2:30 pm: Comptroller & Auditor General audit report on ‘Turn Around and Financial Restructuring Plan of Air India’ in New Delhi.
5:00 pm: RBI to release weekly foreign exchange data in Mumbai.
5:30 pm: Government to release January industrial output data in New Delhi.
LIVECHAT-QUIZ EAST Test your wits and googling speed at 11 am on the Friday quiz that focuses on Asia and the week's top news. To join the conversation, click on the link: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/communities/ INDIA TOP NEWS • State-backed rivals force India's e-payment firms to step up Electronic payment firms got a big boost when India abolished most of the country's banknotes last year, but rival state-sponsored e-payment services are forcing them to raise their game to hang on to their new customers.
• PREVIEW-Indian inflation seen picking up in Feb for first time in 7 months on food prices Indian inflation likely picked up for the first time in seven months in February as rising food prices began to bite, but it remained below the central bank's medium-term target, a Reuters poll found.
• VW and Tata agree to explore cooperation in India - sources Volkswagen has signed an agreement with Tata Motors to explore cooperation in India, company sources close to the matter said, as the German carmaker tries once again to conquer emerging markets.
• Japan asks WTO to set up settlement panel in India steel dispute Japan on Thursday asked the World Trade Organization to set up a dispute settlement panel to examine India's safeguard duties on steel imports which it says may be violating the WTO rules.
• Some Indian banks risk skipping coupon payments - Fitch Ratings Some Indian banks are at risk of skipping coupon payments on their capital instruments despite recent easing of rules by the central bank and capital injection by the government into state-run lenders, Fitch Ratings said on Thursday.
• PM's party ahead in biggest state election - exit polls Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party is well ahead of rivals in an election in the country's most populous state, but may fall short of an absolute majority, four major exit polls showed on Thursday.
GLOBAL TOP NEWS • South Korea court removes President Park from office over scandal South Korea's Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, removing her from office over a graft scandal involving big business that has gripped the country for months.
• Republican U.S. health plan clears first hurdles, fate uncertain The Republican plan backed by President Donald Trump to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system cleared its first hurdles in Congress on Thursday, but its chances for passage looked uncertain and top Republicans scrambled to bring disgruntled conservatives aboard.
• WikiLeaks offers CIA hacking tools to tech companies -Assange Wikileaks will provide technology companies with exclusive access to CIA hacking tools that it possesses so they can patch software flaws, founder Julian Assange said on Thursday, presenting Silicon Valley with a potential dilemma on how to deal with the anti-secrecy group.
LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) • The SGX Nifty Futures were trading at 8,977.00, trading up 0.23 pct from its previous close.
• The Indian rupee is poised to open little changed against the dollar, as investors await U.S. nonfarm payrolls data for February ahead of a keenly-watched Federal Reserve meeting next week.
• Indian government bonds will likely edge lower tracking a sharp rise in U.S. Treasury yields ahead of the crucial non-farm jobs data, which, if solid, will further cement expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike next week. The yield on the benchmark 6.97 pct bond maturing in 2026 is likely to trade in a 6.83 pct-6.88 pct band today. The paper had settled at 100.80 rupees, yielding 6.85 pct yesterday.
GLOBAL MARKETS • A late rebound in energy shares helped U.S. stocks end a choppy session a tad higher on Thursday ahead of the U.S. monthly jobs report.
• Asian stocks edged up and the dollar rose to 1-1/2-month highs versus the yen ahead of the U.S. non-farm payrolls report due later in the day.
• The dollar firmed to six-week highs against the yen and looked set for a modest weekly gain as investors awaited U.S. job data later in the day that is expected to reinforce expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike next week.
• U.S. Treasury yields rose on Thursday with longer-dated yields reaching their highest in about 11 weeks, in step with their German counterparts before Friday's U.S. jobs report that may seal expectations the Federal Reserve will raise rates next week.
• Crude prices inched up after dropping to their lowest in more than three months the session before, pressured by concerns that a global supply glut is proving stubbornly persistent.
• Gold prices dropped below the key level of $1,200 an ounce to hit their lowest in over five weeks, pressured by a stronger dollar ahead of U.S. jobs data later in the day.
CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 66.68/66.71 March 9 $73.20 mln -$83.30 mln 10-yr bond yield 7.25 pct Month-to-date $462.05 mln $39.18 mln Year-to-date $2.02 bln $1.35 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 = 66.61 Indian rupees) (Compiled by Erum Khaled in Bengaluru)
