Economy / Market Snapshot – April 2017

General News

• Delhi Municipal polls: BJP sweeps to power with 2/3rd majority leaving AAP and Congress far behind.
• SC restores criminal conspiracy charges against LK Advani, MM Joshi and Uma Bharti in the Babri

Masjid case; sets 2-year deadline to complete proceedings.

• 25 CRPF jawans were killed in worst Maoist attack in years in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district.
• SC slams Modi govt for making Aadhaar mandatory for filing IT returns illegal: to resume hearing on May 2.
• Aadhaar data leak on portals can attract 3 years in jail, govt warns states.
• Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull, Sri Lankan PM Wickremsinghe, Malaysian PM Najib Razak,
  Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Nepalese President Bidhya Devi Bhandari visited India on different occasions.
• Cabinet bans red beacons for central govt ministers, officials; President, Vice President, PM, CJI and the LS Speaker exempt.
• Prescribe drugs in generic names or face action: Medical Council of India (MCI) to doctors.
• Cabinet clears EC proposal to buy new VVPAT-enabled EVMs.
• SC bans liquor along national highways.
• UP: CM Yogi Adityanath announces loan waiver for farmers and 18-hour power supply in villages.
• Yogi govt scraps Samajwadi Pension Scheme and orders review of beneficiaries; Lucknow-Agra
  Expressway, Akhilesh Yadav’s flagship project, comes under scanner.
• EC cancels RK Nagar bypoll, cites voter bribery, corruption.
• TTV Dinakaran was arrested on bribery charges; rival factions of AIADMK hold negotiations for reconciliation after his arrest.
• Panneerselvam sets terms, says no merger if VK Sasikala, family in picture.
• Tamil Nadu farmers protesting at Jantar Mantar for 40 days called off their strike after CM Edapaddi Palaniswami promised to meet their demands of drought relief and farm loan waivers.
• Madras HC directs TN government to waive off loans for all farmers in cooperative banks.
• Tension mounts for security forces, as J&K youths continue to join militant groups.
• J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti met PM Modi as law and order deteriorates in the state.
• J&K govt orders suspension of internet services for a month.
• PM flagged off Shimla-New Delhi flight under UDAN scheme.
• PM Modi inaugurates Chenani-Nashri Link, India’s longest road tunnel, in J&K.
• Those who give triple talaq without Sharia reasons will face social boycott, will end triple talaq in 1.5 Years, says Vice President of Muslim Law Board.
• NASA scientists release latest global maps of Earth at night.
• IMD released the monsoon 2017 forecast, predicts normal rain, fair distribution across India.
• 64th National Film Awards: Akshay Kumar won Best Actor and Surabhi Lakshmi bagged Best Actress.
• Padma Awards 2017: Sakshi Malik, Dipa Karmakar, Virat Kohli, Sanjeev Kapoor, Mariyappan
  Thangavelu and Deepa Malik were among the recipients.
• Over 50 Indians including Dipa Karmakar, Sakshi Malik and Alia Bhatt in Forbes’ under 30 list of super achievers from Asia.
• World’s heaviest woman Eman Ahmed, who was being treated in Mumbai to be shifted to Abu Dhabi after a spat over the treatment.
• U.S. dropped ‘Mother of All Bombs’ on ISIS caves in Afghanistan.
• Suspected gas attack in Syria killed dozens; US launches missile strike in Syria after chemical attack.
• US navy strike group heads toward Korean peninsula.
• US President Donald Trump signs executive order for overhaul of H-1B visa system.
• Trump completed first 100 days in White House.
• Theresa May announces snap general election on June 8 to make a success of Brexit.
• Pakistan sentences former Indian naval officer, Kulbushan Jadhav to death.
• Jadhav has 3 forums of appeal, no immediate execution: Pakistan.
• Panama Papers: Relief for PM Nawaz Sharif as Pakistan SC orders joint investigation team to probe;
• China condemns Dalai Lama’s visit to India.
• Malala Yousafzai becomes youngest-ever UN Messenger of Peace and also youngest honorary citizen of Canada.
• Panama Papers investigation awarded prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting.
• IPL 2017: The 10th edition of the Indian Premier League began on April 5.
• With 37 matches played, KKR and MI top the table.
• PV Sindhu beats Carolina Marin to clinch maiden India Open Crown; reaches career-best World No.2 ranking after India Open triumph.
• Maria Sharapova set to make her return in Stuttgart Open after a 15-month doping ban.
• India ranked 3rd for third year in row in WADA doping charts.

