Economy / Market Snapshot – June, 2018

General News

• PM Modi meets Chinese President Xi Jinping on sidelines of SCO summit; Jinping accepts PM Modi’s invitation for informal summit in India in 2019.
• India Seychelles agree to work together on Assumption Island Project.
• Sushma Swaraj calls for joint action against money laundering, terrorist-financing at BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting.
• President Ram Nath Kovind embarks on 3-nation tour to Greece, Suriname and Cuba.
• Sushma Swaraj meets the top leadership of the European Union during her 4-nation Europe tour.
• US envoy to UN Nikki Haley visits India.
• Soul of India is pluralism, tolerance: Pranab Mukherjee at the valedictory function of RSS’s 3rd year officers’ training camp in Nagpur.
• PM Modi launches BJP’s 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign in Maghar, UP.
• Centre forms Cauvery Water Management authority to address water dispute.
• Govt to hire graduates aged 40 or more as joint secretary, issues public notice.
• J&K: Editor of Rising Kashmir, Shujaat Bukhari shot dead by unidentified men; Army jawan Aurangzeb abducted by terrorists killed.
• Centre announces end to Ramzan ceasefire in Jammu & Kashmir.
• Mehbooba Mufti resigns as J&K CM after BJP breaks alliance; President approves Governor’s rule.
• First-ever UN human rights report on Kashmir calls for international inquiry into multiple violations.
• Arvind Kejriwal goes on nine-day sit-in protest at LG’s office over IAS officers’ strike and approval of the ‘doorstep delivery ‘of ration.
• Delhi Vidhan Sabha accepts the resolution on full statehood to Delhi.
• Kumaraswamy inducts 15 Congress, 9 JD(S) members in Karnataka cabinet.
• Monsoon has been good, TN to get Cauvery water: HD Kumaraswamy; calls for all party meeting.
• Maharashtra plastic ban comes into effect; Tamil Nadu bans manufacture, use of plastic starting 2019.
• Chennai-Salem highway row: Aggressive land acquisition by TN govt snowballs into major controversy as protests escalate.
• International Yoga Day: Rajasthan sets world record with more than 1.05 lakh people performing.
• Amarnath yatra kicks off amid tight security but suspended owing to weather conditions.
• Farmers from 172 organisations went on a 10-day nation-wide strike.
• HRD Ministry’s move to scrap UGC evokes mixed response.
• India successfully test fires 5000 km range nuke capable Agni-V off Odisha coast.
• Supreme Court allows govt to provide reservation in promoting SC/ST employees.
• INX Media case: CBI moves SC against Karti Chidambaram’s bail; HC grants P Chidambaram protection from arrest till July 3.
• Vijay Mallya diverted over ₹3,700 crore bank loan funds to F1, IPL and private jet: ED chargesheet.
• Sushma Swaraj introduces Passport Seva App; downloaded a million times in two days.
• 8 states, 4 UTs sign MoUs with health ministry to implement Ayushman Bharat mission.
• Japan’s Shinzo Abe and Donald Trump meet ahead of the historic US-North Korea summit.
• Donald Trump meets with N Korea’s Kim Jong Un at Capella Hotel in Singapore’s Sentosa Island.
• Kim agrees with Trump to complete denuclearization in exchange for security guarantees.
• Sanctions on North Korea to remain till complete denuclearisation: Mike Pompeo.
• Trump withdraws endorsement of G7 joint statement; calls for Russia to be readmitted to the group.
• Putin meets Xi Jinping, says Russia’s cooperation with China has reached ‘unprecedented level’.
• Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un hold talks; agrees to safeguard, consolidate and develop China-Korea relations.
• US Defense Secretary meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, amid tensions.
• Donald Trump to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16.
• Trump administration allows families to be detained together at the border; asks Pentagon to prepare 20,000 beds for immigrant children on military bases.
• US Supreme Court upholds Trump’s travel ban from certain countries.
• Britain’s upper house of Parliament rejects PM Theresa May’s Brexit Laws.
• Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims victory in Presidential election.
• Retd Justice Nasirul Mulk takes oath as Pakistan’s caretaker PM ahead of the July assembly elections.
• Saudi Arabia’s ban on women driving officially ends.
• FIFA 2018: Holder Germany eliminated from the tournament, last 16 teams to play for the Quarters.
• Afghanistan vs India: Afghanistan makes its Test debut; loses by an innings and 262 runs.
• Women’s Asia Cup T20 2018: Bangladesh creates history, defeat India in a last-ball thriller.
• India vs Ireland: Clinical India humiliate Ireland by 143 runs for biggest T20 win.
• ICC adds Nepal, Netherlands, Scotland and UAE to ODI Team Rankings.
• French Open 2018: Rafael Nadal wins the 11th title; Romanian Simona Halep wins Women’s singles.
• Novak Djokovic records 800th match win of his career at Fever-Tree Championships.
• Intercontinental Cup: India beat Kenya 2-0 to win title.

