Economy / Market Snapshot – August, 2018

General News

• Former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee dies at 93.
• DMK Chief and former Tamil Nadu CM M Karunanidhi dies at the age of 94. Madras HC allows burial
  site for Karunanidhi at Marina beach after TN govt rejects request.
• President Kovind gives assent to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act and to Bill deterring economic
  offenders to flee the country.
• Cabinet approves provision of bail in instant triple talaq bill.
• Monsoon session: A total of 20 bills, including six financial bills, were passed in session this year.
• NDA candidate Harivansh Narayan Singh (JDU) elected as the deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.
• Indian will take national flag to space on board ‘Gaganyaan’ by 2022: PM in Independence Day speech.
• PM Modi attends the BIMSTEC Summit in Nepal.
• Sushma Swaraj was on 3-nations visit to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan; embarks on four-day
  visit to Vietnam, Cambodia.
• Nirmala Sitharaman holds delegation level talks with Japan Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera.
• India, China agree to draft new defence MoU, better military communication to avoid standoffs.
• Kerala floods: Centre releases ₹ 600 crores, CM seeks ₹2,600 crore special package; death toll at 445.
• UAE denies Rs 700 crore offer, BJP and Left trade charges.
• SC asks Tamil Nadu to keep Mullaperiyar dam water level at 139 ft till Aug 31 in view of Kerala floods.
• Karnataka floods: CM seeks ₹2000 crore assistance from Centre as 12 killed and over 5,000 displaced.
• MK Stalin elected DMK President unopposed at the party’s general council meeting held in Chennai.
• People not on the Assam NRC draft list can vote if they are on electoral rolls: EC.
• Article 35A: SC adjourns hearing to January 2019 as Centre, Jammu & Kashmir warn of unrest.
• CM Arvind Kejriwal, deputy Manish Sisodia, 11 AAP legislators charged for assault on Chief Secretary.
• Violence hits parts of Maharashtra on anniversary of Maratha quota agitation.
• Uttar Pradesh govt sanctions ₹150 crores for developing pilgrim centres.
• Haryana gets first civil airport at Hisar as Independence Day gift.
• Somnath Chatterjee, former Lok Sabha Speaker, dies at the age of 89. Former Rajya Sabha MP
  Nandamuri Harikrishna, dies in a road accident in Telangana’s Nalgonda.
• Aadhar challenge: Hackers deposit ₹1 in TRAI chairman R S Sharma’s bank account.
• UIDAI makes face recognition feature mandatory for Aadhaar authentication.
• Rahul Gandhi forms 6-member task force to ‘expose’ Rafale deal ahead of 2019 general elections.
• Rafale deal row: Anil Ambani files ₹5,000 crore defamation case against National Herald.
• No income generated from Young Indian-National Herald transaction: Sonia Gandhi to HC.
• Govt clears elevation of Justice KM Joseph to SC.
• 5 rights activists arrested for alleged maoist links to be kept under house arrest till next hearing: SC
• India formally hands over extradition request to authorities in Antigua and Barbuda for Mehul Choksi.
• CBI sends extradition request for Nirav Modi after UK confirms his presence.
• Vijay Mallya extradition case: CBI submits video footage of Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail to UK court.
• Defence Acquisition Council approves procurement of defence platforms worth ₹46,000 crores, gives
  approval for buying 111 Helicopters for Navy at ₹21,000 crores.
• Govt sets up two task force for making aircraft, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.
• Centre spends over ₹72.7 crore for indigenous defence products in 2017-18.
• NASA’s Parker Solar Probe blasts off on epic journey to ‘Touch the Sun’.
• Sunita Williams among 9 astronauts named by NASA for its first human spaceflight.
• US Congress passes bill to slash Pakistan’s defence aid to $150 million.
• US waives sanctions against India for buying Russian arms.
• NAFTA: Trump announces US-Mexico trade deal; US and Canada aim to finalise trilateral deal.
• Donald Trump cancels Mike Pompeo’s North Korea trip, citing lack of progress.
• John McCain, US Senator and former Presidential candidate, dies at 81.
• Imran Khan sworn in as Pakistan’s 22nd Prime Minister.
• Scott Morrison replaces Malcolm Turnbull as Australia’s new Prime Minister.
• Emmerson Mnangagwa former ally of Mugabe narrowly wins Zimbabwe Presidential poll.
• Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the UN, dies at 80.
• Italy bridge collapse: Genoa death toll rises to 43, govt declares year-long state of emergency.
• Asian Games 2018: India at 8th position with a total of 65 medals — 13 gold, 23 silver and 29 bronze.
• India vs England: India trails the 5-Test match series 2-1.
• SC modifies ‘one state, one vote’ policy of BCCI; approves cricket board draft constitution.
• Former Indian cricket team captain and coach Ajit Wadekar dies aged 77.
• Cincinnati Open: Djokovic beats 7-time winner Federer; Kiki Bertens stuns Simona Halep to win title.

