Economy / Market Snapshot – August, 2017

General News

Business News

• NDA nominee M. Venkaiah Naidu elected as the new Vice President of India.
• India celebrated its 71st Independence Day.
• Gujarat RS polls: Ahmed Patel clinches fifth Rajya Sabha term after EC invalidates two votes cast by
  rebel Congress MLAs; BJP’s Amit Shah, Smriti Irani win comfortably.
• Mamata Bannerjee, Akhilesh, Sharad Yadav attend Lalu Prasad Yadav’s mega ‘BJP bhagao, Desh
  bachao’ rally; Sonia and Rahul Gandhi skip the rally.
• Sharad Yadav removed as leader of JD(U) in Rajya Sabha after he signalled separation.
• Rahul Gandhi, top opposition leaders attend Sajha virasat bachao conclave led by JD(U) leader Sharad
  Yadav.
• 2 AIADMK factions merge; O Panneerselvam made coordinator of the party and named Deputy Chief
  Minister and gets finance ministry.
• Gorakhpur hospital tragedy: UP CM Adityanath orders criminal action against hospital, gas firm.
• Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu offered to quit after back to-back train derailments of Utkal Express
  and Kafiyat Express.
• Railway Board chairman AK Mital resigns; present Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani named as Chairman.
• Pakistan violates ceasefire, drawing retaliation from the Indian Army.
• Rahul Gandhi launches the Karnataka govt’s subsidised food canteens ‘Indira Canteen’.
• Maratha group held biggest silent march in Mumbai to press reservation demand.
• Rajya Sabha bid adieu to 3 retiring members –Sitaram Yechury-CPI(M), D Bandyopadhyay-TMC and
  Dilip Pandya-BJP.
• Supreme Court invalidates triple talaq practice, calls it unconstitutional.
• Right to Privacy is a fundamental right, it is intrinsic to right to life: Supreme Court.
• Govt makes Aadhaar number mandatory for the registration of death from October 1.
• Devastating floods claim over 700 lives in Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh.
• PM Modi announces Rs 2,350 crores for floods in north eastern states, Rs 500 crores for Bihar.
• Trinamool Congress sweeps civic polls in West Bengal while BJP dominates in MP civic polls:
• India, China agree to disengage troops in Dokalam after 2 months standoff.
• Heavy rains brought Mumbai to its knees.
• Nepalese PM Sher Bahadur Deuba arrives on four-day India visit.
• Justice Dipak Misra sworn in as the 45th Chief Justice of India.
• Govt merges 3-decade old National Crime Records Bureau with Bureau of Police Research and
  Development.
• Supreme Court grants bail to Lt. Col. Shrikant Purohit in 2008 Malegaon case.
• CBI court sentences Dera Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to 20 years in jail.
• CBI questions Karti Chidambaram twice in INX Media corruption case.
• North Korea threatens missile strike near US territory Guam.
• UN Security Council unanimously adopts tougher sanctions on North Korea.
• Trump announces new Afghan policy; takes tough line on Pakistan as terrorist safe haven.
• Barcelona van attack: At least a dozen dead and scores injured; ISIS claims responsibility.
• Cabinet of new Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi sworn in.
• Qatar restores diplomatic ties with Iran amid regional crisis.
• Harvey, the costliest natural disaster in US history kills 38, leaves tens of thousands homeless.
• India wrap the test series against Sri Lanka 3-0 and leads the 5 ODI series against Sri Lanka 4-0.
• Kerala High Court lifts BCCI’s lifetime-ban on Sreesanth.
• Australia cricket pay war ends with players and management agreeing on a new in-principle deal.
• PV Sindhu settles for silver at the World Badminton Championship.
• Germany’s Alexander Zverev beats Roger Federer to win Rogers Cup final.
• Usain Bolt beaten in his last ever solo 100m race; collapses in final race of world 4x100m.

Business News

• GST collection for first month at Rs 92,283 crore, exceeds estimates: FM Arun Jaitley.
• 89 million of Rs 1,000 notes did not return to the system: RBI’s Annual Report.
• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announces new ETF Bharat-22.
• Deadline for linking Income Tax, PAN with Aadhaar extended till December 31.
• Govt notifies e-way bill, exempts vegetables, fruits out of its ambit.
• Govt extends tax exemption for industry in North Eastern, hilly states under GST regime.
• RBI cuts the repo and reverse rate by 25 basis points each to 6% and 5.75% respectively.
• RBI to pay Rs 30,659 crores as dividend to govt in 2016-17, less than half of the dividend transferred an
  year ago.
• SBI slashes its interest rate on savings account deposits; 11 more banks follow suit.
• Cabinet gives in-principle nod for public sector banks merger.
• Regional rural banks’ merger gets exemption from seeking approval from CCI.
• PSU banks take recovery action against 5,954 wilful defaulters.
• Govt orders shuttering of 1.

75 lakh shell companies found to be funnelling black money.

