Morning News Call - India, April 5

To access a PDF version of this newsletter, please click here https://share.refinitiv.com/assets/newsletters/Indiamorning/MNC_IN_04052021.pdf If you would like to receive this newsletter via email, please register at: https://solutions.refinitiv.com/MNCIndiaSubscriptionpage FACTORS TO WATCH • Monetary Policy Committee’s three-day interest rate-setting meeting begins in Mumbai. INDIA TOP NEWS • Restrictions imposed in and around Mumbai as COVID cases in Indian state surge India's richest state, Maharashtra, announced stringent COVID-19 restrictions, after a rapid rise in infections now accounting for more than half the country's daily new cases. • ByteDance says India's freeze on bank accounts is harassment - court filing China's ByteDance has told an Indian court that a government freeze on its bank accounts in a probe of possible tax evasion amounts to harassment and was done illegally, according to a filing seen by Reuters. • RBI orders MobiKwik to probe alleged data leak: source India's central bank has ordered digital payments firm MobiKwik to probe allegations that data of its 110 million users was breached, and warned that the company will face fines if lapses are found, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Thursday. • Future Retail to offer quick online deliveries in bet on e-commerce India's Future Retail will deliver groceries and clothes from its main retail stores within two hours, it said on Thursday, as the company expands in an e-commerce sector dominated by the likes of Amazon.com. • India power demand falls for first time in 35 years India's annual electricity demand fell for the first time in at least 35 years in the fiscal year to March, government data reviewed by Reuters showed, mainly due to strict coronavirus lockdowns across the country. • India pushes back deadline for coal-fired utilities to adopt new emission norms India has pushed back deadlines for coal-fired power plants to adopt new emission norms by up to three years, and allowed utilities that miss the new target to continue operating after paying a penalty, according to a government notice. • Ford and Mahindra to end collaboration on all projects in India Ford Motor and Mahindra & Mahindra will not collaborate on any project they had agreed to as part of their abandoned joint venture in India, the companies said. • India's March petrol sales up 27.4% y/y; diesel up 28.6% y/y Indian state retailers' gasoline and gasoil sales in March rose by 27.4% and 28.6%, respectively, from the low base of last year when a nationwide lockdown to stem the spread of the coronavirus hit consumption, preliminary industry data showed. GLOBAL TOP NEWS • Japan's service sector contracts at slower pace - PMI Japan's services sector activity extended declines in March as businesses struggled to fully shake off the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, a private survey showed, but the pace of the downturn was the slowest since January last year. • U.S. puts J&J in charge of plant that botched COVID vaccine, removes AstraZeneca The United States has put Johnson and Johnson in charge of a plant that ruined 15 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine and has stopped British drugmaker AstraZeneca from using the facility, a senior health official said on Saturday. • Transport minister to step down over Taiwan train crash Taiwan's transport minister said on Sunday he would step down after he and the manager of a construction site whose truck slid onto rail tracks causing a catastrophic train crash accepted responsibility for the disaster. LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) • SGX Nifty nearest-month futures were trading 0.5% lower at 14,918.50. • The Indian rupee is expected to weaken against the dollar on concerns over India’s economic outlook following a further increase in coronavirus infections. • Indian government bond yields are likely to open higher on the first trading day of this fiscal, as New Delhi’s heavy borrowing plan for April-September will add to duration supply.The yield on the benchmark 5.85% bond maturing in 2030 is likely to trade in a 6.17%-6.22% band. GLOBAL MARKETS • The S&P 500 surged on Thursday to its first-ever close above the 4,000 mark, lifted by gains in Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet, as well as optimism about a recovering U.S. economy. • Global stock prices rose to a 1 1/2-month high after data showing a surge in U.S. employment while short-dated U.S. bonds came under pressure on worries the Federal Reserve may bump up interest rates sooner than it has indicated. • The dollar was poised to extend gains against major currencies after the U.S. jobs report at the end of last week showed the nation's labour market is recovering from the impact of the coronavirus shock. • Shorter-dated U.S. Treasury yields rose on Friday, flattening the yield curve, after the Labor Department reported stronger-than-forecast jobs growth in March. • Oil prices slipped, paring strong gains made in the previous session after OPEC+ agreed last week to gradually ease some of its production cuts between May and July. • Gold prices held steady, buoyed by concerns over inflation after U.S. President Joe Biden announced a $2 trillion-plus jobs plan last week, while a stronger dollar and elevated U.S. Treasury yields limited bullion's upside. CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 73.20/73.23 April 1 --- --- 10-yr bond yield 6.18 pct Month-to-date --- --- Year-to-date 55,742 crores (15,498) crores (FII investment numbers are in Indian rupees. Source: National Securities Depository Limited) For additional data: India govt bond market volumes Stock market reports Non-deliverable forwards data Corporate debt stories [IN CORPD] Local market closing/intraday levels [IN SNAPSHOT] Monthly inflows [INFLOWS RTRS TABLE IN] ($1 = 73.33 Indian rupees)