Economy / Market Snapshot – January, 2021

General News

• Global COVID-19 cases top 102.9 million with 2.2 million deaths.
• India’s caseload crosses 10.7 million mark with recovery rate reaching 96.98%.
• India approves Covishield, Covaxin vaccines in fight against COVID-19.
• World’s largest COVID-19 vaccination drive kicks off in India; over 37 lakh vaccinated so far.
• EC allows govt to use voters’ data for vaccination, asks to delete it after drive.
• Vaccine Maitri: India begins supply of indigenous COVID Vaccine to neighbouring and partner countries.
• India showcases military might, cultural heritage at its 72nd Republic Day parade on Rajpath.
• No foreign head of any govt as chief guest on Republic Day due to COVID-19 pandemic.
• Supreme Court stays implementation of farm laws, forms 4-member committee.
• Govt offers to suspend farm laws implementation for up to 1.5 years; farmer unions demand repeal.
• Tractor Parade: Protesting farmers enter Red Fort with Tractors, wave flags from the ramparts of the fort.
• Japanese Pm Shinzo Abe, SPB, Tarun Gogoi, Ram Vilas Paswan among Padma Award winners 2021.
• ECI launches digital voter ID Cards on National Voters Day.
• Construction work of new Parliament building begins after SC gives green signal the project with riders.
• India begins its two-year tenure as a Non-Permanent Member of the UNSC.
• India, China agree to push for early disengagement of frontline troops in Ladakh.
• Govt clears purchase of 83 Tejas aircraft in defence deal worth nearly ₹48,000 crore.
• India, Pakistan exchange lists of nuclear installations and facilities.
• India, Israel successfully test Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile defence system.
• India, EU hold their first maritime security dialogue in virtual format.
• A minor IED blast rocked the high-security zone near the Israeli embassy in New Delhi.
• TN CM inaugurates Jayalalithaa memorial in Chennai; ‘Veda Nilayam’ residence also declared a memorial.
• Avian Influenza confirmed in 5 States for poultry birds and in 10 States for crows, migratory and wild birds.
• India Innovation Index-2020: Karnataka tops in Major States category; Himachal in North East & Hill States.
• UN adopts $3.2 billion budget for 2021 over US and Israel objections.
• Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, 1st-ever treaty to ban nuclear weapons, entered into force.
• UNGA adopts resolution to safeguard religious sites across the world.
• WHO inks deal for delivery of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines in poor countries.
• UK Coronavirus strain detected in at least 60 countries.
• China denies Coronavirus leaked from Wuhan lab, says global outbreaks caused pandemic.
• WHO expert team arrives in Wuhan to begin investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, UN Chief, Singapore PM, Indonesian President receive COVID vaccinations.
• UK PM Boris Johnson declares new lockdown for England until mid-February.
• Japan declares state of emergency for Tokyo area amid COVID-19 surge.
• Germany to extend COVID-19 related restrictions until Feb 14: Chancellor Angela Merkel.
• Brazil approves emergency use of AstraZeneca and Chinese-made Sinovac coronavirus vaccines.
• Pakistan approves Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine and Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine.
• New Zealand lifts all COVID19 restrictions, declaring the nation virus-free.
• Trump supporters storm Capitol Hill amid a key Senate vote; Washington DC placed under lockdown.
• Held responsible for Capitol riot, Trump becomes first President in US history to be impeached twice.
• Donald Trump’s impeachment trial to begin on February 9.
• Joe Biden takes oath as 46th US President, Kamala Harris as Vice-President.
• Biden signs 15 executive orders, reversing Donald Trump’s key policies including Paris accord.
• COVID test, quarantine mandatory for people entering US, Biden launches 100 days mask challenge.
• US withdraws H4 work permit restrictions in relief to spouses of H1-B visa holders.
• North Korea holds huge military parade as Kim vows nuclear might.
• Indonesian plane with 62 people on board crashes after takeoff; Black Box recovered from Java Sea.
• Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli expelled from ruling Nepal Communist Party amid political chaos.
• Saudi Arabia and Qatar agree to reopen airspace and maritime borders.
• Israel opens embassy in United Arab Emirates after normalising ties.
• Bangladesh sends 3rd Batch of Rohingya refugees to Bhashan Char Island.
• India claim series win against Australia; becomes first team to beat host at the Gabba since 1988.
• ICC Test rankings: Historic win at The Gabba takes Team India to second place; Kohli loses 2nd spot to Smith, Pujara moves up to 8th.
• Cheteshwar Pujara becomes 11th Indian to cross 6000-run mark in Test cricket.
• T Natarajan made his Test debut becomes first Indian cricketer to debut in all three formats on same tour.
• Chennai Super Kings release Harbhajan Singh ahead of IPL 2021 mini-auction.
• Rajasthan Royals trade Robin Uthappa to CSK; appoint Kumar Sangakkara as Director of cricket.
• Thailand Open 2021: Sai Praneeth withdraws after testing COVID-19 positive, Srikanth forced to pull out.

