Economy / Market Snapshot – February, 2018

General News

• Assembly Elections: 67% voter turnouts recorded in Meghalaya and 75% in Nagaland.
• PM Modi conferred ‘Grand Collar of the State of Palestine’ by President Mahmoud Abbas on his first
  visit to Palestine.
• PM Modi lays the foundation stone of a temple in Abu Dhabi during his visit to the UAE.
• India, UAE sign 5 agreements including a historic pact awarding a consortium of Indian oil companies a
  10% stake in offshore oil concession.
• India, Oman sign 8 agreements as PM Modi meets Sultan of Oman.
• Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits India; Six MoUs signed between Canada and India.
• India and Iran seal 9 agreements including a lease contract for Chabahar port operations.
• Sushma Swaraj holds bilateral talks with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman in Riyadh.
• Avani Chaturvedi becomes first woman fighter pilot to undertake solo flight in MiG-21.
• India successfully test fires ballistic missiles- Agni I,II, Prithvi II and Dhanush off Odisha coast.
• Sunjwan Army camp attack: 6 soldiers and 1 civilian killed by terrorists.
• Indian Army gives full freedom given to commanders to retaliate to Pakistan’s ceasefire violations
  along LoC.
• Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and National Security Adviser Ajit
  Doval visit Bhutan to discuss strategic issues.
• Arvind Kejriwal govt completes 3 years in Delhi.
• AAP MLAs Amanatullah Khan, Prakash Jarwal arrested over alleged assault of Delhi Chief Secretary.
• UP govt presented a ₹4.28 lakh crore budget, focuses on farmers & infrastructure development.
• Rajasthan budget: CM Raje announces a ₹8,000 crore farm loan waiver scheme.
• Gujarat presented a ₹1,83,666 crore budget, allocates ₹14,895 crores for Narmada, water resources.
• Kerala budget: FM Thomas Isaac raises tax slabs for liquor, ₹2,000 crore package for coastal areas.
• Karnataka budget: Focuses on water conservation projects; allocates ₹2500 crores for Bengaluru.
• AIADMK unveils 7-foot portrait of Jayalalithaa inside TN Assembly, DMK moves HC seeking its removal.
• PM Modi launches Tamil Nadu govt’s Amma scooter scheme on the occasion of Jayalalithaa’s 70th
  birth anniversary.
• Kamal Haasan officially launches his new political party ‘Makkal Needhi Maiam’.
• SC directs Karnataka to release 177.25 tmcft Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
• PM Modi inaugurates new BJP headquarters at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg in Delhi.
• No understanding or electoral alliance with Congress: CPM draft political resolution.
• Ayodhya Case: SC adjourns final hearing till March 14, to seal with it as ‘Pure Land Dispute’.
• SC adopts roster system, CJI Dipak Misra to hear PILs.
• SC allows Centre to withdraw force from Darjeeling hills.
• Karti Chidambaram arrested by CBI at Chennai Airport in money laundering case.
• US makes H-1B visa approval tougher for 3rd-party worksites.
• 17 dead in Florida school after expelled student opened fire.
• US launches new air attacks against Taliban in Afghanistan, destroyed 24 Taliban posts in 96 hours.
• Maldives declares state of emergency, arrests 2 Supreme court judges and former President.
• Pakistan signs ordinance for action against terrorist organisations and its individuals.
• Pakistan approves Mandarin as one of its three official languages.
• Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu faces corruption charges, refuses to quit.
• Brexit trade deal worth £9 billion and 2,500 jobs signed by British PM Theresa May on China visit.
• UN Security Council unanimously demands a 30-day cease-fire across Syria as death toll climbs to 500.
• Jacob Zuma resigns as South Africa’s President, mired in corruption scandal.
• Ethiopia declares State of emergency after PM Hailemariam Desalegn resigns.
• Bangladesh court sentences ex-PM Khaleda Zia for 5 years in graft case.
• Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba resigns, K P Sharma Oli becomes PM for second time.
• Legendary actor, Sridevi passes away at 54 after a cardiac arrest in Dubai.
• India vs South Africa: India wrapped up six-match ODI series 5-1, 3 match T20I series 2-1.
• Virat Kohli-led India presented with ICC Test Championship mace.
• ICC Rankings: Kohli takes top spot, crosses the 900-point mark concurrently in Tests and ODIs.
• Jasprit Bumrah grabs the joint-top position along with Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan.
• India beat Australia by 8 wickets to claim record 4th Under-19 Cricket World Cup title.
• Star signs 11 IPL sponsors, sells ₹500 crore worth of ad inventory.
• Odisha govt to sponsor Indian Hockey Teams for 5 years.
• Winter Olympics: N Korean leader’s sister and US Vice President Mike Pence attend the opening
  ceremony while Ivanka Trump and N Korean General attend the closing ceremony.
• Indra Nooyi appointed ICC’s first independent female director.