Business News

• • GST collection for May comes at ₹94,016 crores against average monthly collection of ₹89,885 crores.
  • Tax department clears ₹7,000 crore GST refunds of exporters.
  • President promulgates Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018; Home-buyers recognized as financial creditors.
  • Government kicks off its divestment drive for FY19 with the RITES IPO.
  • NITI Aayog releases National Strategy on AI; to focus on healthcare, agriculture, education, smart cities and infrastructure, smart mobility and transportation.
  • Centre constitutes group headed by Bharat Forge’s Baba Kalyani to study the SEZ policy.
  • PM Awas Yojana: Govt approves 33% increase in carpet area of houses under subsidy scheme.
  • Govt puts off Air India stake sale for now, to focus on improving operational efficiency.
  • Cabinet approves ₹8,000 crore package for sugar sector. • UP Cabinet clears Patanjali’s Rs 6,000-crore food park project in Noida.
  • AIIB clears $200 million infusion into National Infrastructure Investment Fund to aid infra growth.
  • Fiscal deficit for April-May reaches 55.3% of the budgeted target of FY19.
  • RBI hikes Repo Rate by 25 bps to 6.25%, reverse repo rate at 6.50%; projects inflation at 4.8 – 4.9% in H1 2018-19 and 4.7% in H2 2018-19.
  • US Federal Reserve raises key interest rate to 1.75-2%; China leaves rates unchanged.
  • Bank NPA ratio to hit 12%, may reach highest level since 2000: RBI report.
  • Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India and Syndicate Bank to be put under RBI’s PCA.
  • 7 banks, including SBI, ICICI and IDBI, in process of selling NPAs worth ₹28,000 crores.
  • IDFC Bank, Capital First get RBI nod for merger.
  • Bharat Financial gets stock exchanges’ nod for merger with IndusInd Bank.
  • Mid-sized British bank CYBG acquires Virgin Money for $2.3 billion.
  • SEBI reduces time for announcement of IPO price band to 2 days; rewrites share buyback regulation.
  • Bharat-22 ETF’s second tranche subscribed 2.6 times, investors put in bids worth ₹15,436 crores.
  • NSE introduces additional surveillance measures on 60 firms undergoing insolvency process.
  • Rupee hits an all-time low, breaching the 69/$ mark for the 1st time.
  • Money stashed by Indians in Swiss banks swells by 50%; Piyush Goyal promises action. TCS board clears ₹16,000 crores share buyback at ₹2,100, 14% premium to current price.
  • Nokia signs 5-year global IT infrastructure deal with HCL Technologies.
  • DoT seeks ₹2,100 crores bank guarantee from Idea to clear Vodafone merger deal.
  • Airtel partners with telecom department to boost rural broadband penetration.
  • India, Europe Telecom regulators sign memorandum on preserving, promoting net neutrality rules.
  • Reliance Jio crosses 200 million user mark in less than 2 years.
  • Energy Efficiency Services ltd (EESL), Telangana partners to adopt E-mobility programme.
  • Suzuki India crosses 20 million cars production milestone since its inception in 1983.
  • Nissan stops development of future diesel powerplants globally.
  • Harley-Davidson shifts some manufacturing unit out of US to escape EU tariffs.
  • India, China aviation officials discuss increasing air connectivity.
  • Andhra Pradesh inks pacts with Singapore consortium to develop Amaravati.
  • Govt to restructure the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority to revamp drug price regulation.
  • OPEC agrees on output hike of 1 million barrels per day.
  • Abu Dhabi National Oil Company joins Saudi Aramco to take stake in $44 billion Ratanagiri refinery.
  • US imposes import duty on large diameter welded pipes from India & China; raises tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from key allies in Europe and North America.
  • Canada fires back at US with $12.6 billion counter tariffs on essentials.
  • US imposes 25% tariff on Chinese goods, China retaliates with additional tariffs on $50 billion worth of US goods.
  • India increases import duty on 30 US products. • China’s yuan hits fresh 5-month low as trade fight with U.S. intensifies.
  • Solar installations in India rises 34% to 3,269 mw in the first quarter of 2018.
  • AT&T completes acquisition of Time Warner after US govt allows it to close deal.
  • Yahoo Messenger to shut down on July 17, redirects users to group messaging app Squirrel.
  • Confederation of All India Traders files complaint with ED against Flipkart, alleges FDI norms violation.
  • Truecaller acquires Chillr, to roll out credit and financial services to Indian users.
  • Cleartrip announces acquisition of Saudi Arabia-based online travel aggregator ‘Flyin’.
  • BookMyShow forays into international event ticketing.
  • South Korea’s cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb loses $32 million in digital money heist.
  • Australia, New Zealand central banks shun “volatile“ digital currencies.
  • Bitcoin skids below $6,000, hits lowest level since November 2017.
  • General Electric dropped from Dow Index; replaced with Walgreens Boots Alliance.
  • Argentina gets first $15 billion from IMF to stabilise economy.
  • Bank of Maharashtra CEO, Executive Director held for role in ₹3,000 crore DSK Group default case.
  • CBI files chargesheet against A C Muthiah, others for ₹1.02 billion loss to Syndicate Bank.
  • India’s trade deficit widened to 4 month high of $14.62 billion in May as imports surged nearly 15%.
  • Indo-Thai bilateral trade to touch $11 billion in 2018; Thailand companies to invest around $3 billion by 2020.
  • PSB losses eat up Centre’s $13 billion infusion in FY18: Fitch Ratings.
  • Violence costs India’s GDP over $1 trillion on PPP basis, per person cost at ₹40,000: Report.
  • Mahesh Kumar Jain, MD & CEO of IDBI Bank, appointed as Dy Governor of RBI for a term of 3 years.
  • ICICI Bank’s Board names Sandeep Bakhshi as COO; Chanda Kochhar to go on indefinite leave; appoints former petroleum secretary GC Chaturvedi as non-executive part-time Chairman.
  • ICICI Prudential Life’s board appoints NS Kannan as MD and CEO.
  • YES Bank shareholders reappoint Rana Kapoor as Managing Director, CEO for 3 years.
  • General Motors names Dhivya Suryadevara as CFO.