Morning News Call - India, May 17
To access the newsletter, click on the link: http://share.thomsonreuters.com/assets/newsletters/Indiamorning/MNC_IN_05172017.pdf If you would like to receive this newsletter via email, please register at: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/india-morning/ FACTORS TO WATCH 10:00 am: Junior Finance Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal at an event in New Delhi.
11:15 am: Marico Chairman Harsh Mariwala at an event in New Delhi.
3:30 pm: JSW Steel earnings press meet in Mumbai.
4:00 pm: India Ratings Webinar on banking outlook in Mumbai.
GMF: LIVECHAT - CHARTING FX Take a look at the FX charts with Reuters technical analyst Martin Miller AT 3:30 pm. To join the conversation, click on the link: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/communities/ INDIA TOP NEWS • Tata Steel reports fourth-quarter loss on one-off charges Tata Steel Ltd on Tuesday reported an unexpected fourth-quarter loss due to one-off exceptional items, including charges relating to a deal involving the pension scheme at its businesses in Britain.
• Small businesses suffer as India's bruised banks sit on deposits Businessman Vineet Pandey has 500 housekeepers, security guards, electricians and plumbers on his books, servicing offices in India's booming financial metropolis Mumbai. He would love to hire more to keep up with demand, but cannot get a bank loan.
• Non-bank finance firms cash in on Indian lenders' bad loan pain Indian banks' struggles with bad loans over the past three years have opened an opportunity to ramp up lending for so-called non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), which are not as strictly regulated as banks.
• Punjab National Bank posts Q4 profit as bad loans ease India's Punjab National Bank reported on Tuesday a fourth-quarter net profit of 2.62 billion rupees as its bad loans eased.
• India's Future Group ties up with UAE firm for Gulf foray India's Future Group on Tuesday said it had tied up with UAE's Khimji Ramdas Group to sell garments in Oman, and eventually across the Gulf region, in its first international foray.
• Homes of Indian ex-finance minister, son searched in criminal probe India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) searched the homes of former finance minister P. Chidambaram and his son on Tuesday, in a probe into suspected criminal misconduct related to approvals of investment deals.
• China, India dominate coal ownership as some shun climate risks - report Investors in China and India increasingly dominate ownership of coal reserves amid campaigns for divestment in many rich nations to limit the risks from climate change, a study showed on Tuesday.
GLOBAL TOP NEWS • Trump asked Comey to end investigation of Michael Flynn -source U.S. President Donald Trump asked then-FBI Director James Comey to end the agency's investigation into ties between former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn and Russia, according to a source who has seen a memo written by Comey.
• Cyber attack eases, hacking group threatens to sell code Governments turned their attention to a possible new wave of cyber threats on Tuesday after the group that leaked U.S. hacking tools used to launch the global WannaCry "ransomware" attack warned it would release more malicious code.
• North Korea missile detected by THAAD, programme progressing faster than expected-South North Korea's missile program is progressing faster than expected, South Korea's defence minister said on Tuesday, after the U.N. Security Council condemned the weekend launch of a new long-range missile and demanded Pyongyang halt weapons tests.
LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) • The SGX Nifty Futures were trading at 9,509.50, down 0.06 pct from its previous close.
• The Indian rupee will likely open higher against the greenback, as rising political turmoil in Washington and disappointing U.S. housing data dragged the dollar index to six-month lows.
• Indian government bonds will likely open steady to higher tracking U.S. Treasuries, which rose after a weaker-than-expected housing data raised doubts about the Federal Reserve’s ability to accelerate interest rate increases. The yield on the benchmark 6.97 pct bond maturing in 2026 is likely to trade in a 6.82 pct-6.87 pct band today.
GLOBAL MARKETS • The S&P 500 and the Dow ended Tuesday's session flat after a mixed set of economic data and retail earnings, while the Nasdaq hit another record closing high with help from technology stocks.
• Japanese stocks dropped after the dollar eased against the yen on weak U.S. economic data, while financials stocks underperformed hit by lower U.S. yields.
• The dollar nursed its losses after taking a combination of punches - solid eurozone economic data, a fall in U.S. yields on heightened turmoil in Washington and downbeat housing data that reduced expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike next month.
• U.S. Treasury yields fell on Tuesday after data showing U.S. homebuilding unexpectedly fell in April, adding to recent economic weakness that has raised new doubts about how many times the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year.
• Oil prices fell 1 percent after data showed an increase in U.S. crude inventories, stoking concerns that markets remain oversupplied despite efforts by top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia to cut output.
• Gold prices hit a two-week high as Asian stocks slipped and the dollar was pressured after underwhelming U.S. housing data and reports that U.S. President Donald Trump sought an end to an FBI probe into his former security adviser.
CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 64.10/64.13 May 16 $134.00 mln $268.73 mln 10-yr bond yield 7.14 Month-to-date $419.32 mln $1.97 bln Year-to-date $6.86 bln $11.36 bln 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 = 64.08 Indian rupees) (Compiled by Pathikrit Bandyopadhyay in Bengaluru)
