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Oct 21, 2017 04:30 PM IST IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com
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highlights
Bitcoin surged to a record high of more than $6,000 on Friday, pushing its market capitalisation to $100 billion at one point, as investors continued to bet on an asset that has a limited supply and has paved the way for a whole slew of crypto-currencies, reports Reuters. The original virtual currency has gained over 500% this year, more than any other tradable asset class. Bitcoin though is very volatile - posting gains and losses as high as 26% and 16%, respectively, on any given day. On Friday, bitcoin hit a record peak $6,000.10 on the BitStamp platform, and was last at $5,964.24, up 4.7% on the day.
Pyongyang does not plan to hold any talks with Washington about its nuclear program, a senior North Korean diplomat said on Friday, declaring that possessing nuclear weapons was a matter of life and death for North Korea, the RIA news agency reported. Choe Son-hui, director-general of the North American department of North Korea’s foreign ministry, told a non-proliferation conference in Moscow Washington would “have to put up” with North Korea’s nuclear status. “This is a matter of life and death for us. The current situation deepens our understanding that we need nuclear weapons to repel a potential attack. We will respond to fire with fire.”
President Donald Trump is considering nominating Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell and Stanford University economist John Taylor for the central bank’s top two jobs, in an apparent bid to reassure markets and appease conservatives hungry for change, reports Reuters. Under that scenario, either Powell or Taylor would take the reins from Fed Chair Janet Yellen when her term expires in early February, and the other would fill the vice chair position left vacant when Stanley Fischer retired this month.
China economy on track to hit 2017 growth target: State planner
China's economy is on track to meet the official growth target for 2017, the head of the state planning agency said today, according to Reuters.
"We expect to achieve the full-year growth target of about 6.5 percent," He Lifeng, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), told a briefing on the sidelines of China's Communist Party Congress.
Most economists believe actual growth should easily beat the target. The economy grew 6.8 percent in the third quarter of the year, and 6.9 percent in the first half.
Even as banks are on an overdrive to push customers to link their Aadhaar numbers to bank accounts on the threat of suspending accounts, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has told us that it has never issued any such directions. This was in response to a Right to Information (RTI) Act application filed by MoneyLife. The RBI’s emphatic RTI response makes it clear that the decision is entirely that of the central government.
Responding to a specific query on providing copy of the file along with file notings regarding mandatory linking of Aadhaar number with bank accounts, the Reserve Bank stated it "has not issued any instruction so far regarding mandatory liking of Aadhaar number with bank accounts." When explicitly asked if RBI had taken permission from the Supreme Court for mandatory linking of bank accounts with Aadhaar number, especially when the apex court had restricted its usage for six schemes, the Reserve Bank stated that is has not filed any petition before the SC.
Also read: Four deadlines for Aadhaar linking that you must not miss
Regulator Sebi has banned Grass Root Finance & Investment Company (India) and 13 others from the capital markets for raising funds without complying with the public issue norms, reports PTI. A probe by Sebi found that the company had issued equity shares to 9,321 people between 1995-96 and 2006-07 and raised Rs 6.80 crore through such issuance.
Since these shares were issued to more than 50 investors by the company, it qualified as a public issue under the norms, which required compulsory listing on recognised stock exchanges. Among others, the firm was also required to file a prospectus, which it failed to do. In an interim order passed on October 18, Sebi said that Grass Root is prima facie in breach of the provisions of the Companies Act in connection with the allotment of shares.
The festive days in the run-up to Diwali gave motorcycle-specialist Bajaj Auto a 25% bump-up in retail volumes. A chunk of it came from low-end, budget bikes like CT100 and Platina. But for Bajaj Auto, which prides itself on the 20% EBITDA margin every quarter, both the bikes generate single-digit margin. In fact, the CT100 is EBITDA negative, according to the company’s chief financial officer. So why does this Pune-based, India’s fourth largest two-wheeler maker, continue to produce a loss-making product? Read here to find out
CIA director Mike Pompeo has warned that North Korea is on the cusp of being able to hit the US with a nuclear missile, reports BBC. He stressed Washington still preferred diplomacy and sanctions but said military force remained an option. North Korea claims it already has the capability to strike the US.
