| Major News Item | Impact Analysis |
| Ø The President signs ordinance to amend the Bankruptcy Bill | Ø The primary focus of the amendment will be to legally prevent the defaulters from taking control of the company
Ø The amendment also seeks to overcome constraints pertaining to CCI approvals and open offers
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| Ø Promoters likely to approach the courts against the promoter ban in IBC | Ø Many analysts are of the view that barring promoters may vastly reduce the chances of a stressed asset being sold
Ø However, the argument of these promoter groups is unlikely to stand up to scrutiny in a court of law
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| Ø Winter session of Parliament to commence on December 15th | Ø The winter session was postponed considering the upcoming Gujarat elections in early December
Ø The ordinance signed by the President on the IBC will be taken up for approval but that is likely to be a formality
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| Ø The race for the elections in Gujaratis graduallyheating up | Ø The battle for Gujarat could be much tighter than originally envisaged due to Hardik Patel supporting the Congress
Ø The BJP has been in power in the state of Gujarat for more than 20 years and it will be seen as a referendum on 2019
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| Ø Gold prices inched up after Fed members gave dovish signals | Ø The Fed minutes released hints at more members expressing serious concerns over inflation remaining at low levels
Ø Inflation at around 2% is a key criterion for a rate hike and any delays in rate hikes will mean a weaker dollar
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| Ø Infosys stock hits a 3-month highahead of the buyback date | Ø The Infosys buyback at a price of Rs.1150 commences on November 30th and there is buying interest in the stock
Ø The buyback is at a steep premium to the market price and that could be an incentive to try and cash out
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| Ø Government puts strict curbs on the exports of onions | Ø The government has imposed strict curbs on onion exports after the prices crossed Rs.70/kg
Ø Onions have always been a politically sensitive commodity and the BJP will not want to take chances ahead of polls
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| Ø Edelweiss plans to expand its retail credit book substantially | Ø In fact, Edelweiss expects its retail credit book to constitute over 50% of its overall book by the year 2020
Ø Leading brokers like Edelweiss are already deriving a chunk of their revenues from fund-based businesses
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| Ø FMCG companies passing on most of the GST cuts to end consumers | Ø In the last GST meet, the Council had aggressively cut rates on 75% of the products in the peak 28% bracket
Ø This is likely to be positive for demand and is likely to benefit stocks like HUVR, ITC, Dabur and Marico
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| Ø Government imposes price controls on Hepatitis and cancer drugs | Ø A total of 51 drugs for treating diseases like Hepatitis, Cancer and Haemophilia have come under price control
Ø That is not great news for the already beleaguered pharma sector which is facing pressure in the US markets too |
| Ø Airtel has expressed interest in buying a stake in RCOM | Ø This will be an extension to the telecom properties already acquired by telecom major Airtel in the last few months
Ø For RCOM, it may come as a whiff of fresh air as banks are trying to encircle the company for initiation liquidation
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| Ø Government to probe if promoters exaggerated power project costs | Ø The government view has been that the problem was aggravated by promoters overstating project costs
Ø This becomes all the more relevant in the light of the government tightening the IBC rules by an ordinance
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| Ø Centre to sanction a total of Rs.100,000 crore for Tamil Nadu infrastructure | Ø This money is largely likely to be used for highways and port related projects to give a big boost to the TN economy
Ø This move assumes added importance in the light of the recent political developments in Tamil Nadu
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| Ø Government has exempted oil & gas mergers from CCI approvals | Ø The CCI normally has to approve any merger that is likely to create a near monopoly situation in the industry
Ø However, in case of oil & gas this merger is not market driven but driven more by scale and oil security considerations
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| Ø Government clarifies that there is no proposal to withdraw cheque books | Ø A few newspapers had carried this report as a measure to promote the concept of digital banking in a bigger way
Ø However, with limited clearing facilities, inadequate manpower and time lags, it was always impractical
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| Ø By FY20, NBFCs may hold 20% of the total loan book as per a report | Ø NBFCs have moved in rapidly to bridge this large gap in funding due to PSU banks lagging in credit growth
Ø NBFCs are less regulated and hence they have greater flexibility in structuring solutions
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| Ø Havmor exits ice-cream business and sells out to Lotte of South Korea | Ø The consideration of Rs.1020 crore will only include the ice creambusiness and the restaurants will continue
Ø Havmor was already under pressure after the aggressive sales plans of AMUL and Vadilal in Gujarat
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| Ø Indian refiners processed record crude in the month of October | Ø Nearly 5.2 million barrels per day of crude were processed during the month of October by Indian refineries
Ø India has already emerged as the third largest oil consumer and this has given substantial clout in negotiations
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| Ø Government may accord to special infrastructure status to logistics | Ø Logistics is likely to be the one key sector to benefit in the post-GST scenario due to revamped logistics networks
Ø Infrastructure status will enable easier funding at lower cost of credit as well as interest from PE investors
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| Ø India may cut back on its annual health budget by $5 billion | Ø This is being seen as a huge cut for an economy that is already struggling to improve its social indicators
Ø That is approximately 25% cut in the overall health budget and intended to contain the fiscal deficit
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| Ø Trade deficit for first 7 months up by 60% on a YOY basis | Ø The trade deficit for Apr-Oct period touched a level of $88 billion, sharply higher than last year
Ø Strong rupee has helped rupee to strengthen leading to a surge in imports and weak export performance |