• FPIs pull out a massive $2 billion from equity markets in August.
• India’s forex reserves surge to record $392.86 billion.
• Vishal Sikka resigns as Infosys MD and CEO, takes up the role of Executive Vice-Chairman briefly before
  he resigned from the Board; COO, U.B. Pravin Rao appointed the interim CEO.
• Nandan Nilekani back at Infosys, named as Chairman of Board.
• R Seshasayee resigns as Chairman; Prof Jeffrey Lehman and Prof John Echtemendy exit board.
• Aadhaar not mandatory for insurance: IRDAI.
• Tata Group draws up restructuring plan, hires bankers to sell or merge misfiring businesses.
• Infosys announces Rs 13,000 crore share buyback offer.
• US law firms initiate investigation against Infosys over violation of federal securities laws.
• HCL Infosystems in pact to distribute Apple products in India.
• Google reveals Android Oreo, the newest version of its mobile operating system.
• NCLT overrules DoT objections on RCom-Aircel merger.
• Cabinet approves hike in GST cess on luxury cars, SUVs to 25% from 15%.
• Bajaj Auto ties up with UK’s Triumph Motorcycles to make mid-capacity motorcycles.
• Energy Efficiency Service Ltd (EESL) to procure 10,000 electric cars for various ministries.
• PSA finalises purchase of Opel/Vauxhall from General Motors.
• India becomes largest 2-wheeler market for Honda globally, dethrones Indonesia.
• Maruti continues to lead PV segment, 7 models in top 10 list.
• DGCA implements 1-year notice period rule for pilots.
• L&T gets Rs 1050 crore contract for rail tracks electrification.
• SC gives nod to GMR for commercial use of Delhi airport land.
• 23 states, UTs set up real estate regulatory as deadline ends.
• Sahara’s Aamby Valley auction process begins at Rs 37,000 crore reserve price.
• Consignments of American crude oil leaves the US shores; to reach Paradip in September.
• Indian Oil, Odisha govt find middle ground on Paradip Refinery tax dispute.

ONGC board approves Hindustan Petroleum corp takeover.

• Tata Sons to scrap all business dealings with Shapoorji Pallonji group.
• Tata Power launches electric vehicle charging facility.
• Adani’s Australia Carmichael coal project to begin operations next month.
• US law firm files class action lawsuit against Dr Reddy’s for misleading statements.
• India surpasses China on Retail Development Index in H1 FY2017.
• Central Railway records 25% jump in fines imposed on pantry cars.
• Govt bans export of gold items above 22-carat purity.
• China implements new UN sanctions; suspends North Korean iron, seafood imports.
• Flipkart completes merger with eBay India.
• McDonald’s terminates franchise agreement with Connaught Plaza Restaurants Pvt. Ltd (CPRL) for 169
  outlets.
• Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay $417 million in trial over talc cancer risks.
• Airtel Payments bank ties up with HPCL and IDFC Bank with Zeta for digital payments solution.
• Uber in pact with Axis, HDFC Bank for UPI-based payments.
• Startup ecosystem under scanner as SEBI sends notice to Angel networks.
• Samsung scion Lee Jae-Yong sentenced to 5 years in prison for bribery and other charges.
• Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya resigns.
• Voltas appoints Noel Tata as chairman from September.

Q1 Results

• SBI’s consolidated net profit came at Rs 3,032 crores, NII at Rs 19,323 crores; Net NPA rose to 5.97%.
• IDBI Bank reported a net loss of Rs 853 crores, NII dropped 18% at Rs 1,402 crores, GNPAs came in at
  Rs 50,173 crores.
• Bank of Baroda Q1 profit tanks 52% to Rs 203.4 crores; gross NPA spikes to 11.4%, slippages surges to
  Rs 5,200 crores.
• Punjab National Bank’s Q1 net profit increase 12.09% to Rs. 343.40 crores, NII rise 4% to
  Rs 3,855.1 crores.
• Bank of India’s Q1 profit comes at Rs 87.7 crores, NII fell 8.7% YoY to Rs 2,533 crores.
• Cognizant’s revenue came at $3.67 billion, net income stood at $470 million.
• IOC’s Q1 net profit came at Rs 4,548.51 crores, revenue soared to Rs 129,418.11 crores.
• HPCL reports 49.2% YoY decline in its Q1 net profit at Rs 925 crores, revenue up 2% to
  Rs 59,975 crores.
• Tata Motors Q1 consolidated profit up 42% to Rs 3,200 crores on JLR one-time gain, standalone loss
  stood at Rs 467 crores.
• TVS Motor Q1 profit rises 6.8% YoY to Rs 129.5 crores; revenue up 19% to Rs 3,743 crores.
• M&M Q1 profit fell by 20.1% YoY to Rs 768.3 crores.
• Tata Power’s Q1 net profit increased 68% YoY to Rs 221 crores, revenues grew 2% to Rs 6,969 crores.
• BHEL’s Q1 profit up 3.9% at Rs 81 crores; EBITDA loss came at Rs 88.3 crores.
• Lupin Q1 net profit drops 59.4% to Rs 358 crores, revenues drop 13.4% to Rs 3,869 crores.
• Sun Pharma posts Q1 loss at Rs 425 crores, revenue from operations fell 24.8% to Rs 6,209 crores.
• Dabur reports 10% YoY drop in its Q1 net profit at Rs 265 crores, revenue down 8.3% at
  Rs 1,790 crores.
• Britannia’s consolidated profit comes at Rs 216 crores, revenue at Rs 2,339.81 crores.