Top business headlines: ONGC m-cap plunges, crude oil dives, and more

Indian stocks on Monday recorded their worst single-day fall in more than four years, tracking global markets.

From decline of ONGC's market capitalisation, crude oil's free-fall to Yes Bank rescue plan, here are the top news for the evening: 

ONGC's m-cap slips below Rs 1 trn-mark after 15 years on oil price crash

Shares of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) hit an over 15-year low of Rs 78.05, down 12 per cent, on the BSE on Monday as oil plunged over 20 per cent today after top exporter Saudi Arabia launched a price war in response to a failure by leading producers to strike a deal to support energy markets. ONGC has seen its steepest price correction with the stock price plunging 37 per cent in the last two months as against a 13 per cent fall in the S&P BSE Sensex. A combination of exchange traded fund (ETF) sale overhang, lower gas prices, and lower Brent prices drove the decline. Read More...

Crude oil plunges 30% to $30 a barrel; $20 possible going ahead: Analysts

Brent crude oil prices hit $31 a barrel, down nearly 30 per cent in trade on Monday and extended their 10 per cent weekend drop as the world’s biggest crude producers failed to agree on production cuts, kicking off a price war and sending oil into freefall. Saudi Arabia that slashed prices for April delivery by $4-6 a barrel to Asia and $7 to the United States has far more fire-power than Russia in terms of readily available spare oil production capacity, analysts say, and the action is indeed the start of a price war among all producers, which in other words, is nothing but a race to the bottom. Read More...

YES Bank's Rs 10,800 crore bonds could soon turn into wastepaper

The Yes Bank collapse was a train wreck expected to happen. Finance industry professionals had been predicting it for months. When Yes Bank delayed publication of its third quarter results for financial year 2019-20 (Q3FY20), the writing was on the wall. There were big withdrawals by savvy depositors just before the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed its 30-day moratorium on March 3. However, the RBI action caught some institutions by surprise. The bailout by State Bank of India (SBI) is accompanied by a categorical guarantee of deposits. But it may leave big bondholders in the lurch. Read More...

Yes Bank may resume normal operations by Friday, says Prashant Kumar

India's Yes Bank will not be merged with State Bank of India, which is set to infuse funds in the beleaguered lender, the newly appointed administrator leading the rescue plan said in a television interview on Monday. "There is absolutely no question of a merger," Prashant Kumar, the administrator, told the CNBC TV18 channel. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday took control of Yes Bank, after the lender - which is laden with bad debts - failed to raise the capital it needs to stay above mandated regulatory requirements. Read More...

AGR: NITI Aayog does a flip-flop on minimum floor price for telcos

Less than a week after NITI Aayog sent its comments to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) opposing any kind of floor price for data or voice tariffs, the government think-tank, in another letter, vociferously backed putting in place a minimum floor price. In a letter dated February 28, 2020, Archana G Gulati, joint secretary, NITI Aayog, said that the consultation paper itself highlighted the market interventions in the form of price controls like the proposed minimum floor price are likely to disincentivise competition, cost efficiency, price, and quality parameters, and deter new entrants and innovation. Read More...