Morning News Call - India, March 16

To access the newsletter, click on the link: http://share.thomsonreuters.com/assets/newsletters/Indiamorning/MNC_IN_03162018.pdf If you would like to receive this newsletter via email, please register at: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/india-morning/ FACTORS TO WATCH 9:30 am: Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu and Railways & Coal Minister Piyush Goyal at 58th National Cost Convention 2018 in New Delhi.

9:30 am: NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar, Transport Secretary Yudhvir Singh Malik, SIAM President Naveen Munjal, HPCL Refineries Director Vinod Shenoy and other industry officials at Petro India Conference in New Delhi.

10:00 am: Housing Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to address inaugural session of FICCI’s “Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Housing for All by 2022” in New Delhi. 11:00 am: Budget session of parliament continues in New Delhi.

1:30 pm: Farm Minister Radha Mohan Singh to address ‘Krishi Unnati Mela’ in New Delhi.

2:00 pm: Titan CEO-Jewelry C.K. Venkatraman, Raymond CEO Sanjay Bhel, Marico CMO Anuradha Agarwal, Havells CMO Amit Tiwari and other industry officials at Pitch CMO Summit in Mumbai.

3:00 pm: IREDA Director (Finance) S.K. Bhargava and SEBI Executive Director S.K. Mohanty at listing of IREDA Green Masala Bond at NSE in Mumbai.

5:00 pm: RBI to release weekly foreign exchange data in Mumbai.

LIVECHAT - WEEK AHEAD We take a look at events coming up in the week ahead with Reuters Markets Editor Mike Dolan at 1630 IST. To join the conversation, click on the link: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/communities/ INDIA TOP NEWS • February trade deficit dips to 5-month low amid fears of global trade war India's trade deficit narrowed to $12 billion in February, its lowest in five months, amid concern that a global trade war could hit its exports because of U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to hike import taxes on steel and aluminum.

• PNB uncovers more fraud at troubled Mumbai branch Punjab National Bank has uncovered another credit-guarantee fraud within the Mumbai branch at the centre of a similar scam worth over $2 billion, according to a complaint filed with the federal police.

• India eyeing Boeing's Super Hornet in latest twist to air force procurement Boeing, considered the frontrunner in the race to supply the Indian navy with new fighter jets, is now in contention for a much bigger $15 billion order after the government abruptly asked the air force to consider the twin-engine planes.

• India says row over subsidies not the beginning of trade war with the U.S.

India does not consider the stand-off with the United States at the World Trade Organisation over export subsidies to be the beginning of a trade war, Indian trade secretary Rita Teaotia told reporters on Thursday.

• Singapore Airlines has open mind on making initial bid for Air India Singapore Airlines has an open mind about making an initial bid for a stake in state-run Air India, the head of the Singaporean carrier's India business told Reuters on Thursday.

• HDFC Asset Management Co files for IPO HDFC Asset Management Company filed for an initial public offering of 25.5 million shares on Wednesday, according to a regulatory filing.

• India to force mills to export 2-4 mln T of surplus sugar India will soon bring in rules to force sugar mills to export millions of tonnes of surplus supplies to prop up local prices, a move that could drag down global rates SBc1, which have hovered near 8-1/2 month lows.

• Bharat Dynamics $148 million IPO subscribed 1.3 times Bharat Dynamics' initial public offering of shares to raise up to $147.9 million was subscribed 1.3 times on the last day of the sale on Thursday.

GLOBAL TOP NEWS • U.S. sanctions Russians for meddling, but not Putin's oligarchs The United States slapped sanctions on Russian individuals and entities for U.S. election meddling and cyber attacks but put off targeting oligarchs and government officials close to President Vladimir Putin, prompting lawmakers in both parties to say President Donald Trump needs to do much more.

• U.S. tech companies win changes in bill to limit China access to technology Lawmakers pushing legislation aimed at preventing China from acquiring sensitive U.S. technology have proposed relaxing elements of the measure after lobbying by high-tech firms but will tighten another portion, according to a draft revision seen by Reuters.

• Rejecting protectionism, ASEAN and Australia commit to free trade The Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Australia reject protectionism and embrace free trade, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong said on Friday.

LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) • The SGX Nifty Futures were trading at 10,323.00, down 0.4 percent from its previous close.

• The Indian rupee will likely edge lower against the U.S. currency after the dollar index jumped by the most in a week before next week’s Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.

• Indian government bonds are likely to trade little changed in early trade amid expectation of a U.S. rate increase next week that may make investment in Indian debt less attractive. The yield on the benchmark 7.17 percent bond maturing in 2028 is likely to trade in 7.61 percent - 7.66 percent band today.

GLOBAL MARKETS • The S&P 500 ended slightly lower on Thursday after a report that U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller had issued a subpoena for documents related to U.S. President Donald Trump's businesses offset strong jobs and manufacturing data.

• Asian stocks were on the defensive as worries over the U.S. investigation into the Trump Organization tested investor nerves, already frayed by fears U.S. tariffs could hurt the global economy and trigger a trade war.

• The dollar held gains against a basket of peers, as recent concerns about the currency arising from trade tensions eased slightly and next week's Federal Reserve policy meeting came into focus.

• The Treasury bond yield curve continued to flatten on Thursday as the surging spread between Libor and the overnight indexed swap rate pressured the short end of the curve, lifting the two-year yield to a decade high.

• Oil prices crept higher after the International Energy Agency said global crude demand would accelerate this year, but warned supply is growing at a faster pace.

• Gold prices held firm as tensions between the United Kingdom and Russia and renewed U.S. political concerns offset worries about a possible U.S. rate hike next week.

CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 64.82/64.85 March 15 -$108.49 mln -$266.4 mln 10-yr bond yield 7.65 pct Month-to-date $1.28 bln -$1.3 bln Year-to-date $1.38 bln -$208.68 mln 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 = 64.9800 Indian rupees) (Compiled by Swathi Nair in Bengaluru)