10:00 am: Chief Statistician T.C.A. Anant to launch national review/workshop on SSS scheme and compilation of CPI in New Delhi.
LIVECHAT-FOREX WEEKAHEAD FX Buzz analyst Jeremy Boulton analyses G7 currencies at 4.30 pm. To join the conversation, click on the link: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/communities/ INDIA TOP NEWS • Boeing sounds out Indian carriers on 737 MAX-10 aircraft Boeing has approached India's SpiceJet and Jet Airways as it gauges airlines' interest in its 737 MAX-10 aircraft, the stretched version of the yet-to-be-delivered 737 MAX narrow-body jetliner, a senior executive said.
• India finalises bills to launch new sales tax in July India moved a step closer on Saturday towards launching a new national sales tax from July after a panel of federal and state finance officials finalised two key bills to be put before parliament.
• Paytm E-Commerce raises $200 mln from Alibaba, SAIF Partners Paytm E-Commerce has raised $200 million from China's Alibaba Group and venture capital fund SAIF Partners to expand its online retail business in a market dominated by homegrown Flipkart and U.S. tech giant Amazon.
• Tata-DoCoMo truce may leave Japanese firm with $790 mln to invest in India - source Tata Sons will split a dispute settlement payment of $1.18 billion owed to NTT DoCoMo over the Japanese firm's exit from a telecoms joint venture, leaving it with about two-thirds of the amount to invest in India, a source said.
• China's LeEco not planning to quit Indian market, but cuts jobs Chinese electronics maker LeEco has no plans to exit operations in India, it said on Friday, refuting a media report that the company was preparing to leave the market although it has cut almost 80 percent of its workforce.
• GAIL signs 1st time-swap deal for U.S. LNG with Gunvor State-run gas company GAIL Ltd has signed a time-swap deal with Swiss trader Gunvor to sell some of its U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), sources said, as the Indian firm tries to ease the burden of its costly foreign LNG supplies.
• Sikh, told to leave country, shot in Washington state: police A Sikh man was shot and wounded in Washington state by an attacker who approached him in his driveway and told him to leave the country, police and media reported on Saturday.
GLOBAL TOP NEWS • Former U.S. intelligence chief rejects Trump wiretap accusation The former top U.S. intelligence official rejected President Donald Trump's accusation that his predecessor, Barack Obama, wiretapped him even as the White House on Sunday urged Congress to investigate Trump's allegation.
• French conservatives in disarray as Fillon clings on France's conservatives appeared to be at war with themselves less than 50 days from the presidential election as Francois Fillon clung on to his struggling, scandal-tainted campaign and senior party members fought to oust him as their candidate.
• S.Korea's Lotte says 4 retail stores in China closed amid political tension South Korea's Lotte Group said four of its retail stores in China were closed after inspections by authorities, as Seoul protests at discriminating action by China after Lotte agreed to provide land for a U.S. missile defence system.
LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) • The SGX Nifty Futures were trading at 8,933.50, trading up 0.15 pct from its previous close.
• The Indian rupee is expected to open little changed to slightly higher against the dollar, as profit booking hurt the greenback despite Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s signal of a likely rate increase this month.
• Indian government bonds are poised to open lower after the U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen suggested that a rate increase later this month was a distinct possibility. The yield on the benchmark 6.97 pct bond maturing in 2026 is likely to trade in a 6.75 pct-6.82 pct band today. The paper had settled at 101.38 rupees, the highest level since Feb. 8, yielding 6.77 pct on Mar 4. On a weekly basis, the benchmark yield fell 14 basis points.
GLOBAL MARKETS • U.S. stock index futures fell on Sunday amid news of North Korea's firing of four ballistic missiles and President Donald Trump's accusation that his predecessor, Barack Obama, wiretapped him.
• U.S. stock futures dropped and Asian shares were on the defensive as investors weighed the near-certain prospect of an interest rate hike in the United States this month against news of slower growth in China this year.
• The dollar dipped in Asian trading, as investors locked in gains after the greenback's rise last week on growing expectations of a U.S. interest rate hike this month.
• U.S. Treasury yields rose on Friday, with 2-year notes touching a fresh 7-1/2-year high and other maturities hitting multiweek peaks as statements from Federal Reserve officials including Chair Janet Yellen appeared supportive of an increase to U.S. overnight interest rates.
• Oil prices slipped in Asian trade, wiping out some of the gains of the previous session amid ongoing concern over Russia's compliance with a global deal to cut oil output.
• Gold prices held steady, supported by a weaker dollar, after falling to the lowest since in over two weeks in the previous session after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled it would raise interest rates in March.
CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 66.71/66.74 March 3 $229.06 mln $17.81 mln 10-yr bond yield 7.21 pct Month-to-date -$10.92 mln -$43.45 mln Year-to-date $1.55 bln $1.27 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 = 66.81 Indian rupees) (Compiled by Erum Khaled in Bengaluru)
