Business highlights

Following are the top business stories at 1920 hours: DEL19 BIZ-LD FITCH-INDIA-RATING Fitch betters India's rating outlook to stable on 'solid' medium-term growth prospects New Delhi: Fitch Ratings on Friday upped the outlook on India's sovereign rating to 'stable' from 'negative' after two years, citing diminishing downside risks to medium-term growth on rapid economic recovery.

DEL42 BIZ-LD STOCKS Sensex crashes 1,000 pts as macro risks pile up; logs weekly loss Mumbai: The Sensex nosedived over 1,000 points while the Nifty slumped to the 16,200-level on Friday as investors dashed to safer assets as hardening crude oil prices fanned inflation fears and triggered a global sell-off.

DEL53 BIZ-RBI-FOREX RESERVES Forex reserves down by USD 306 mn at USD 601.057 bn Mumbai: After rising for two consecutive weeks, the country's foreign exchange reserves declined by USD 306 million to USD 601.057 billion in the week ended June 3, according to RBI data.

DEL61 BIZ-IRDAI-LD INSURANCE Life insurers can launch products without prior nod, says Irdai New Delhi: Regulator Irdai on Friday permitted life insurers to launch products without prior approval, thus giving them greater leeway in designing and pricing of insurance covers in line with market needs.

DEL47 BIZ-IIP Industrial production grows 7.1 pc in April New Delhi: Industrial output grew by 7.1 per cent in April on better performance by power and mining sectors, as per government data released on Friday.

DEL44 BIZ-BANK RATES Auto, home and personal loans become expensive with banks raising rates New Delhi: Auto, home and personal loans have become costlier with banks and other financial institutions increasing interest rates following the repo rate hike by RBI on Wednesday.

DEL40 BIZ-COALINIDA-IMPORT CIL to source 6 MT more coal from overseas; floats medium-term tenders to boost domestic supplies New Delhi: State-owned CIL on Friday floated two medium-term tenders for sourcing 6 million tonnes (MT) of coal from overseas, a move aimed at securing domestic fuel supplies amid the fear of shortage during monsoon.

DEL60 BIZ-LD RUPEE Rupee sinks 19 paise to new low of 77.93 against US dollar Mumbai: The rupee tumbled 19 paise to close at a fresh lifetime low of 77.93 against the US dollar on Friday as rising crude oil prices and unabated foreign capital outflows soured sentiment.

DCM34 BIZ-LIC-DIPAM Govt concerned about dip in LIC share price; calls it temporary blip New Delhi: The government on Friday said it is ''concerned'' about the temporary blip in LIC scrip and the insurer's management will look into these aspects and raise shareholders' value.

DCM31 BIZ-FM-DISINVESTMENT Disinvestment not for shutting down CPSEs, but to make them more efficient: FM New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the principle of the government's disinvestment programme is not to shut down any unit or company but to make them more efficient and professionally driven.

DCM12 BIZ-INDIA-OIL-PRICE Indian crude oil basket hits 10-yr high; petrol, diesel prices unchanged New Delhi: The basket of crude oil that India buys has hit a decade high of USD 121 per barrel, but retail selling prices of petrol and diesel continue to remain frozen.

DEL55 BIZ-CHILDREN-LD ADS Govt issues new guidelines to curb misleading ads; bans surrogate ads New Delhi: The government on Friday announced new guidelines to curb misleading advertisements and endorsers by banning surrogate ads, while imposing strict norms for those advertisements that seek to lure consumers offering discounts and free claims.

DEL27 BIZ-GOLD-PRICE Gold declines by Rs 58; silver tumbles Rs 601 New Delhi: Gold prices declined by Rs 58 to Rs 50,793 per 10 grams in the national capital on Friday, according to HDFC securities.