Asian shares were pinned at two-year lows on Thursday after white-hot U.S. inflation data drove fears the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates even more aggressively, which boosted the safe haven dollar.

Underscoring how inflation pressures are also hitting Asia, both the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas surprised markets by tightening monetary policy on Thursday in off cycle moves.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an emergency use authorisation (EUA) for the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine in individuals 18 years of age and older.

The Novavax vaccine will be available as two-dose primary series for adults, three weeks apart, Xinhua news agency reported.

The National Democratic Alliance's presidential election nominee Droupadi Murmu will meet the ruling alliance MPs and MLAs here on Thursday as part of the campaign to seek support for her candidature.

The meeting is scheduled at a suburban hotel, before which a luncheon has been organised with the parliamentarians and legislators, sources said.

A person who returned from abroad has been admitted to a hospital in Kerala after he showed symptoms of monkeypox, state Health Minister Veena George said here on Thursday.

The minister said his samples have been collected and sent to the National Institute of Virology for testing.

She said the disease could be confirmed only after getting the test results.

Sri Lankan authorities on Thursday lifted the curfew, which was imposed in the Western province after the eruption of violence in the capital here, even as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who has fled to the Maldives, was yet to submit his resignation letter.

Rajapaksa, the 73-year-old leader who had promised to resign on Wednesday, appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the acting President hours after he fled the country, escalating the political crisis and triggering a fresh wave of protests.

Shares of One97 Communications, the parent of fintech firm Paytm, hit an over three-month high of Rs 739 as the stock gained 4 per cent on the BSE in Thursday’s trade amid heavy volumes. The stock traded at its highest level since March 11, 2022. In the past two months, the stock has rallied 36 per cent and has recovered 44 per cent from its record low of Rs 511, touched on May 15, 2022.

At 10:55 AM, Paytm traded at Rs 737, as compared to 0.43 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

The rupee weakened to a new low against the greenback for a fourth straight session on Thursday as markets expected the Federal Reserve to aggressively hike rates after data yesterday showed US inflation at a forty-year high in June.

The rupee was trading at 79.80 against the US dollar at 10.10am IST, compared to its close of 79.64 on Wednesday. “The range for the day could be between 79.50 to 80.00 levels.

Delhi High Court directed Chinese smartphone maker Vivo to furnish a bank guarantee worth Rs 950 crore.

The Delhi HC allowed Vivo to operate its bank accounts, which were frozen by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money-laundering probe.

The court said that Vivo can operate its bank accounts to the extent that a balance of Rs 250 crore is maintained in its accounts at all times.

Sri Lanka on Wednesday declared a state of emergency after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives on a military jet in the face of a public revolt against his government for mishandling the country's economy.

The Prime Minister's office informed the media organisations that the state of emergency in the country and a curfew in the Western province had been imposed.

The newer and most contagious Omicron subvariants, known as BA.4 and BA.5, now make up more than 80 percent of Covid-19 infections in the US, according to data released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The BA.5 subvariant accounted for 65 per cent of new infections in the latest week ending July 9, while BA.4 accounted for 16.3 per cent of new infections, CDC data showed on Tuesday.

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