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FACTORS TO WATCH
9:45 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to hold pre-budget
consultations with groups of trade union and labor organizations in New Delhi.
12:00 pm: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to hold pre-budget
consultations with industrialists in New Delhi.
INDIA TOP NEWS
• Indian tribunal orders reinstatement of Mistry as chairman of Tata Sons
Cyrus Mistry, who has been embroiled in a legal battle with Tata Group since
being ousted in 2016, won backing from a tribunal to be reinstated as executive
chairman of its holding company, lawyers said on Wednesday.
• U.S.-India business groups plan to lobby for dilution of India's privacy
bill -sources
Trade groups representing some of the world's biggest firms plan to lobby
U.S. officials and Indian lawmakers in a bid to dilute parts of an Indian
privacy bill which could hurt businesses, three sources familiar with the plans
told Reuters.
• Kashmir sees more than $2.4 billion losses since lockdown - group
A lockdown in Indian-administered Kashmir has cost its economy more than
$2.4 billion since the government stripped it of its special status, officials
of the Himalayan region's main trade organisation said on Wednesday.
• India plans bio-gas plants to tackle toxic pollution, but experts
sceptical
India is planning to set up more than 100 bio-gas plants and provide thousands
of framers with machines to dispose of crop stubble in a bid to halt the choking
crop-burning pollution that blights the country every winter.
GLOBAL TOP NEWS
• U.S. House impeaches Donald Trump for abuse of power, obstruction
Donald Trump became the third U.S. president to be impeached as the House of
Representatives formally charged him with abuse of power and obstruction of
Congress in a historic step that will inflame partisan tensions across a deeply
divided America.
• BOJ keeps policy steady, maintains overall economic assessment
The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady on Thursday and maintained its
upbeat assessment of the economy, suggesting that no imminent expansion of
stimulus was forthcoming despite lingering overseas risks that weigh on a
fragile recovery.
• From Instagram to TikTok: Indians wage online battle against citizenship
law
As protests rage across Indian universities against a new citizenship law,
students have taken to social media to wage battle online and teach people how
to organise demonstrations.
LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK
(As reported by NewsRise)
• SGX Nifty nearest-month futures were trading 0.2% lower at 12,231.00.
• The Indian rupee is expected to open little changed against the dollar
amid fresh three-month highs on Brent crude and quiet Asian cues.
• Indian government bonds will likely open lower tracking an uptick in U.S.
Treasury yields, while investors await the minutes of the rate-setting Monetary
Policy Committees December meeting, due later today, for further cues on
interest rates. The yield on the benchmark 6.45% bond maturing in 2029 is likely
to trade in a range of 6.70%-6.75% today.
GLOBAL MARKETS
• The S&P 500 ended a five-day winning streak on Wednesday as investors'
optimism about global economic growth was countered by a steep drop in FedEx
shares, but the benchmark index managed to hover near all-time highs.
• Asian shares pulled back from a one-and-a-half year peak as investors
booked profits ahead of holiday trade and awaited further data on the state of
the global economy.
• The dollar took in stride the impeachment of U.S. President Donald Trump
while its Australian counterpart rallied after a surprise fall in the country's
unemployment rate.
• U.S. Treasury yields rose on Wednesday as investors shrugged off the
likely impeachment of U.S. President Donald Trump and focused on positive
economic signs.
• Oil prices remained in touching distance of three-month peaks, extending a
robust streak that began a week ago, after data showed U.S. crude inventories
had dropped while output cuts by major producers kept supply snug.
• Gold prices inched up after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to
impeach President Donald Trump on articles of abuse of power and obstruction of
Congress.
CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT
PNDF spot 71.06/71.09 December 18 1,212.97 crore (615.31) crore
10-yr bond yield 6.78% Month-to-date 778 crore (2,674) crore
Year-to-date 94,562 crore 27,824 crore
(FII investment numbers are in Indian rupees. Source: National Securities
Depository Limited)
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 = 71.77 Indian rupees)
(Compiled by Swathi Nair in Bengaluru)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.