Business Standard On Friday

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  Unemployment Rate At 6.1%; Calling It 45-Year High Unfair, Says Centre

  The country's unemployment rate was at 6.1 per cent in 2017-18, the statistics ministry said on Friday, confirming the figure leaked to Business Standard newspaper in January, which said it was the highest since 1972-73.

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  Nifty, Sensex Close Higher For Seventh Straight Day

  Market benchmark indices closed higher for a seventh straight session on Friday as IT firms gained, while bonds slid on market talk of a potential sovereign ratings upgrade by Standard & Poor's.

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  HDFC Life Shares Close 19% Higher in Market Debut

  HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co. Ltd's shares surged in their trading debut on Friday after its IPO raised $1.3 billion last week

• Wall Street rebounds with help from tech shares; IBM tumbles

  Most U.S. stocks rose on Friday, bouncing back a day after the S&P 500 closed below its 50-day moving average for the first time this year, but IBM's largest drop in eight years held back the Dow.

• As Washington frets, markets take US spending cuts in stride

  Broad spending cuts designed to hit most US government programs with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer were set to begin taking effect on Friday, yet investors have so far barely batted an eyelash.

• Wall Street in late selloff; S&P ekes out weekly gain

  U.S. stocks fell in a late sell-off on Friday as Wal-Mart dropped following a report of a weak start to February sales, though the S&P just barely extended its streak of weekly gains to seven.

• S&P closes above 1,500 for first time since 2007

  Passing another milestone on the nation's long journey back from the Great Recession, the Standard and Poor's 500 index closed above 1,500 for the first time in more than five years Friday after a wave of good earnings reports.

• Poor earnings slam Wall St with worst loss in 4 months

  U.S. stocks suffered their worst day since late June on Friday, after bellwethers General Electric and McDonald's extended a string of disappointing earnings. The Nasdaq ended down 2.19 per cent, dragged lower for a second day by Google's weak results. Microsoft dropped 2.9 per cent to $28.64 after it said profits fell on poor sales of PCs. Google'...

• Ben Bernanke lifts Wall Street, keeps stimulus in play

  US stocks rose on Friday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, expressing "grave concern" for the stagnating U.S. job market, said the central bank was prepared to take further steps to strengthen the economy if necessary.

• US stocks up marginally on strong retail results

  Stocks rose on Friday after strong earnings from retailers boosted investor confidence.

• No external pressure to save Kingfisher: SBI

  SBI CFO Diwakar Gupta said that converting debt into equity of Kingfisher Airlines was not a favoured route.