Business News

• President Pranab Mukherjee gives nod to 4 key GST laws.
• Education, healthcare and pilgrimages to be out of service tax net under the GST.
• GST Council will take a final call on GST rates in May: Arun Jaitley.
• RBI Monetary policy: RBI keeps Repo rate and CRR unchanged.
• Reverse Repo raised to 6%; narrows LAF corridor by 25 bps.
• Forecasts an average inflation of 4.5% in the first half of FY18 and 5% in the second half of the year.
• Sensex closes above 30,000 and Nifty hits 9,300 for first time ever; bank nifty, nifty midcap also hittheir record highs.
• India nears $2 trillion market capitalisation club as Sensex crosses 30000.
• Nasdaq touched the 6,000 mark and DOW 21,000 mark for the first time.
• SEBI approves introduction of options trading in commodities market.
• FIPB abolition in final stages: Arun Jaitley.
• Vijay Mallya granted bail after being arrested by London’s Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant.
• Investigating agencies doing best to bring back Mallya: FM Arun Jaitley.
• Delhi HC accepts Tata-Docomo agreement, rejects RBI objection.
• Indian economy to grow at 7.2% in FY18: World Bank.
• Finance Ministry ratifies 8.65% interest rate on EPF.
• Railways to go for complete digitisation; save Rs 60,000 crores: Suresh Prabhu.
• SBI to enter the top 50 Global Banks league with Rs 41 lakh crore balance sheet, post-merger.
• Insurance regulator IRDA unveils portal for insurers to sell policies online.
• Mutual Funds see record Rs. 3.43 Lakh Crore inflow in FY’17 mainly into income and liquid schemes.
• US tightens H-1B rules for computer programmers, warns against discrimination.
• Singapore blocks visas for Indian IT professionals.
• China court orders Samsung to pay $11.6 million to Huawei over patent case.
• Google launches translator for 9 Indian languages, expands support to 11 more.
• Reliance Jio effect: Rs 4,600 crore hit for telecom firms in FY17, Rs4,900 crores to be hit in FY18.
• 7 models of Maruti Suzuki feature among top 10 selling PVs in 2016-17.
• Royal Enfield rides into Brazil with an exclusive store in Sao Paulo.
• Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin cut prices in India by Rs 20 lakhs to more than Rs 1 crore on Brexit woes.
• Automakers to file review petition in SC against ban on BS III vehicle
• L&T names SN Subrahmanyan as CEO; AM Naik, non-executive chairman.
• Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra arrested by Delhi Police for duping home buyers.
• Govt aims record food grain production at 273 million tonnes in 2017-18.
• Petrol, diesel prices to change daily in accordance with international rates starting 1st May.
• Cairn India merges with Vedanta; companies to retain brand identity.
• India’s steel industry out of stress, exports up by 56%.
• Iron ore shipments zoom 163% through major ports in FY17.
• Amazon India sets up 7 new warehouses (fulfilment centres), to create 1,200 jobs.
• Flipkart buy eBay’s India business as part of the $1.4 billion deal.
• Flipkart and Snapdeal merger likely to be in May.
• Amazon India gets RBI approval to launch e-wallet services.
• Jeff Bezos to sell $1 billion Amazon stock every year to fund his space rides and satellite-launching venture, Blue Origin.
• Ola raises Rs 1,675 crore in fresh funding from SoftBank.
• StayZilla founder Yogendra Vasupal granted conditional bail.

Q4 Results

• Infosys Q4 profit dips 2.8% to Rs 3,603 crores; revenue growth seen at 6.5-8.5%.
• Infosys to pay Rs 13,000 crore to shareholders via dividend or share buyback in FY18.
• TCS reports profit at Rs 6,608 cr on revenue of Rs 29,642 cr for the quarter ended March 2017.
• FY 18 revenue guidance at 6.5%-8.5% in constant currency. Operating margin guidance at 23%-25%.
• Wipro posts 20% QoQ rise in Q4 net profit at Rs 2,303.5 crores, revises Q1 revenue guidance.
• Hexaware’s Q1 profit fell 7.4% to Rs 113.9 crores, rupee revenue grew by 2.1% to Rs 960.5 crores.
• Kotak Mahindra Bank Q4 net profit soars 40.3% to Rs 976.5 cr YoY, NII up 16.4% at Rs 2,161.40 cr.
• HDFC Bank reports an 18.25% YoY rise in net profit at Rs 3,990 crores; Bad loans provisions rise 90.48% to Rs 1,261 crores.
• Axis Bank reports Q4 profit at Rs 1,225.1 crores on lower provisions and NII at Rs 4,728.9 crores.
• IndusInd Bank Q4 Profit grew by 21.2% YoY to Rs 751.6 crores, NII up 31.5% to Rs 1,667.4 crores.
• Yes Bank posts Q4 profit Rs 914.1 crores and NII at Rs 1,639.7 crores; Net NPAs rise to
  Rs 1,072.3 crores.
• Federal Bank’s Q4 profit jumps nearly 25 times to Rs 256.6 crores YoY, driven by improvement in asset quality and lower provisions.
• Reliance Q4 profit up by 1.6% at Rs 8,151 crores, total income surged 9.1% to Rs 75,969 crores, sequentially.
• Biocon Q4 profit down 58% YoY at Rs 148.4 crores, to issue bonus shares in the ratio of 1:2.
• Maruti Suzuki Q4 profit jumps 16% to Rs 1,709 crores, Net sales rises 20.3% to Rs 18,005.2 crores.
• TVS Motor reports 6.80% decline in net profit at Rs 126.77 crores YoY, total income jumps 1.57% to Rs 3,139.22 crores.

Market News

• Indian markets went up by 1%; BSE and NSE records their all time high; Global markets up except
  London and Shanghai; Nasdaq crosses 6,000 mark and Dow crosses 21,000 mark;
• Banks, Auto, FMCG up while IT and Pharma down; FII’s net sellers in equity market
• Silver and Crude down while Gold was up; Indian Rupee settles at Rs.64.53 against US Dollar