10:00 am: Controller General of Accounts Archana Nigam at an event in New Delhi.
12:15 pm: Avenue Supermarts IPO press conference in Mumbai.
4:00 pm: Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar at an awards event in New Delhi.
LIVECHAT-COMMODITIES FOCUS Clyde Russell, Reuters Asia Commodities and Energy Columnist, joins us at 9.30 am to discuss OPEC output, copper supply shortages, China's clampdown on low quality iron ore and U.S. President Trump's policy uncertainties. To join the conversation, click on the link: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com communities/ INDIA TOP NEWS • India's strong GDP data leaves economists scratching their heads India defied expectations on Tuesday to retain the title of the world's fastest growing major economy, despite the pain caused by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's shock crackdown on cash.
• Tough love for bad debt? RBI deputy targets Indian banks' toxic loans Economist Viral Acharya spent nearly two decades studying banking crises around the world. Now, as a deputy governor at India's central bank, he is turning his attention to one that may be developing at home.
• Finance ministry official Tyagi takes helm at India's market regulator Finance ministry official Ajay Tyagi takes over as Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman with two likely priorities - developing the country's commodity and corporate bond markets and shoring up corporate governance.
• India's fiscal deficit breaches 2016/17 target in Jan India's fiscal deficit INFISC=ECI in the first 10 months to January was 5.64 trillion rupees or 105.7 percent of the budgeted target for the fiscal year ending in March 2017, government data showed on Tuesday.
• Tata Sons moves to settle $1.18 bln legal dispute with DoCoMo Tata Sons has agreed to pay NTT DoCoMo $1.18 billion to buy out the Japanese firm's stake in a telecoms joint venture, paving the way for the settlement of a long-standing dispute days after a new chairman took charge at the Indian conglomerate.
• India aviation regulator probes P&W engine issues on Airbus A320 NEOs India's aviation regulator said it is investigating issues that have arisen with the Pratt and Whitney engines in Airbus Group's A-320 NEO narrow-body jets brought into service over the past year by two local carriers.
• India issues fresh antibiotic guidelines to tackle superbug menace India, one of the world's biggest consumers of antibiotics, has issued new national guidelines on their use as part of a drive to fight the rise of drug-resistant superbugs.
GLOBAL TOP NEWS • Trump opens door to immigration reform in speech to Congress U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was open to a broad overhaul of the U.S. immigration system, a shift from his hardline campaign rhetoric, as he made his first speech to Congress following a turbulent first month in office.
• Australia economy extends recession-free run with solid Q4 growth Australia's economy rebounded sharply last quarter as commodity exports boomed while consumers and the government lifted spending, extending the resource rich nation's 25-year streak of uninterrupted expansion.
• FBI investigating shootings of Indian men in Kansas as hate crime The deadly shooting of an Indian engineer and wounding of his co-worker last Wednesday at a bar in Kansas is being investigated as a hate crime, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Tuesday.
LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) • The SGX Nifty Futures were trading at 8,920.50, trading up 0.1 pct from its previous close.
• The Indian rupee will likely open slightly lower against the dollar, as rising expectations of a Federal Reserve rate increase next month support the greenback, even as investors digest U.S. President Donald Trump’s first address to Congress.
• Indian government bonds are poised to open lower tracking a rise in U.S. Treasury yields, as a Federal Reserve official’s comments have reignited bets of an early interest rate increase in the world’s largest economy. The yield on the benchmark 6.97 pct bond maturing in 2026 is likely to trade in a 6.85 pct-6.92 pct band today. The paper had settled at 100.69 rupees, yielding 6.87 pct yesterday.
GLOBAL MARKETS • U.S. stocks slipped on Tuesday and the Dow snapped a 12-day streak of record closes as investors awaited President Donald Trump's address to Congress, while a disappointing outlook from Target dragged down retailers.
• The dollar and Treasury yields jumped after Federal Reserve officials jolted traders by suggesting an interest rate rise may be imminent even as markets remained on tenterhooks ahead of a looming speech by U.S. President Donald Trump.
• The dollar erased its earlier gains in Asia as U.S. President Donald Trump delivered a key policy speech to the Congress, leaving a jittery market devoid of any details on his economic stimulus in the early part of his speech.
• U.S. crude lost more ground on rising U.S. oil output, although OPEC production cuts continued to offer support.
• Gold slipped on a stronger dollar ahead of a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump that investors hope will shed more light on the details of his economic policy.
CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 66.70/66.73 February 28 $171.84 mln $73.62 mln 10-yr bond yield 7.19 pct Month-to-date $1.41 bln $1.43 bln Year-to-date $1.40 bln $1.32 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 = 66.69 Indian rupees) (Erum Khaled in Bengaluru)
