| News Announcement |
Impact Analysis |
| US Fed maintains status quo on rates in its latest Fed meeting |
- The US status quo on rates was already indicated by the CME Fed Watch tool and it was just an affirmation
- While Powell hinted at status quo till the end of 2019, markets were disappointed in the absence of any dovishness
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| Core sector output for March came in higher at 4.7% for 8 core sectors |
- Cement and refining products were the major drivers while oil extractors disappointed on the lower side
- However, the full year core sector growth for fiscal 2018-19 remained static at 4.3%; same as the previous year
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| GST collections touch a record of Rs.1.14 trillion for April 2019 |
- The sharp rise in GST was driven by aggressive reporting of year-end sales and greater compliance
- However, this is still way short of the monthly target of Rs.1.30 trillion that GST needs to touch in this fiscal
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| IT stocks correct sharply on the back of weak Cognizant numbers |
- Cognizant reported a 15% fall in profits and lower revenue guidance of 4% due to BFSI pressures
- IT stocks also took a hit on the back of a weak dollar after the Fed maintained status quo on the rates front.
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| Brent Crude prices fell by nearly $5/bbl during the week on US pressure |
- Brent fell to $70/bbl as the US increased its daily production to 12.7 million barrels and inventory to 470 million barrels
- However, the sanctions on Iran and Venezuela will continue to pose strong support for the oil prices
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| SEBI imposes Rs.700 crore disgorgement order on NSE |
- This is the profit that the NSE will have to repay to the IEPF for its role in the co-location fiasco
- NSE has meanwhile moved the SAT to get a stay on the implementation of the SEBI order
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| Government to allow Jet overseas traffic rights to other airlines |
- In the last couple of weeks since Jet was grounded, SBI has already sold aircraft and landing rights to the competition
- This virtually snuffs out any possibility of a revival in Jet Airways as it could soon be reduced to a shell company
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| Hindustan Unilever reports lowest volume growth in 6 quarters |
- Top line growth at around 6% was sharp than the double-digit growth that HUVR has seen recently
- The weakness in revenues came from a slowdown in rural demand as rural distress continued to dominate
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| HDFC Life OFS gets oversubscribed by 3 times the issue size |
- The OFS was used by Standard Life to sell 4.93% stake in the HDFC Standard Life joint venture
- The OFS was priced at an attractive discount to the market price which led to the buoyant demand for the OFS
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| CRISIL pegs IBC recovery rate of around 43% for banks |
- According to CRISIL, a recovery rate of over 40% is considered to be competitive even by global benchmarks
- There are still some large cases like Bhushan Power, Amtek Auto and Essar Steel to be concluded this year
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| Forex Reserves up by nearly $4.3 billion in the week at $419 billion |
- Forex reserves were boosted by the two rounds of dollar swap auctions done by the RBI in the last month
- Forex reserves had fallen nearly 10% as the RBI supported the falling rupee last year. It is yet to touch peak levels
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| Insurance companies to make provisions for IL&FS default |
- IRDA has asked insurers to provide for losses on their bond holdings of IL&FS and Reliance Capital
- IL&FS has been consistently defaulting on its bonds but NCLT had given special leeway to banks not to write off
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| Iran oil exports come under US embargo effective 02nd of May |
- After the expiry of 6 months waiver, the US had refused to extend the waiver on Iranian oil imports
- While India has already made alternate arrangements for oil supply, China is yet to take a final call on Iran imports
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| Bharti Airtel could soon plan its $5 billion IPO of Bharti Africa |
- Almost 10 years back, Bharti Airtel had acquired a strong African telecom franchise through Zain
- Now Bharti is looking to monetize its African business through an IPO to use the funds for the Indian war chest
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| SEBI wants a 2% cap on royalty payment by Indian companies |
- It may be recollected that the Kotak Committee had recommended a 5% cap on royalty payments
- SEBI wants to permit higher levels of royalty transfers only in the event of technology transfers by the foreign company
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| Indian sugar output to again touch record levels in the current cycle |
- Indian sugar production is expected to cross 33 million tonnes a growth of 1.5% over the previous year
- This means lower sugar prices and could worsen the problem of sugar cane dues for farmers
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| McLeod Russell stock tanks by over 40% in three days |
- The stock came under pressure after reports that weak tea demand, supply glut and debt were hitting the stock
- The sharp fall in the price of the stock came after the company announced the sale of some of its marquee assets
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| Finance Ministry hints at growth slowdown in the fourth quarter |
- The Monthly Economic Report has hinted at a likely fall in Q4 GDP growth due to weak consumption demand
- Full-year growth is likely to be closer to 7% and Q4 surprises could impact the full year data
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| SEBI hints at decisive regulation on the FMPs front |
- SEBI has been unhappy with the fact that mutual funds have been funding promoters through the NCD route
- SEBI is worried about MFs acting like banks since MFs are not regulated by capital adequacy and NPA recognition norms
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| There may be a new complication for pledging of shares |
- This came as part of the new insider trading regulations that came into effect from 01st of April
- The longer trading block on insider trading will also include the pledging of shares by promoters
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| India completes four rounds of voting in its 2019 General Elections |
- With four rounds of voting, the fate of nearly 65% of the seats are already sealed in ballot boxes
- That still leaves 3 more rounds of voting before the final counting that is scheduled on 23rd of May
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