To access the newsletter, click on the link: http://share.thomsonreuters.com/assets/newsletters/Indiamorning/MNC_IN_04032018.pdf If you would like to receive this newsletter via email, please register at: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/india-morning/ FACTORS TO WATCH 11:00 am: Budget session of Parliament continues in New Delhi.
11:30 am: Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari to brief media in New Delhi.
11:30 am: Anand Kumar, secretary at Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and TERI Director General Ajay Mathur at an event in New Delhi.
3:30 pm: Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu to launch digital initiatives by Export Inspection Council in New Delhi.
TRADING INDIA FORUM - INDIAN EQUITY MARKETS After the relatively one-sided rally of 2017, 2018 hasn't started in the best possible way for India. The Nifty Index is down 4 percent YTD and FII flows have taken a step back too. volatility though has returned and some sectors seem to have held fort while others have faded. We speak to sridhar Sivaram, Investment Director at Enam Holdings Ltd. on his views for 2018 at 11:00 am IST. To join the conversation, click on the link: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/communities/">https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/communities/ GMF: LIVECHAT - CHARTING FX Take a look at the FX charts with Reuters technical analyst Martin Miller at 06:00 pm IST. To join the conversation, click on the link: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/communities/">https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/communities/ INDIA TOP NEWS • India imposes 10 percent tax on import of key smartphone components India has imposed a 10 percent tax on imports of key smartphone components, including populated printed circuit boards, as it moves to step up local assembly of mobile devices in the world's second-biggest smartphone market.
• India pushes state banks to find own funding sources after $32 billion bailout A massive $32 billion bailout package for India's dominant state-run banks will not happen again and lenders will have to find their own funding by selling non-core assets and merging with each other, a senior government official said on Monday.
• SoftBank, China's GCL team up for $930 million Indian solar venture Japan's SoftBank Group Corp has agreed to launch a $930 million Indian joint solar energy venture with Chinese firm GCL System Integration Technology Co as part of its India solar investment roadmap.
• ReNew Power buys Ostro Energy in one of India's biggest clean energy deals ReNew Power, backed by Goldman Sachs and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, said on Monday it has acquired Ostro Energy Private Ltd, backed by London-based Actis LLP, in one of India's biggest renewable energy deals.
• India's stressed bank loans tick up to $146 billion in December, RBI data shows Soured loans at India's banks rose in the three months to December to $145.9 billion, after declining from record high levels in the previous quarter, data from the central bank showed on Monday.
• ICICI Bank shares slide on probe reports, RBI fine Shares of ICICI Bank, India's third-largest lender, slumped to a five-month low on Monday after reports of authorities probing its lending practices.
• ArcelorMittal, Vedanta, VTB-JSW partnership among India Essar Steel suitors ArcelorMittal, Vedanta Resources and a group comprising Russia's VTB and top Indian steelmaker JSW Steel have bid for bankrupt steelmaker Essar Steel India, the companies said, after a deadline for bids on Monday.
• SoftBank, Alibaba to invest $445 million in India's Paytm E-Commerce SoftBank Group is investing $400 million in India's Paytm E-Commerce Pvt. Ltd. in a funding round that will value the online retailer at roughly $1.9 billion, a regulatory filing showed on Monday.
• Shree Renuka to attempt sale of Brazil sugar mills again India's Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd will try for a third time to sell sugar mills it owns in Brazil at an auction as part of a recovery plan in its in-court debt restructuring, according to court documents seen by Reuters.
GLOBAL TOP NEWS • Japan Inc's inflation expectations stall in March - BOJ survey Corporate Japan expects to see only minimal inflation in a year and barely any change in the next three to five years, a central bank survey showed, highlighting yet again the difficulty the Bank of Japan faces in reaching its elusive 2 percent inflation target.
• Australia's Santos says will engage with Harbour Energy over unsolicited $10.4 billion bid Australian gas producer Santos Ltd said on Tuesday it would "engage with" Harbour Energy after receiving a $10.4 billion takeover offer from the U.S. company, its fourth unsolicited bid since August 2017.
• Trump declares DACA 'dead,' urges Congress to act on border President Donald Trump declared as "dead" on Monday a program that protects immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children and pressed Congress to pass legislation to secure the U.S. border with Mexico.
LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) The SGX Nifty Futures were trading at 10,199.50, down 0.6 percent from its previous close.
The Indian rupee is expected to open higher against the dollar as China-U.S. trade tensions continued to weigh on the outlook for the greenback.
Indian government bonds are likely to rise in early trade, as the Reserve Bank of India's move to allow banks to spread provisions made for mark-to-market losses on their bond portfolios is likely to boost demand. The yield on India’s benchmark 7.17 percent bond maturing in 2028 is likely to trade in a 7.26 percent-7.33 percent band today.
GLOBAL MARKETS • Wall Street shares plunged on Monday as investors fled technology stocks amid resurgent trade war worries, with key indexes trading below their 200-day moving averages and the S&P 500 closing below that pivotal technical level for the first time since Britain's vote to leave the European Union in June 2016.
• Asian stocks extended a global selloff and the yen rose as investors fled for safety as an escalating trade spat between the United States and China and a renewed slump in tech shares such as Amazon.com AMZN.O sapped investor confidence.
• The yen held firm as simmering U.S.-China trade tensions stirred up fears for the global growth outlook, sapping investors' risk appetite.
• U.S. Treasury yields fell to two month lows on Monday on safety buying as stocks slid, and after a manufacturing report showed an increase in price pressures in March.
• Oil prices inched up as rising Russian output and expectations of a reduction in Saudi Arabian crude prices were offset by a potential slowdown in U.S. production.
• Gold prices rose slightly in early Asian trade after a more than 1 percent gain in the previous session, as mounting global trade tensions fuelled demand for the safe-haven bullion.
CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 65.02/65.05 April 2 -$105.80 mln $13.35 mln 10-yr bond yield - Month-to-date -$370.27 mln - Year-to-date $720.63 mln $733.98 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 = 65.12 Indian rupees) (Compiled by Pathikrit Bandyopadhyay in Bengaluru)