Business News

• Union Budget 2018-19: Ayushman Bharat programme, a health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh per family
  benefitting 10 crore families introduced.
• Budget Highlights: LTCG exceeding ₹1 lakh to be taxed at the rate of 10%, Dividend Distribution Tax of
  10% introduced in equity oriented mutual funds, Corporate tax of 25% extended to companies with
  turnover up to ₹250 crores in FY17.
• Govt to merge the 3 public sector general insurance companies and list subsequently.
• RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 6% in neutral policy stance, lowers GVA growth forecast to 6.6%.
• WPI inflation eases to 2.84 % in January from 3.58% in December 2017.
• Punjab National Bank detects ₹11,360 crore worth fraudulent transactions in Mumbai branch over
  LoUs issued to jewellery designer Nirav Modi and Gitanjali Gems promoter Mehul Choksi.
• RBI sets up committee to check on NPA divergences and SWIFT-like frauds.
• CBI seals PNB’s Brady House branch in Mumbai; arrests retired PNB deputy manager, two others.
• ED attaches Nirav Modi group property worth ₹523 crores.
• CBI arrests Rotomac owner Vikram Kothari, son Rahul in ₹3,695 crore loan default case.
• Govt asks PSBs to report NPAs over ₹50 crore for possible fraud; gives 15-day deadline to take action.
• LIC buys additional 2.11% stake in Indiabulls Housing Finance, taking the total shareholding to 9.33%.
• Vijay Rupani inaugurates Air Odisha’s first flight under UDAN scheme.
• Emirates Group signs MoU with AP to boost aviation sector.
• Maharashtra govt inks ₹35,000 crore pact with a pilot to build 1st plane factory of India.
• Virgin group signs deal with Maharashtra to build Mumbai-Pune hyperloop by 2025.
• Not possible to manufacture BS VI vehicles before 2020: Automakers tell SC.
• Auto Expo 2018 sees 100 launches and 6 lakh visitors.
• Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen to develop joint electric car platform to save costs.
• Kia Motors installs framework for greenfield plant in AP, increases investment in India to $2 billion.
• Donald Trump criticises India for import tax on Harley-Davidson bikes, threatens ‘reciprocal tax’.
• Singapore-based BOC Aviation wins $90 million claim against Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines.
• Venezuela becomes 1st country to launch its own digital currency ‘Petro’.
• India’s antitrust regulator imposed a fine of ₹136 crores on Google for unfair business practices.
• NASSCOM Indian IT outlook FY19: Export revenues to grow at 7-9%, domestic revenues at 10-12%.
• Infosys seeks ₹100 crores from Rajiv Bansal, alleges breach of trust and non-fulfilment of obligations.
• Apple and Cisco team up with Aon and Allianz for Cyber Security Insurance for the Enterprise.
• Microsoft partners with Chalkup to enhance classroom learning experiences across the globe.
• Xiaomi, Microsoft join hands to develop AI-Powered smartphones, speakers.
• Tech Mahindra sets up 5G lab in Bengaluru with Intel.
• IBM launches Bluewolf, a Salesforce consulting agency in India.
• Custom duty on mobiles increased from 15% to 20%.
• Samsung scion Jay Y. Lee walks free as South Korea court suspends jail term.
• Samsung, Qualcomm partner to produce mobile chipsets for 5G network service.
• Aircel to file for bankruptcy at NCLT, services hit in Tamil Nadu, customers line up to port number.
• M2M Mobile numbers in India will have 13 digits starting July 1, 2018: DoT.
• DoT unveils strategic plan for operational synergy of seven telecom PSUs.
• Australian official confirms no federal financing for Adani’s Carmichael rail line.
• Govt allows private companies to bid for coal mines for commercial production.
• GMR buys out Malaysia Airports’ stake in Hyderabad airport for ₹484 crores.
• Global ports operator DP World signs pact with J&K govt to develop trade infrastructure.
• Govt signs MoU with NBCC for construction of housing project for India Economic Services Officers.
• India’s first online radio station ‘Radio Umang’ launched.
• Global Investors’ Summit held in Assam gets ₹651.86 billion investment.
• UP attracts investments worth ₹4.28 lakh crores in UP investors’ Summit.
• ITC merges tobacco leaf, agri-business units.
• Assam govt, Ola sign MoU for river taxi service in Guwahati.
• WhatsApp gets National Payments Corporation of India nod to launch payments service in India.
• Alibaba invests $146 million in Indian online grocer BigBasket.
• SpaceX launches Falcon Heavy, world’s most powerful rocket, toward Mars.

