INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Domestic stock markets are likely to start Thursday's session on a positive note amid gains in Asian peers as the US and Iran backed away
per cent, lifting stocks to their highest for the year so far.US President Donald Trump responded overnight to an Iranian attack on US
forces with sanctions, not violence
Iran offered no immediate signal it would retaliate further over a January 3 US strike that killed one of its senior military
commanders.Meanwhile, crude oil returned to the levels seen before the killing of the Iranian commander, Qassem Soleimani, in Baghdad, a
lows hit overnight to $65.84 per barrel, about where they began the year.The government lifted restrictions on the use of coal mined
domestically and eased bidding rules from March,as the country aims to attract foreign mining companies and reduce imports of the fossil
plans, a move that could end state-run Coal India's near-monopoly of the fuel.Previously, the government restricted the end use of the
fuel, with winners of coal block auctions only allowed to use output for specific purposes and not to sell it in the open market
That attracted criticism from the industry which said the rules discouraged bidding.Analysts say some correction can be expected in the near
cent - lower at 40,817.74 and the broader NSE Nifty benchmark settled at 12,025.35, up 27.60 points - or 0.23 per cent - from the previous