North Korea is "close enough now in their capabilities that from a US policy perspective we ought to behave as if we are on the cusp of them achieving that objective," Pompeo said at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, a conservative Washington think tank. "They are so far along in that, it's now a matter of thinking about how do you stop the final step."
He warned Pyongyang's missile expertise was now advancing so quickly that it was hard for US intelligence to be sure when it would succeed. "When you're now talking about months our capacity to understand that at a detailed level is in some sense irrelevant," he said. (Picture courtesy: Reuters)
Australia’s Prime Minister has dismissed an extraordinary letter from North Korea to the Australian Parliament and other countries as a “rant” against President Donald Trump and a sign that Pyongyang is “starting to feel the squeeze” of escalated sanctions, reports AP. The letter from the North Korean Foreign Affairs Committee attacks Trump over his speech to the United Nations General Assembly last month in which the president threatened to “totally destroy North Korea” if provoked.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Melbourne Radio 3AW on Friday the letter was sent to “a lot of other countries” as well as Australia. The letter says that if Trump thinks that he will bring North Korea “to its knees through nuclear war threat, it will be a big miscalculation and an expression of ignorance.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address promises a lot of development for the state of Uttarakhand and the Himalayan region. Here are some of the takeaways —
Tourism pitch: The PM suggested that the Himalayan region be utilised to its fullest potential by developing infrastructure to boost tourism.
Eco-friendliness: Modi asked Uttarakhand’s citizens to abandon use of chemicals and artificial elements. He urged the hill state to adopt green ways in its pursuit of development. “I want Uttarakhand to be the best tourist destination,” Modi said.
Infra development: The PM promised to work on the development of Mandakini Ghats; better and wider roads in Uttarakhand. He also promised sufficient funds for reconstruction of Kedarpuri.
Ambit Capital expects Budget 2018 to be pro-poor, anti-elite
Saurabh Mukherjea, CEO of Ambit Capital, expects Budget 2018 to be pro-poor and anti-elite. “I expect the 2018 budget to be pro-poor (a step up in subsidies which haven’t grown at all under this NDA regime) and anti-rich (new taxes on the rich).” He sees the Bankruptcy Code, the Benami Transactions Act and a broader crackdown on black money used to parade wealthy tax evaders in front of the media.
In the run to general elections, he feels that any measure that positions the government as being aligned with the interests of the business class will be shot down. “This is the reason why we still don’t have a recapitalisation of public sector banks in spite of the obvious need for it.”
Samvat 2074 started off to a muted start with the market ending lower on Thursday in a brief session of special “muhurat” trading for the festival of Diwali. Banking stocks such as ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank declined the most. The trading session, which lasted for about an hour, saw the Sensex close down 0.6% at 32,389.96, while the Nifty ended 0.63% lower at 10,146.55. ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank fell 2.1% and 1.3%, respectively. “Muhurat” means auspicious in Hindi, and many traders believe gains made during this session bring prosperity and wealth in the year ahead. Regular market trading will resume on Monday.
Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular gained over 3% each after Reliance Industries’ telecoms arm Jio revised tariff offers ahead of the festival season. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) share price was locked at the 5% upper circuit for the sixth consecutive session on Thursday. The stock rallied 5% to close at Rs 6.17 on the BSE on Thursday. It surged 53.5% in six straight sessions, especially after its deal with Bharti Airtel for sale of consumer telecom business.
Bitcoin is not the new gold: Goldman Sachs
Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are not the "new gold," Goldman Sachs said, advising investors that precious metals "remain a relevant asset class" in portfolios. In a note to clients earlier this week, Goldman detailed the benefits of holding gold in a portfolio, reports CNBC. "The use of precious metals is not a historical accident – they are still the best long-term store of value out of the known elements," the investment bank said.
But it also addressed the rise of cryptocurrencies. Many commentators have dubbed bitcoin "digital gold" because of the fact it has a finite supply and has at times seen price rises due to geopolitical tensions. Goldman concluded that bitcoin is not a good store of value versus gold. "Gold wins out over cryptocurrencies in a majority of the key characteristics of money," Goldman said.