Q3 Results

• SBI reports Q3 net loss at ₹2,416 crores, NNPA stood at 5.61%.
• PNB reports 11% rise in Q3 profit at ₹230.11 crores; gross NPAs stood at 12.11%.
• Bank of Baroda Q3 profit slumps 56% to ₹112 crores, NPAs stood at ₹3,155 crores.
• Allahabad Bank posts Q3 loss ₹1,264 crores, provisions spike 169%; net NPA up at 7.7%.
• Bank Of India reports Q3 Net Loss at ₹2,341.2 crores, NII down 18.4% at ₹2,501 crores.
• BSE Q3 net profit increased by 11% to ₹58.67 crores, revenue increased by 45% to ₹125.70 crores.
• Cognizant reports a net loss of $18 million in Q4 on new US tax, revenue rose to 1.6%.
• Hexaware Q3 net profit slips 15% to ₹120.9 crores, revenue stood at ₹15.61 crores.
• Flipkart losses swell 68% to ₹8,771 crores in FY17.
• Bajaj Auto Q3 profit inches up 3% to ₹952.4 crores, EBIDTA rose 17% to ₹1,325 crores.
• Tata Motors reports Q3 net profit at ₹1,215 crores, revenue grew by 16% to ₹74,156 crores.
• Apollo Tyres reports 17% decline in Q3 profit at ₹245.29 crores, revenue stood at ₹4,096.44 crores.
• Sun Pharma Q3 profit falls 75% to ₹365.4 crores on tax cost; revenue slips 16% to ₹6,653.23 crores.
• Lupin Q3 profit tanks 65% to ₹222 crores, revenue fell 11.3% to ₹3,976.6 crores.
• Cipla reports 4.8% growth in Q3 profit at ₹403.5 crores, revenue grew by 7.3% to ₹3,913.8 crores.
• ACC Q4 profit rises 126% to ₹206 crores, revenue grew by 29.5% to ₹3,494.2 crores.
• BHEL Q3 profit jumps 64% to ₹153.19 crores, revenue grew 0.4% to ₹ 6,626.35 crores.
• HPCL Q3 net profit rises 12% to ₹1,950 crores, EBITDA rose to 8.7%.
• Tata Steel reports Q3 profit at ₹1,136 crores, revenue grew by 20.8% to ₹33,447 crores.