• Softbank had originally planned to sell its 23% stake at a profit of $2 billion but is now sceptical about the tax implications
• Softbank may be trying to play hardball to extract a much better valuation from Wal-Mart for its stake

• The top line was up by 3% while the bottom line was up by around 5% for the fourth quarter
• Despite higher crude prices, a key input, Asian Paints did benefit from better pricing power and higher demand

• This is likely to halt a 3-month slide in retail inflation that was visible since food prices started tapering in January
• But the real worry could be the impact of crude oil which has consistently maintained above $70/bbl

• The withdrawal of the US from the Iran nuclear deal indicates that US sanctions on Iran may be back
• This is likely to widen the rift between Iran and Saudi Arabia and impact the oil supply from the region

• According to BoFA, this price rise will be due to a combination of higher demand and lower supply due to Iran sanctions
• In fact, crude oil prices are likely to go up to $85/bbl by the end of the current calendar year itself

• Apple has just announced a $100 billion buyback and could be the first US company to touch $1 trillion in market cap
• US markets were also buoyed by lower inflation as it hinted that the actual rate trajectory may be slower than expected

• The duo have agreed to pump in Rs.1800 crore into Fortis Healthcare through preferential equity and warrants
• The decision has been taken by the board and will now have to be put up for approval of shareholders

• Passenger vehicles were the key driver at 7.5% with robust sales of utility vehicles, cars and vans
• Interestingly, motorcycles showed 19% growth in the month on the back of robust rural sales

• Jio is keen on the post-paid market as spends are 5 times that of the pre-paid market where Jio had traditionally competed
• Jio’s plan comes with a whopping 25 GB of data and free voice calling without limits. This is twice as good as competition

• Bank Credit was higher by 12.6% for the last fortnight marking a sharp revival from flat to negative growth in 2017

With the focus on NCLT Recoveries, there has surely been traction on pushing credit to industry

• 1 seat of the DG will fall vacant when Mr. S S Mundhra retires in July this year on completion of his term
• The RBI has already interviewed 3 senior bureaucrats and 6 senior bankers for the post

• The NPA spurt in private banks was largely led by ICICI Bank followed by Axis Bank and Yes Bank
• The first hit came via the AQR in 2015 and now the new Stressed Assets Framework has put further pressure

• Gross NPAs of the bank have gone up sharply to 15.73% on the back of tighter provisioning norms
• However, with more NCLT resolutions, the bank expects that the NPA cycle could have almost bottomed out

• The SEBI has accepted the splitting of the post of Chairman and MD for the top-500 companies by April 2020
• Each company must have minimum of 6 independent directors with 1 lady director

• This values the ecommerce property of Flipkart at $21 billion one of the best valuations in recent times
• The largest shareholder, Softbank of Japan, will be entirely exiting its 23% stake in Flipkart

• Wal-Mart may have to pay tax on the transaction due to the transfer of ownership
• Wal-Mart is obviously cautious about pending litigations in the cases of Vodafone and Cairn

• The panic buying of dollars was led by a sharp rise in crude oil prices and expectation of portfolio outflows
• There was a virtual pressure on buying dollars from banks and importers looking for cover. RBI is yet to intervene

• The IPO proceeds will be used to repay $4.5 billion out of its current $14.5 billion debt pile
• Bharti Airtel; had bought Zain of Africa in 2007 and that has paid off as the fastest growing mobile market in the world

• Gross NPAs of ICICI Bank came in 100 bps higher at 8.84% even as net profits of the bank plunged
• Across two days of the meeting there was little mention of the conflict of interest case in which the CEO is embroiled

• SEBI has called for F&O transactions to be taxed STT at notional value rather than the transaction value
• Apparently, this was distorting the market volumes in favour of the derivatives segment creating more speculation

• This was necessitated by the recent case of bids and counter bids by Ultratech and Dalmia Bharat for Binani Cements
• NCLT is still not clear on whether precedence to be given to the bidding process or getting the best price for creditors