Business News

• 29th GST Meet: Council forms Group of Ministers headed by MoS Finance to look into MSME issues;
  cashback incentives for digital payments to be rolled out on a pilot basis.
• Parliament passes Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill,2018.
• Govt, EESL, World Bank sign $300 million pact to boost energy efficiency programme in India.
• Centre approves Digilocker; soft copies of Driving license, Registration now legal.
• Govt earmarks ₹1,000 crores for MSME sector in Northeast.
• Cabinet approves 2% hike in DA for central govt employees.
• RBI raises repo rate by 25 bps to 6.5%, reverse repo rate rises to 6.25%, holds neutral stance.
• Fed leaves interest rate unchanged, says economy growing at strong pace.
• RBI unveils UPI 2.0 version, allow customers to use overdraft limit for making payments to merchants.
• Processing of old 500, 1000 rupees notes complete, 99.3% notes returned: RBI Annual report.
• Rupee breaches 71/$ mark for the first time ever from rising crude oil price.
• Oil rises on Iran sanctions, lower US fuel inventories.
• NCLAT declines stay on Tata Sons’ conversion to pvt co; says Cyrus Mistry can’t be forced to sell stake.
• Cabinet approves purchase of 51% stake in IDBI by LIC.
• No ATM to be replenished with cash after 9 pm from next year: Home Ministry.
• NSE unveils new logo to mark its entry into 25th year of existence.
• BSE market cap hits record high as Sensex scales new peak; RIL hits market cap of ₹8 lakh crores.
• HDFC AMC, CreditAccess Grameen, Amaravati Bonds 2018 listed in the exchanges.
• China dethroned by Japan as world’s second-biggest stock market amid trade war with US.
• PNB case: Govt sacks ex MD Usha Ananthasubramanian, allows prosecution; granted bail by CBI Court.
• RBI cancels licences of 368 NBFCs in first half of 2018.
• Bad loans of listed domestic banks dipped by ₹220 billion in Q1.
• Bharti AXA, Airtel Payments Bank team up to offer Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana.
• Infosys opens new technology and innovation hub in North Carolina, hires 4,700 in the US.
• Tech Mahindra inks pact with Telangana for ‘Blockchain district’.
• DoT blacklists bank guarantees issued by Standard Chartered Bank.
• RComm and Ericsson reach $80 million settlement.
• RComm sells media convergence nodes for ₹2,000 crores and fiber assets for ₹3,000 crores to RJio.
• Australia bans China’s Huawei, ZTE from mobile network build over security fears.
• Ashok Leyland bags tender for defence tracked combat vehicles; makes foray into niche segment.
• Tesla to remain public, Elon Musk says, ending go-private effort.
• Passenger vehicle sales dip 2.71% to 2,90,960 units in July, car sales decline marginally: SIAM.
• Air India board meets; to receive ₹980 crore capital from govt for interest payments on NCDs.
• Jet Airways gets $300 million as lease incentives & debt from banks.
• SpiceJet flies India’s first biofuel flight, from Dehradun to Delhi.
• L&T Board approves share buyback of ₹ 9,000 crore at ₹1,500 apiece.
• RIL wins arbitration case against govt’s claim of illegal gas production; govt to move HC.
• Adani wins gas licences for 21 cities; BPCL bags 11 cities.
• Govt allows pet coke import for use as feedstock in cement & gasification industries.
• Saudi Arabia calls off both the domestic and international stock listing of state oil giant Aramco.
• CCI gives nod to Adani Wilmar’s acquisition of Ruchi Soya.
• PVR completes acquisition of 71.6% stake of South India based SPI Cinemas.
• Samsung partners with PVR to launch India’s first Onyx Cinema LED theatre.
• US tariffs on $16 billion worth of Chinese imports took effect, Beijing retaliates.
• Russian ruble drops to 21-month low as US imposes fresh sanctions on Moscow.
• Turkish lira hits new lows; govt drafts economic action plan; Qatar, Turkey ink currency swap deal.
• Saudi Arabia freezes Canada trade ties for urging activists’ release.
• Greece exits bailout programme after eight years.
• IKEA opens its first in India with a 4 lakh sqft showroom in Hyderabad.
• Walmart completes acquisition of Flipkart, pumps in $2 billion.
• Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway picks up ₹2,500 crore stake in Paytm.
• Ola launches its UK operations with ride-sharing offerings in South Wales, Greater Manchester.
• WhatsApp limits ‘forwards’ to 5 users to contain rumours; rejects India’s demand for message traceability.
• Exports rise 14% to $25.77 billion in July, trade deficit soared to a near 5 year high of $18.02 billion.
• Indian smartphone market grows 20% in Q2 2018, Xiaomi leads tally: International Data Corporation.
• Kumar Mangalam Birla, Y.C. Deveshwar appointed non-official directors in Air India.
• Govt appoints S Gurumurthy, Satish Marathe as part-time directors on RBI board.
• PNB MD Sunil Mehta becomes Indian Banking Association Chairman.
• Chanda Kochhar back on ICICI Securities’ board after Bank votes in her favour.
• Rana Kapoor to serve as Yes Bank MD & CEO till further notice from RBI.
• Cabinet approves appointment of RS Sharma as TRAI Chairman till September 2020.
• Indra K. Nooyi to end tenure as PepsiCo CEO; President Ramon Laguarta to take over.
• Infosys CFO MD Ranganatha resigns to pursue professional aspirations.
• Anil Ambani resigns as Director of Reliance Naval and Engineering.

