| News Announcement |
Impact Analysis |
| Brent Crude prices crossed the $62/bbl mark during the week |
- This marks a 20% rise in the price of Brent Crude over the last two weeks since it touched a low of $51/bbl
- Apart from a likely resolution to the US-China trade war, oil was enthused that OPEC was willing to cut supply further
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| Bad news on the IIP front as the IIP for November plunged to 0.5% |
- The big challenge for the IIP number came from the slowdown in production by the auto and garments sector
- The core sector numbers showed pressure on most key sectors like oil, gas and even in electricity production
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| Infosys misses Q3 guidance as net profits fall sharply |
- Infosys saw operating profits fall by 10.5% and net profits fall by 12.2% even as OPMs compressed
- Infosys did see growth in the top line but there was pressure on the costs front leading to the fall in profits
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| Banks are likely to work out a $900 million bailout package for Jet |
- The banks will restructure loans worth $450 million subject to Etihad bringing in another $450 million of fresh funds
- This could imply that Naresh Goyal may have to dilute his stake in the airlines and also cede control of Jet Airways
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| NSE Chairman, Ashok Chawla, resigns from the board with immediate effect |
- The resignation appears to have been triggered by other legal cases in which Chawla has been named
- NSE is also in the midst of a major investigation on the algo trading front pertaining to unfair access to brokers
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| Aberdeen prefers Philippine bonds over Indian bonds |
- The view came after the INR ended up as the worst performing currency in Asia
- According to Aberdeen, Philippine and Indonesian bonds are at much more attractive on currency risk-adjusted basis
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| India’s oil imports from Iran slid sharply under US pressure |
- India imported just 302,000 barrels of crude from Iran in December, lower by 41% on a MOM basis
- While the US has allowed India and other nations to continue Iranian imports, some cuts are being proactively done
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| TCS posted an all time record profit of Rs.8105 crore in Q3 |
- The profits for Q3 were largely driven by better than expected growth across UK and Europe
- BFSI continued to improve growth rates to 8.6% even as digital continued to gain a larger wallet share at TCS
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| GST Council rationalizes rules to make life easier for MSMEs and traders |
- In an anticipated move, the GST Council raised the minimum threshold for GST from Rs.20 lakhs to Rs.40 lakhs
- Even the composition limit was increased to Rs.1.50 crore and the definition of eligible companies has been widened
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| Reuters survey has hinted at lower CPI inflation at closer to 2.2% |
- This would be closer to the lower end of the RBI range of comfort between 2% and 6%
- The lower CPI inflation is likely to be led by weak food prices and low oil crude oil prices
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| RBI refuses relaxation for PCA banks before observing Q3 results |
- Markets were expecting the RBI to announce lenient measures for PCA banks to ease credit situation
- The delay means that most PCA banks will not be able to lend for the next couple of months
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| JLR retrenched 4500 workers from its UK plant to cut costs |
- This cut in jobs was necessitated by the slowdown in China, which is one of the largest markets for JLR
- JLR has a total workforce of 40,000 in UK and this job cut represents over 10% of their UK workforce
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| US China trade talks concluded during the week on a positive note |
- The early indications were that there was consensus and agreement on defence and agriculture
- However, markets are likely to get jittery if granular details do not come out within the next few days
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| Rupee weakened beyond the 70/$ mark during the week |
- Rupee came under pressure on higher crude oil pressures as it puts a strain on the trade deficit and the CAD
- The Reuters Poll also pegged the INR at well above 70 which led to a rush of dollar buying by importers and banks
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| Government targets to raise Rs.7000 crore via the sale of Air India |
- The government had tried selling Air India twice in the past but there were hardly any interested parties
- As a sweetener, the government will transfer 55% of the total debt of $8.5 billion into a separate SPV
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| Mutual Funds saw outflows of Rs.136,000 crore in December |
- The outflows were largely led by money market mutual funds as redemption pressure came over the year end
- However, the SIP continued to attract record monthly inflows in excess of $1.2 billion in December
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| RBI has ruled out any special classification for IL&FS loans |
- IL&FS has debt to the tune of Rs.96,000 crore and banks had asked for deferment of NPA classification in this case
- However, this has been struck down by RBI and most banks will have to book IL&FS NPAs in this quarter
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| CSO pegs full year GDP growth at 7.2% for the Indian economy |
- Considering 7.6% growth in the first half, it means that India would grow at just 6.8% in the second half
- While agriculture could outperform, pressure is expected from the manufacturing and the services sector
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| RBI looks all set to pay special dividend to the government of India |
- While the amount is not announced, markets are expecting a payout of nearly $5.8 billion by the RBI
- This could be a trade-off for the RBI from ceding control in the matter of refund of reserves to the government
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| Andhra Pradesh gets the largest single FDI infusion of $3.5 billion |
- The FDI investment will be made by Asia Pulp and Paper of Indonesia in the Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh
- APP will set up the single largest paper mill in the world and will benefit over 70,000 people, directly and indirectly
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| FPIs withdrew a total of Rs.83,000 crore from India during the year 2018 |
- While 40% of these outflows were accounted by equity, the balance 60% was accounted by debt outflows
- The FPI picture in 2019 will largely depend on the Fed stance on rates and India’s domestic macros
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