11:00 am: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to present the federal budget for next FY in New Delhi.
7:00 pm: Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at India Energy Congress in New Delhi.
LIVECHAT - MARKETS OUTLOOK Monthly market outlook with Michael Hewson, chief market analyst, CMC Markets at 1530 IST. To join the conversation, click on the link: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/communities/ INDIA TOP NEWS • As India unveils budget, all eyes on fiscal deficit target As India's government gets set to unveil its 2018-19 budget, all eyes will be on whether the authorities stay the course on containing the fiscal deficit, or whether they throw caution to the wind with a populist set of spending priorities.
• ICICI Bank posts smallest profit in seven quarters India's third-largest lender by assets, reported its smallest profit in seven quarters on lower treasury income and as provisions rose from a year earlier but said bad loan additions were slowing.
• Larsen & Toubro Q3 profit surges 53 percent, beats estimates Industrial group Larsen & Toubro reported a 53 percent rise in third-quarter profit, beating analysts' expectations, as new orders rose, mainly in the infrastructure and hydrocarbon segments.
• JSW Steel Q3 profit more than doubles JSW Steel reported a 140 percent surge in third-quarter profit on Wednesday, beating analyst expectations, as the steelmaker marked its highest ever quarterly steel sales.
• Vedanta Q3 profit slips, lags estimates Vedanta, the Indian unit of diversified miner Vedanta Resources Plc, reported an about 4 percent fall in third-quarter profit on Wednesday, missing analysts' estimates.
• NTPC Q3 profit falls 4 percent, misses expectations Power producer NTPC reported a 4 percent fall in quarterly profit on Wednesday, missing analysts' estimates.
• Indian Oil to boost Panipat refinery capacity by two thirds Indian Oil Corp plans to increase the capacity of its Panipat refinery by two thirds to 500,000 barrels per day at a cost of 231.16 billion rupees, the country's largest refiner said on Wednesday.
• IDBI Bank Q3 loss narrows IDBI Bank posted a fifth straight quarterly loss on Wednesday as provisions for bad loans rose in the period.
GLOBAL TOP NEWS • Fed leaves rates unchanged, sees inflation rising this year The U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday but said inflation likely would rise this year, bolstering expectations borrowing costs will continue to climb under incoming central bank chief Jerome Powell.
• Japan PMI shows factory activity growth at 4-year high Japanese manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in almost four years in January, a survey showed, with solid output and employment growth supporting a firm recovery in the world's third-largest economy.
• Microsoft's cloud computing business grows, stock edges up Microsoft Corp beat Wall Street's profit forecast on Wednesday, helped by growth in its cloud computing business, but took a $13.8 billion one-time charge due to the new U.S. tax law.
LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) • The SGX Nifty Futures were trading at 11,087.50, trading up 0.26 percent from its previous close.
• The Indian rupee will likely open weaker against the dollar, in line with most Asian peers, as risk appetite remained soft following a hawkish Federal Reserve policy.
• Indian government bonds are likely to remain steady as investors await the federal budget presentation later in the day. The yield on the 7.17 percent bond maturing in 2028 is likely to trade in a 7.41 percent - 7.45 percent band till the budget announcement.
GLOBAL MARKETS • U.S. stocks finished marginally higher on Wednesday as indexes gave up early gains after the Federal Reserve said it sees inflation rising this year, signaling it remains on track to boost interest rates again in March.
• Asian shares eked out modest gains, clawing back sharp losses from earlier this week, however, rising U.S. bond yields and interest rates could dampen investors' optimism toward the global economic outlook.
• The dollar kept modest gains against its peers after the Federal Reserve signalled its confidence about inflation and growth in the world's biggest economy, with traders now waiting on a host of indicators including non-farm payrolls for further catalysts.
• The spread between longer-dated U.S. Treasury yields and short-dated ones contracted to the slimmest in over a decade on Wednesday as the government favored selling more short-dated debt than longer-dated issues to finance the projected rise in its budget deficit.
• U.S. oil prices extended gains as OPEC's strong compliance with a supply reduction pact offset news that U.S. production topped 10 million barrels per day for the first time in nearly half a century.
• Gold prices inched down after the U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged but hinted at hikes later this year.
CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 63.64/63.67 January 31 -$21.4 mln $43.10 mln 10-yr bond yield 7.55 pct Month-to-date $2.08 bln $1.47 bln Year-to-date $2.08 bln $1.47 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 = 63.5400 Indian rupees) (Compiled by Yoganand KN in Bengaluru)