Q1 Results

• SBI reports loss of ₹4,875.85 crores in Q1 as provisions double to ₹19,228 crores.
• IDBI bank reports Q1 net loss of ₹2,410 crores, provisions spiked over 157% to ₹5,236 crores.
• PNB reports Q1 net loss of ₹940 crores, GNPA reduced to 18.26%, NNPA fell to 10.58%.
• M&M Q1 profit grew 67% YoY to ₹1,257 crores, revenue rose 23% YoY to ₹13,551 crores.
• Sun Pharma Q1 profit stood at ₹983 crores, revenues rose 16.7% YoY to ₹7,423.9 crores.
• Lupin net profit slumps 43% to ₹202.8 crores in Q1, total income rose 3.6% to ₹4,040 crores.
• IOC Q1 profit jumps 50% to ₹6,831 crores on inventory gains, revenue rose to ₹1,49,747 crores.
• Coal India Q1 net profit surges 61% to ₹3,786 crores, revenue rose 17.96% to ₹24,260.87 crores.
• Jet Airways posts Q1 loss at ₹1,323 crores, total revenue up 5.2% to ₹6,257 crores, fuel expense up 53%.
• Britannia Q1 profit rises 19.4% YoY to ₹258.10 crores, revenue rises 12.4% to ₹2,544 crores.