LIVECHAT-COMMODITIES From copper to oil and everything in between, the Gold & Silver Club's Nik Kalsi and Phil Carr will have you covered on the commodities markets at 2:30 pm. The Gold & Silver Club is an international commodities trading, research and advisory group specialising in the precious metals, energies and agricultural markets. To join the conversation, click on the link: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/communities/ INDIA TOP NEWS • Indian techies, IT firms fret as Trump orders US visa review For Grishma, an Indian software designer, President Donald Trump's review of the visa programme for bringing highly skilled workers into the United States comes at a bad time.
• HDFC Bank profit rise drives shares to record Shares in HDFC Bank, India's second-biggest lender by assets, hit a record high thanks to higher than expected quarterly profit and a stable bad loans portfolio.
• Diamond miners have India in sight with Real is Rare slogan The world's top diamond producers will try to spur demand in India with the launch of their "Real is Rare" slogan in September, after the withdrawal of high-value bank notes dented the world's third biggest diamond market.
• Narayana Hrudayalaya to buy NewRise Healthcare Indian healthcare services provider Narayana Hrudayalaya Ltd said it would buy NewRise Healthcare Private Ltd from Panacea Biotec Ltd for an enterprise value of 1.80 billion rupees.
• ACC Q1 profit beats estimates on higher cement sales volume India's ACC Ltd, a unit of the world's largest cement maker, Lafargeholcim Ltd, reported a 9 percent fall in its first-quarter net profit, but beat analysts' expectations, helped by stronger cement sales volume.
• L&T signs deal with South Korea's Hanwha for artillery guns Indian engineering firm Larsen & Toubro signed a deal with South Korea's Hanwha Techwin to supply artillery guns to the Indian army in a deal estimated to be 4.5 billion rupees, the two firms said.
• India plans home delivery of petroleum products India is considering a plan for home delivery of petroleum products to consumers if they make a pre-booking to cut long queues at fuel stations, the oil ministry tweeted.
GLOBAL TOP NEWS • France's Macron appears set for Elysee in runoff with Le Pen Centrist Emmanuel Macron took a big step towards the French presidency on Sunday by winning the first round of voting and qualifying for a May 7 runoff alongside far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
• North Korea says it is ready to strike U.S. aircraft carrier North Korea said on Sunday it was ready to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier to demonstrate its military might, in the latest sign of rising tension as U.S. President Donald Trump prepared to call the leaders of China and Japan.
• Afghan Taliban's brazen attack eclipses Trump's "mother of all bombs" Eight days after the U.S. military dropped its largest ever conventional bomb on suspected Islamic State fighters in eastern Afghanistan, Taliban militants breached an army base in the north of the country and killed scores of local soldiers.
LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) • The SGX Nifty Futures were at 9,143.50, up 0.2 pct from its previous close.
• The Indian rupee will likely open higher against the dollar, tracking its Asian peers, as risk appetite improved after independent centrist Emmanuel Macron took the lead in the first round of French presidential elections.
• Indian government bonds will likely edge lower tracking gains in U.S. Treasury yields, after centrist Emmanuel Macron won the first round of French presidential election, qualifying for the May 7 runoff alongside far-right leader Marine Le Pen. The yield on the benchmark 6.97 pct bond maturing in 2026 is likely to trade in a 6.90 pct - 6.95 pct band today.
GLOBAL MARKETS • U.S. stock index futures rose sharply on Sunday on relief that centrist Emmanuel Macron took the first round of voting in the French presidential election, reducing the prospect of an anti-establishment market shock.
• Japan's Nikkei share average rose to a near three-week high with broader investor risk sentiment improving after centrist Emmanuel Macron took a step towards the French presidency after the weekend's voting.
• The euro scaled five-month highs against the dollar in early Asian trading after the centrist candidate swept to victory in the first round of the French presidential election, reducing the risk of an anti-establishment shock in the final round.
• U.S. Treasury debt futures prices fell on Sunday after centrist Emmanuel Macron took the first round of voting in the French presidential election.
• Oil prices recovered some ground following last week's big losses, driven by expectations that OPEC will extend a pledge to cut output to cover all of 2017, although a relentless rise in U.S. drilling capped gains.
• Gold fell nearly 1 percent to its weakest in two weeks after centrist Macron led the first round of voting in the French presidential election, boosting stocks and triggering a sell-off of safe-haven bullion.
CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 64.59/64.62 April 21 -$16.90 mln $38.54 mln 10-yr bond yield 7.16 Month-to-date -$367 mln $3.89 bln Year-to-date $6.42 bln $9.36 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 = 64.61 Indian rupees) (Compiled by Sai Sharanya Khosla in Bengaluru)
