Morning News Call - India, March 19
To access the newsletter, click on the link: here If you would like to receive this newsletter via email, please register at: here FACTORS TO WATCH 11:00 am: Budget session of Parliament continues in New Delhi. 11:30 am: MG Motor India MD Rajeev Chaba to brief on company’s plans for Indian market in New Delhi. 05:30 pm: Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Chairman and NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy to address annual general meeting of ICC India in New Delhi. GMF: LIVECHAT - FX WEEK AHEAD FX Buzz analyst Jeremy Boulton analyses G7 currencies at 4:30 PM IST. To join the conversation, click on the link: here INDIA TOP NEWS India's Edelweiss scraps deal to buy Religare's securities unit India's Edelweiss Financial Services' agreed acquisition of the securities business of Religare Enterprises has fallen through because Religare failed to get the necessary regulatory approvals, the suitor said on Friday. India's Oct-Dec current a/c deficit widens sharply on higher imports India's October-December current account deficit widened sharply from a year earlier, driven by higher imports, data from the Reserve Bank of India showed on Friday. DP World buys stakes in Peru's No. 2 container terminal, India logistics firm DP World , one of the world's largest port operators, said on Sunday it had bought a logistics firm in Peru for $315.7 million, giving it a 50 percent stake in the country's second largest container terminal. GLOBAL TOP NEWS Putin wins another six years at Russia's helm in landslide victory Russian President Vladimir Putin won a landslide re-election victory on Sunday, extending his rule over the world's largest country for another six years at a time when his ties with the West are on a hostile trajectory. U.S. tariffs, China trade tensions overshadow G20 finance meeting Worries about the potential for a U.S.-China trade war and frustration over U.S. President Donald Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs threatened to dominate a gathering of finance leaders this week amid strengthening growth. China president's confidante Liu He nominated as a vice premier, Yi Gang as PBOC chief Liu He, a key economic adviser to China's President Xi Jinping, was nominated to be a vice premier, while vice central bank governor Yi Gang was nominated to take over the helm at the People's Bank of China (PBOC). LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) The SGX Nifty March Futures were trading at 10,206, down 0.3 pct from previous close. The Indian rupee is likely to fall against the dollar as regional currencies began the week on a defensive note ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting. Indian government bonds are likely to edge lower on profit booking amid concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve may hike its policy rate later this week. The yield on the benchmark 7.17 pct bond maturing in 2028 is likely to trade in 7.55 pct-7.62 pct band today. GLOBAL MARKETS • The S&P 500 and the Dow Industrials rose on Friday, boosted by strong industrial output numbers, though all three of Wall Street's major indexes posted losses for the week. • Asian share markets slipped into the red as caution gripped investors in a week in which the Federal Reserve is likely to hike U.S. interest rates and perhaps signal that as many as three more lie in store for the rest of the year. • The dollar started the week little changed as traders set sights on new Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's first monetary policy meeting later in the week and as the increased threat of trade protectionism kept markets on edge. • Yields rose on Friday after data showed U.S. industrial production surged in February and in anticipation of next week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting, at which the U.S. central bank is expected to raise interest rates for the first time this year. • Oil prices fell as rising drilling activity in the United States pointed to further increases in output, raising concerns about a return of oversupply. • Gold prices inched lower as the dollar remained supported, with investors expecting the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at this week's policy meeting. CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 64.90/64.93 March 16 -- $40.97 mln 10-yr bond yield 7.61 pct Month-to-date $1.25 bln -$1.26 bln Year-to-date $1.35 bln -$167.71 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] (Compiled by Nachiket Tekawade in Bengaluru)