(Morning News Call - India edition will not be published through the year-end holiday season from December 25, 2017 to January 1, 2018. Normal service will resume from January 2, 2018. Season’s Greetings and Happy New Year.) To access the newsletter, click on the link: http://share.thomsonreuters.com/assets/newsletters/Indiamorning/MNC_IN_12222017.pdf If you would like to receive this newsletter via email, please register at: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/india-morning/ FACTORS TO WATCH 11:00 am: Winter session of parliament continues in New Delhi.
12:00 pm: Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at launch of Skill Development Program in New Delhi.
2:00 pm: Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari at launch of electric vehicles of Lohia Auto in New Delhi.
5:00 pm: RBI to release weekly foreign exchange data in Mumbai.
GMF:QUIZ EAST The first of our Friday quizzes focuses on Asia and the week's top news. Tests your wits and googling speed. To join the conversation at 1100 IST, click on the link: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/communities/ INDIA TOP NEWS Thyssenkrupp, workers strike deal to pave way for Tata Steel merger Workers on Thursday struck a deal with German industrial company Thyssenkrupp to secure steel plants and jobs, a big step towards a planned merger of the group's European steel business with that of India's Tata Steel.
Indian court acquits all accused in 2G telecoms case An Indian court on Thursday acquitted a former telecoms minister, politicians and business executives of graft and money laundering charges in the grant of telecoms licences due to lack of evidence in one of the country's biggest corruption scandals.
India budget likely to focus on rural areas after Modi's narrow home-state victory India's government will likely increase funding for the farm and rural sectors in the budget for the coming fiscal year, finance ministry officials said, to shore up political support in the countryside ahead of a raft of elections.
Bharti Airtel says purchase of Tanzania unit stake had government approval Indian telecoms carrier Bharti Airtel said on Thursday that there were no irregularities in deals that made it the majority shareholder in a Tanzanian unit, a day after the country's president claimed the company belonged to the state.
HDFC to sell units HDFC Developers, HDFC Realty to Quikr India Indian mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corporation on Thursday said it will sell its units HDFC Developers and HDFC Realty to online classified advertising platform Quikr India for 3.57 billion rupees.
GLOBAL TOP NEWS Defying Trump, over 120 countries at U.N. condemn Jerusalem decision More than 120 countries defied President Donald Trump on Thursday and voted in favor of a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling for the United States to drop its recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
U.S. Congress votes to avert shutdown. sends Trump stopgap spending bill The U.S. Congress on Thursday averted a government shutdown just one day before federal funding was due to expire, sending President Donald Trump a bill to provide just enough money to keep agencies operating through Jan. 19.
Japan cabinet approves record $860 bln spending in FY2018/19 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet endorsed a record $860 billion spending budget for fiscal 2018, highlighting his greater emphasis on growth than austerity, with aggressive monetary stimulus keeping borrowing costs low.
LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) The SGX Nifty Futures was trading at 10,458.50, up 0.04 percent from its previous close The Indian rupee will likely open little changed against the dollar tracking mixed Asian cues amid a steady U.S. economic growth ahead of a long weekend.
Indian government bonds are likely to fall in early session as investors await fresh supply of notes through a weekly auction. The benchmark bond yield is likely to trade in 7.18-7.24 percent band till the auction results later in the day, a trader with a private bank said. Yesterday, the bond had closed at 97.13 rupees, yielding 7.21 percent.
GLOBAL MARKETS • The three main U.S. stock indexes rose on Thursday, boosted by bank and energy stocks as investors bet on more economically sensitive sectors.
• Asian stocks edged up on Friday on new data pointing to steady growth in the U.S. economy, while the euro slipped after a vote in Catalonia favoured separatists wanting to break away from Spain.
• The dollar edged up though remained on track for weekly losses, while the euro skidded after Catalan vote results indicated a victory for separatists in a blow to Madrid.
• The U.S. yield curve flattened on Thursday with 10-year yields falling from a nine-month peak as bargain-minded investors emerged, providing a respite from a sharp three-day bond market selloff tied to a sweeping U.S. tax bill.
• Oil prices dipped away from 2015 highs reached the previous session, weighed down by rising U.S. output and the expected January re-opening of the Forties pipeline in the North Sea.
• Gold prices traded just below a two-week high, pressured by a firmer dollar, but was on track to log a second consecutive week of gains.
CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 64.08/64.11 December 21 -$59.99 mln $14.83 mln 10-yr bond yields 7.26 pct Month-to-date -$932.92 mln $320.73 mln Year-to-date $7.76 bln $26.05 bln 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 = 64.0100 Indian rupees)
