the SEC.

The IT major Wipro posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,074 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2023, down 0.4 per cent over a year ago. The company's board, however, had approved a buyback of shares through the tender offer at Rs 445 per share.

Premji, who joined Wipro in 2007, took over as Executive Chairman in 2019. 

Insurance behemoth LIC on Wednesday posted a more than five-fold jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 13,191 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2023.

The insurer had earned a profit of Rs 2,409 crore in the same quarter a year earlier.

However, the total income of the insurer during the March quarter declined to Rs 2,01,022 crore from Rs 2,15,487 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal, LIC said in a regulatory filing.

LIC's income from first-year premium also came down to Rs 12,852 crore against Rs 14,663 crore in the same quarter previous fiscal.

The income from renewal premiums in the reporting period rose to Rs 76,328 crore compared to Rs 71,473 crore a year ago, while the single premium decreased to Rs 43,252 crore from Rs 58,251 crore.

For the entire financial year 2022-23, LIC registered a multi-fold rise in net profit to Rs 35,997 crore from Rs 4,125 crore in the preceding financial year.

The surge in annual profit for FY23 was helped by a jump in the second quarter bottomline to Rs 15,952 crore. It was due to a transfer of Rs 15.03 lakh crore to shareholders' accounts at the end of September.

The board of LIC has recommended a final dividend of Rs 3 per equity share with a face value of Rs 10 each for the year ended March 31, 2023.

The solvency ratio—which measures an insurance company's cash flow in comparison to the amount it owes as total life cover—increased to 1.87 per cent as of March 31, 2023, against 1.85 per cent at the end of the preceding fiscal.

The insurer's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) moderated to 2.56 per cent from 6.03 per cent at the end of March 2022.

In absolute terms, it declined substantially to Rs 12,031 crore from Rs 27,087 crore at the end of the preceding financial year.

LIC brought down its net NPAs to nil level from 0.04 per cent at the end of March 2022.

Shares of the LIC closed 0.61 per cent higher at Rs 593.55 apiece on BSE.

Last year, the government raised Rs 20,557 crore by diluting its 3.5 per cent stake in the LIC through the initial public offering (IPO), the country's biggest ever.

LIC shares were listed at a discount of 8.62 per cent at Rs 867.20 apiece on BSE over the issue price of Rs 949 a share.

Investors have lost nearly Rs 2.5 lakh crore since the listing of shares.

The government sold over 22.13 crore shares or a 3.5 per cent stake in LIC through the IPO. The price band of the issue was Rs 902-949 a share. However, shares were allocated to investors on May 12, 2022, at the upper end of the price band.

Some bank branches ran out of cash and temporarily halted the exchange of withdrawn Rs 2,000 currency notes as they awaited replenishment of supply from the currency chest on the second day of note swap on Wednesday.

More than anticipated demand during the first half in some of the branches led to the shortage of Rs 500 and below denomination currency temporarily at some places, sources said.

Customers had to wait for some time till replenishment came from the currency chest, sources added.

However, senior officials of various banks said there were no major complaints of currency shortage for exchange.

"We are maintaining a continuous supply of Rs 500, 200 and 100 denominations notes at all our all branches across Delhi circle to ensure smooth exchange process of 2,000 rupee notes," Canara Bank chief general manager (CGM) Bhavendra Kumar said.

Reserve Bank on May 19 announced withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes and permitted exchange of such notes up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time till September 30.

Unlike November 2016, when old 500 and 1000 rupee notes—constituting some 86 per cent of the currency in circulation—were banned overnight, Rs 2,000 currency notes continue to be legal tender for now, and the exchange window is more than double of that provided in 2016.

While the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has not made the presentation of a valid ID or filling of deposit forms mandatory, there were complaints from some places that banks were demanding customers to submit identity cards as proof.

Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said RBI is monitoring the situation regularly with regard to the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes and expressed confidence that the entire exercise will be completed in a non-disruptive manner.

He said RBI has given four-month time for exchanging as well as depositing the Rs 2,000 currency notes to ensure that there is no hardship faced by anyone.

"Yesterday there was no crowd anywhere. And we are monitoring the situation regularly. I don't think there is any concern or any major issue which is coming out...business activities going on," he said.

Justifying the deadline, he said unless there is a timeline in any process, it's not effective. "So you need to give a timeline and we have given sufficient time," he added.

The Rs 2,000 notes constitute around 10.8 per cent of total currency in circulation or Rs 3.6 lakh crore.

Das said these notes had completed the lifecycle and the purpose has been fulfilled. "It's not being used in transactions...any high denomination currency just remaining here and there, it has other collateral issues," he said.

These high denomination notes were used for quick replacement of currencies whose legal tender status was withdrawn in 2016, he said.

Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das, on Wednesday, said inflation has moderated, and the next print is expected to be lower than 4.7 per cent though there is no room for complacency and the war on inflation will continue.

