FACTORS TO WATCH 9:00 am: Biocon management at a conference call post 4Q earnings. 9:15 am: PowerGrid InvIT IPO opens for subscription. 11:00 am: Indian Banks’ Association Chief Executive Sunil Mehta at ASSOCHAM webinar on banking and financial lending companies. 11:00 am: Securities and Exchange Board of India Whole-Time Member S.K. Mohanty at CRISIL Ratings webinar on the outlook for India’s wealth management space. 11:00 am: Bajaj Finserv Chief Financial Officer S. Sreenivasan at an analyst call post 4Q earnings. 12 noon: ICICI Bank Executive Director Anup Bagchi at a conference call to announce the launch of a digital initiative. 2:30 pm: Tata Communications management at an earnings call on 4Q earnings. 3:30 pm: Indian Gas Exchange webinar on overview of recent global gas market trends and outlook for 2021. 4:00 pm: Bajaj Auto management at an analyst call on 4Q earnings. 5:00 pm: INOX Leisure management at an analyst call on 4Q earnings. 6:00 pm: Titan Company management at an analyst call on 4Q earnings. 6:00 pm: Sterlite Technologies management at a webinar on 4Q earnings.

PROMOTION LIVECHAT - REUTERS GLOBAL MARKETS FORUM Yoruk Bahceli, Reuters foreign exchange and bonds correspondent, joins the forum to discuss the outlook for European govvies. To join the discussion at 5:00 pm IST, click here

INDIA TOP NEWS Indians rush for vaccines as COVID-19 death toll passes 200,000 Indians struggled to register online for a mass vaccination drive set to begin at the weekend as the country's toll from the coronavirus surged past 200,000 on Wednesday, worsened by shortages of hospital beds and medical oxygen.

India's Zomato cashes in on demand for online food orders, files $1.1 billion IPO Indian food delivery startup Zomato, backed by China's Ant Group, filed for an IPO of up to 82.5 billion rupees on Wednesday to cash in on a pandemic-led surge in online ordering.

From Amazon to Tata, industry steps up to combat India's coronavirus crisis Global and Indian firms are flexing their industrial muscle to help the world's second biggest population battle coronavirus, coming to the rescue of a public health system buckling under the weight of surging infections and deaths.

Syngene targets delivering 500,000 vials of remdesivir in India as COVID-19 surges India's Syngene International aims to supply half-a-million vials of COVID-19 drug remdesivir through its local distribution partners next month, its top executive said, as the country faces shortages of the medicine amid a second wave.

U.S. to send more than $100 mln in COVID supplies to India The United States is sending supplies worth more than $100 million to India to help it fight a surge of COVID-19 cases, the White House said in a statement on Wednesday.

War-rooms and oxygen: India's IT companies scramble to handle COVID-19 surge India's giant IT firms in Bengaluru and other cities have set up COVID-19 "war-rooms" as they scramble to source oxygen, medicine and hospital beds for infected workers and maintain backroom operations for the world's biggest financial firms.

Britain says no surplus COVID vaccines available to give to India Britain has no surplus of COVID-19 vaccines to give to India as it faces a deadly wave of coronavirus that puts intense pressure on hospitals, health minister Matt Hancock said on Wednesday.

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GLOBAL TOP STORIES Fed nods to strengthening economy but waves off policy shift talk The Federal Reserve on Wednesday took a rosier view of the U.S. economic recovery and the nation's war against the coronavirus, but said it was too early to consider rolling back its emergency support with so many workers still left jobless by the pandemic.

Apple soars past sales, profit targets with strong iPhone demand, warns of chip shortages Apple on Wednesday posted sales and profits ahead of Wall Street expectations fueled by 5G iPhone upgrades but warned a global chip shortage could dent iPads and Mac sales by several billion dollars.

Samsung sees chip profits up, mobile sales down in Q2 on chip shortage Samsung Electronics Co said it expects chip profits to increase but mobile profits to drop in the current quarter, as a global chip shortage affects its businesses in different ways.

STATE OF THE MARKETS SGX Nifty nearest-month futures were trading 1% higher at 15,047.50. - NewsRise

The Indian rupee is expected to rise tracking broad dollar losses amid Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks that it was too early to talk about tapering bond purchases. - NewsRise

Indian sovereign bond yields are likely to open little changed as traders await the announcement of the next round of the central bank’s debt purchase ahead of tomorrow’s weekly supply. The yield on the benchmark 5.85% bond maturing in 2030 is likely to trade in the 6.03%-6.08% band. - NewsRise

Wall Street ended lower on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates and its monthly bond-buying program steady and gave no sign it was ready to reduce its support for the recovery.

Asian shares rose in early trade after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it was too early to consider rolling back emergency support for the economy, and as U.S. President Joe Biden unveiled plans for a $1.8 trillion stimulus package.

The dollar was on the defensive near nine-week lows as a decidedly dovish outlook from the U.S. Federal Reserve gave a green light for the global reflation trade.

U.S. Treasury yields fell on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said now is not the time to discuss tapering bond purchases as the economy is still far from meeting the U.S. central bank's employment and inflation goals.

Oil prices extended gains after rising 1% the previous session, as bullish forecasts on recovering demand this summer offset concerns of rising COVID-19 cases in India, Japan and Brazil.

Gold prices rose bolstered by the U.S. Federal Reserve's pledge to maintain easy monetary policy to aid economic recovery, while a weaker dollar provided further support.

CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT

PNDF spot 74.36/74.39 April 28 (1,108.99) crores 78.98 crores

10-yr bond yield 6.05% Month-to-date (12,014) crores 984 crores

Year-to-date 43,728 crores (14,514) crores

(FII investment numbers are in Indian rupees. Source: National Securities Depository Limited)

2 PICTURE OF THE DAY

A woman is consoled after her mother died due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a crematorium ground in New Delhi, April 28. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

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