Business News

• Budget session begins from January 29, to be held in two phases.
• Economic Survey 2021 tabled in the Parliament; FY21 GDP estimated to contract by 7.7%.
• Nirmala Sitharaman launches the Union Budget Mobile App as India gears up for first paperless budget.
• New Foreign Trade Policy 2021-2026 to be rolled out from April.
• Ease of doing business: Government launches regulatory compliance burden portal.
• PM announces ₹1,000-crore startup India seed fund; Govt holds meeting with 70 global funds.
• PM Modi inaugurates the 306 km Rewari-Madar section of western dedicated freight corridor.
• J&K LG Manoj Sinha launches Industrial development scheme worth ₹24,800 crore for UT.
• Centre approves green tax on old polluting vehicles, tractors to be exempted.
• Cinema halls to be allowed to operate with 100% capacity starting from February: I&B Minister.
• Indian Army signs a pact to procure high-altitude drones from ideaForge for $20 million.
• Karnataka earmarks 520-acres to set up Japanese Industrial Township near Tumakuru.
• CM Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurates Common Facility Centre for gold and Assamese traditional jewellery.
• Centre lists bill to ban all cryptocurrencies in India, create official digital currency.
• RBI launches Digital payments index to track transactions.
• IRDAI to introduce standard home insurance policy Bharat Griha Raksha for fire, allied peril risks.
• TCS becomes world’s most valued IT company, beats Accenture; surpasses Reliance market capitalisation.
• IRFC, Indigo Paints, Home First Finance and Stove Kraft launch their IPOs.
• KVIC unveils e-commerce portal for khadi, village industry products.
• Govt allows import/export of COVID-19 vaccine without any value limitation.
• Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar inaugurates Hisar airport under Udan scheme.
• DGCA extends travel restrictions on scheduled international commercial flights till Feb 28.
• CBI books Cambridge Analytica, Global Science Research for illegal data harvesting.
• World Economic Forum Davos 2021 – PM Modi addresses WEF Davos Summit 2021.
• Serum Institute of India applies for trials of another COVID-19 vaccine; to launch Covavax by June 2021.
• SII to sell Covishield at a special price of ₹200 for govt, to be sold in private markets at ₹1,000 per vial.
• Mahindra, Ford end talks of auto joint venture.
• Hyundai Motor India Ltd ends calendar 2020 with a production of 5.2 lakh units.
• Tesla registers India office in Bangalore, to start operations with R&D unit.
• Hyundai commences export of vehicles via rail, first consignment of 125 cars to reach Nepal.
• Toyota beats Volkswagen to become World’s No.1 car seller in 2020.
• General Motors teams up with Microsoft to accelerate rollout of Electric and self-driving cars.
• Ola, Siemens to build advanced EV hub in Tamil Nadu for ₹2,400 crore.
• DGCA issues guidelines for Airlines to transport COVID-19 vaccines.
• Boeing to pay $2.5 billion to settle US criminal probe into 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people.
• Total to acquire 20 % stake in Adani Green Energy for $2.5 billion.
• Govt to hold spectrum auctions from March 1; DoT invites applications.
• BSNL to test Indian telecom gears before letting manufacturers bid for 4G network tender.
• Bharti Airtel receives regulatory approval for 100% FDI in subsidiaries.
• Dixon’s subsidiary Padget Electronics ties up with HMD India to manufacture Nokia smartphones.
• TCS partners with UK’s leading mobile network carrier, Three UK to accelerate 5G network rollout.
• SAP invests ₹500 crore to accelerate multi-cloud strategy in India.
• Google Cloud, Nokia partner to accelerate cloud-native 5G readiness for communication service providers.
• US blacklists Xiaomi, CNOOC and 7 other Chinese companies, US investors must pull out by end of year.
• Federal judge blocks Parler’s bid to be restored on Amazon Web Services.
• Health startup Cure.fit acquires US-based digital fitness company Onyx.
• Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit reaches Space for the first time with its Air-Launched Rocket.
• Alphabet shutting down Loon, which used balloon alternative to cell towers.
• Future Retail-Reliance Retail deal receives SEBI, BSE nod with observations.
• Reliance Retail to tie up with Kirana stores as franchise partners, JioMart exits sale of FMCG goods.
• Amazon buys 11 aircraft for the first time to deliver orders faster.
• Google completes its $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit amid ongoing review by US Department of Justice.
• PayPal becomes first foreign firm in China with full ownership of payments business.
• Global cryptocurrency market cap hits $1 trillion as Bitcoin hits $37,000.
• Google removes some lending apps in India to protect consumers.
• WhatsApp delays policy update rollout to May 15 amid severe criticism.
• Govt asks WhatsApp to withdraw changes to privacy policy.
• Amazon joins hands with Bharti Airtel for the first roll-out of Prime Video mobile edition.
• Japanese beer maker Kirin to invest $30 million in maker of India’s Bira.
• Janet Yellen becomes America’s first woman treasury secretary.