Retail inflation fell to an 18-month low of 4.7 per cent in April, mainly due to cooling food prices.

"Inflation has moderated (and) the last print is 4.7 per cent. Perhaps the next print could be lower," he said while addressing CII members in New Delhi.

The governor, however, emphasised that although inflation has moderated, there is no room for complacency.

He said that inflation was looking benign, but the sudden outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war changed the situation, resulting in a disruption in the global supply chain and firming up global commodity prices.

He assured that the war against inflation is not over and the RBI will remain alert to evolving situations.

Drawing confidence from macroeconomic stability, Das said there is a platform for supporting domestic growth.

Talking about macroeconomic stability, he said inflation has moderated, there is sustained GDP growth, and Current Account Deficit is manageable.

He also said the fiscal deficit is on a consolidation path. "So, on the back of macroeconomic stability and a robust financial sector...the percentage of gross non-performing assets of the banking sector at the systemic level was 4.4 per cent at the end of December 2022," he noted.

So, he said, the non-performing asset, which was a huge challenge for the Indian banking sector, has come down, and it is showing very good signs of resilience.

Besides, he said, credit offtake in banks also is remaining quite resilient, and it is 15.5 per cent as per the latest figure.

"And on top of that, we have the advantage of demography, which again is a huge opportunity for India. And it's something which will eventually add to our potential output or what some people prefer to call it India's growth potential. That's a theme, which will play out in the medium to long term," he said.

He expressed confidence India could clock a growth of 6.5 per cent during the current financial year on the back of these tailwinds.

About the downside risk to the Indian economy, Das said any surprises on the geopolitical front could be a drag, and a slowdown in exports is another headwind.

El Nino could be another risk, he said, quoting India Meteorological Department (IMD).

"There is evidence of positive Indian Ocean Dipole, which to some extent should be able to neutralise the impact of El Nino. But let us leave that to weather experts. But, this is an uncertainty which only time will tell to what extent it affects our economy," he said.

Stressing that there is a confluence of factors, which are feeding into the Indian growth story, he said the RBI will remain proactive, alert and prudent and do its best to support the economy to maintain the financial stability of India.

Benchmark stock indices closed lower on Wednesday, snapping their three-day gaining streak following profit-taking in financials, metal and oil shares amid a bearish trend in the global markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 208.01 points or 0.34 per cent to settle at 61,773.78 in volatile trade. The index opened lower but bounced back in late-morning deals to hit a high of 62,154.14. The barometer later gave up gains to hit a low of 61,708.10 in line with weak European markets.

The broader NSE Nifty declined 62.60 points or 0.34 per cent to end at 18,285.40 after losses in Adani Entertainment, Adani Ports and Tata Motors.

Among the Sensex firms, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, Hindustan Unilever, Larsen & Toubro, Asian Paints and Tata Steel were the major laggards.

Sun Pharma, Titan, ITC, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra and Power Grid were among the winners.

"The domestic market experienced a short-lived rally that was overshadowed by subdued global market sentiment. US Treasury yields rose due to concerns over stalled US debt ceiling talks and hawkish comments from US Fed officials, which reduced the chances of a rate pause," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Market participants are waiting for the release of the FOMC meeting minutes, scheduled for Wednesday.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower.

Equity markets in Europe were trading in the red. The US market ended in the negative territory on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.89 per cent to $78.29 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were buyers on Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 182.51 crore, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark settled at 61,981.79, a marginal gain of 18.11 points or 0.03 per cent on Tuesday. The Nifty went up by 33.60 points or 0.18 per cent to end at 18,348.

Amazon workers in Seattle are planning to stage a walk-off on May 31 in an act of retaliation over layoffs and return-to-office mandates. At least 1,000 employees will participate in the walkoff, according to a Washington Post report. The walk-off was announced over emails and Slack.

“We’re really walking out to show leadership is taking us in the wrong direction and employees need a say in the decisions that affect our lives,” one of Amazon’s Seattle-based software engineers told the Seattle Times. 

The one-day walk-off is to show power and to get the company to address the back-to-work directive and the company's impact on climate change. The walk-off will take place during lunch.

"We respect our employees' rights to express their opinions," Amazon spokesperson Rob Munoz told Business Insider. Amazon, in January, cut 18,000 roles and in March it announced that it is cutting 9,000 jobs. Amazon, in April, faced backlash after it passed a mandate stating employees must be back in the office for at least three days a week starting in May. 

Amazon Employees for Climate Justice said “failures on the carbon front” and “greenwashing” are the reasons its members are participating in the walkout. “Amazon must keep pace with a changing world,” Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ) wrote in a Twitter thread Tuesday calling for the walkout next week. “To cultivate a diverse, world-class workplace, we need real plans to tackle our climate impact and flexible work options.”