12:00 pm: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and government’s Digital Payments panel convenor Chandrababu Naidu at an event in Mumbai.
12:30 pm: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, Communication Minister Manoj Sinha at inspection of new rake of Antyodaya express in New Delhi.
TRADING INDIA FORUM-INDIA'S DIAMOND MARKET India’s largely cash traded diamond market saw a sharp downturn post Modi’s demonetization drive. While traders were hit, the industry came to a virtual standstill. Sachin Jain, president, Forevermark Diamonds, will join the forum at 11:00 am to discuss about the market recovery and long-term effects of the demonetization drive on the industry. To join the conversation, click on the link: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/communities/">https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/communities/ LIVECHAT-CRUDE FOCUS Oil markets remain under pressure as crude supplies remain bloated despite the OPEC cuts, while U.S. production is on the rise. OPEC may now be considering extending its oil supply-reduction pact with non-members and might even apply deeper cuts if global crude inventories failed to drop to a targeted level. At 09:00 am, Vandana Hari, founder of Vanda Insights, will discuss what that level could be along with her outlook for the energy markets. To join the conversation, click on the link: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/communities/">https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/communities/ INDIA TOP NEWS • PM Modi urges U.S. to keep an open mind on visas for skilled workers Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the United States on Tuesday to keep an open mind on admitting skilled Indian workers, in comments that pushed back against Republican President Donald Trump's "America First" rhetoric on jobs.
• India must urgently resolve bad debt at lenders - RBI deputy governor Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Viral Acharya said India needs to urgently address the large amounts of bad debt held by its lenders, outlining potential solutions including the creation of public or private agencies to buy the soured loans.
• India top oil explorer takes profit hit from royalty payments Oil and Natural Gas Corp will take a 16 billion rupee hit to its quarterly earnings to account for previous royalty payments to Indian states, the oil exploration company's finance head A. K. Srinivasan said.
• Reliance Jio racks up 100 million subscribers but ends freebies Reliance Industries' Jio telecoms unit will charge for its services from April, ending an almost seven month spree of free calls and data that shook up India's telecoms sector and helped the new arrival rack up more than 100 million users.
• Tata Sons' new chairman to focus on shareholder returns, capital allocation Tata Sons, the holding company of the $100-billion Tata group, will focus on boosting shareholder returns and tightening capital allocation rules, newly-appointed chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran said in a statement on Tuesday.
GLOBAL TOP NEWS • Trump to spare U.S. 'dreamer' immigrants from crackdown U.S. President Donald Trump's administration plans to consider almost all illegal immigrants subject to deportation, but will leave protections in place for immigrants known as "dreamers" who entered the United States illegally as children, according to official guidelines released on Tuesday.
• EXCLUSIVE- White House delivered EU-sceptic message before Pence visit - sources In the week before U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visited Brussels and pledged America's "steadfast and enduring" commitment to the European Union, White House chief strategist Steve Bannon met with a German diplomat and delivered a different message, according to people familiar with the talks.
• Australia's central bank sees danger in high household debt The head of Australia's central bank on Wednesday gave the clearest signal yet that further cuts in interest rates would not be in the national interest as the danger of a debt-fuelled boom and bust was too severe.
LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) • The SGX Nifty Futures were at 8,920.50, up 0.1 pct from its previous close.
• The Indian rupee will likely open little changed against the dollar, as caution ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes shaved off some of the greenback’s overnight gains.
• Indian government bonds will likely trade steady in early session, as investors await minutes of India’s Monetary Policy Committee and U.S. Federal Reserve policy review meetings. The yield on the benchmark 6.97 pct bond maturing in 2026 is likely to trade in a 6.87 pct-6.92 pct band today. The paper had settled at 100.47 rupees, the lowest since Sep. 6, yielding 6.90 pct on Feb. 20.
GLOBAL MARKETS • U.S. stocks rose to fresh record highs on Tuesday, boosted by strong earnings reports from Wal-Mart and Home Depot and continued optimism about the economic agenda of President Donald Trump.
• Asian stocks edged up joining a record-setting night for world markets as investors cheered upbeat factory activity in Europe and solid earnings on Wall Street.
• The dollar edged down in Asian trading as investors awaited the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest meeting for clues as to the pace of interest rate hikes, while the euro nursed losses and remained pressured by European political woes.
• U.S. Treasury debt yields edged higher in rangebound trading on Tuesday, supported by generally improved market appetite for risk as stocks and commodities gained.
• Oil prices held near multi-week highs after OPEC signalled optimism over its deal with other producers to curb output to clear a glut that has weighed on markets since 2014.
• Gold held firm after falling as much as 1 percent the session before, with investors waiting for minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting for clues on the timing of interest rate hikes.
CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 66.97/67.00 February 21 - - 10-yr bond yield - Month-to-date - - Year-to-date - - 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 = 66.92 Indian rupees) (Erum Khaled in Bengaluru)