Q3 Results

• HDFC Bank Q3 net profit rises 18% to ₹8,758 crore YoY, NII up 15% to ₹16,317.6 crore.
• ICICI Bank Q3 net profit rises 19% to ₹4,940 crore, NII grew 16% to ₹9,912 crore.
• Axis Bank Q3 profit plunges 36% to ₹1,117 crore on elevated provisions, NII grows 14.3% ₹7,372.76 crore.
• Kotak Mahindra Bank Q3 profit rises 16% to ₹1,853 crore, NII grows 17% to ₹4,007 crore.
• YES Bank Q3 net profit rises to ₹151 crore, NII jumps to ₹2,560 crore; NNPA lower at 4.04%.
• TCS Q3 Net profit rises 7% to ₹8,701 crore, revenue up 5% to ₹42,015 crore; ₹6/share dividend declared.
• Infosys Q3 net profit jumps 16.8% YoY to ₹5,197 crore, revenue came in at ₹25,927 crore, up 12.27% YoY.
• Wipro Q3 profit rises 21% YoY to ₹2,966.70 crore, dollar revenue growth highest in 36 quarters at 3.8%.
• HCL Tech reports 31% jump in Q3 profit at ₹3,982 crore, revenue increased by 6% YoY to ₹19,302 crore.
• Maruti Suzuki Q3 net profit rises 24% to ₹1,941 crore, revenue up 13% to ₹23,458 crore.
• Tata Motors Q3 profit jumps 67% to ₹2,906 crore, revenue grew by 5.5% YoY to ₹75,653.8 crore
• TVS records its highest ever quarterly profit of ₹266 crore, revenue up 31% YoY to ₹5,404 crore.
• Biocon Q3 net profit falls 19% to ₹186.6 crore, revenue from operations rose to ₹1,851 crore.
• Dr Reddy’s posts Q3 profit at ₹20 crore, revenues grew 12% YoY to ₹4,930 crore.
• RIL Q3 net profit rises 12.5% YoY to ₹13,101 crore, consolidated revenue up 21.10% to ₹1.2 lakh crore.
• Reliance Jio net profit rises 15.5% to ₹3,489 crore in Q3; ARPU jumps to ₹151.
• HUL Q3 net profit rises 19% to ₹1,921 crore, revenues climb 20% to ₹11,682 crore.