It said that digital wallets, where people can store cryptocurrencies, are vulnerable to hacking, and virtual currencies also have "significant regulatory risks." Goldman also said that cryptocurrencies are subject to network or infrastructure risk during a crisis.
ECB says bitcoin isn't 'mature' enough to regulate
Cryptocurrencies are not "mature" enough to be considered by the European Central Bank (ECB) for regulation, Mario Draghi said. "With anything that's new, people have great expectations and also great uncertainty. Right now we think that especially as far as bitcoins and cryptocurrencies are concerned, we don't think the technology is mature for our consideration," Draghi told CNBC.
He expressed caution and said that while innovation should be "cherished for its potential benefits," it should also be "critically assessed" for risks. "One of the lessons of the great financial crisis is that financial innovation, in this case it's financial and technology innovation... should be embraced with lots of attention to its potential risks," Draghi stated.
China's central bank just warned of a sudden collapse in asset prices
China will fend off risks from excessive optimism that could lead to a "Minsky Moment", central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said, adding that corporate debt levels are relatively high and household debt is rising too quickly, reports CNBC. A Minsky Moment is a sudden collapse of asset prices after a long period of growth, sparked by debt or currency pressures. The theory is named after economist Hyman Minsky.
"If there are too many pro-cyclical factors in the economy, cyclical fluctuations are magnified and there is excessive optimism during the period, accumulating contradictions that could lead to the so-called Minsky Moment," Zhou said, adding: "We should focus on preventing a dramatic adjustment."
China will control risks from sudden adjustments to asset bubbles and will seriously deal with disguised debt of local government financing vehicles, Zhou said. Still, China's overall debt levels could decline as long as authorities keep a tight control on credit, he stated.
Pyongyang's ongoing nuclear aggression may potentially result in South Korea and Japan hosting nuclear weapons on their own turf, a scenario that would have wide-ranging negative consequences, Singapore's leader has warned. "What's different this time is that North Korea has more nuclear weapons ... so the risks are higher," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in an interview with CNBC. The current North Korea tensions carry long-term consequences for the region, he warned, adding that if South Korea and Japan acquire nuclear weapons as protection against a potential attack, Asia's security balance will change.
The US Senate voted on Thursday to approve a budget blueprint for the 2018 fiscal year that will pave the way for Republicans to pursue a tax-cut package without Democratic support. By a 51-to-49 vote, the Republican-controlled Senate approved the budget measure, which would add up to $1.5 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade in order to pay for proposed tax cuts.
US President Donald Trump risks driving Iran towards nuclear proliferation and worsening a standoff with North Korea if Washington ends a nuclear deal with Iran, former Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday. Kerry, who negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, was speaking a week after Trump refused to certify that Tehran was in compliance, amid growing tensions with Pyongyang over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, reports Reuters. “If you want to negotiate with (North Korean leader) Kim Jong Un, and your goal is to avoid war and try to be able to have a diplomatic resolution, the worst thing you can do is first threaten to destroy his country in the United Nations,” Kerry said.
North Korea has sent a letter to Australia’s parliament, warning it is a nuclear power and will not be cowed by US President Donald Trump’s threats to destroy it, according to a copy of the letter published in an Australian newspaper on Friday. “If Trump thinks that he would bring the DPRK, a nuclear power, to its knees through nuclear war threat, it will be a big miscalculation and an expression of ignorance,” said a facsimile of the letter, published by the Sydney Morning Herald and verified by Australia’s foreign ministry. “Trump threatened to totally destroy the DPRK ... it is an extreme act of threatening to totally destroy the whole world.” A spokeswoman for Australia’s Foreign Minister told Reuters the Herald report was accurate and the paper’s copy of the letter, dated September 28, was genuine. (Picture courtesy: CNBC)
Bitcoin surged to a record high of more than $6,000 on Friday, pushing its market capitalisation to $100 billion at one point, as investors continued to bet on an asset that has a limited supply and has paved the way for a whole slew of crypto-currencies, reports Reuters. The original virtual currency has gained over 500% this year, more than any other tradable asset class. Bitcoin though is very volatile - posting gains and losses as high as 26% and 16%, respectively, on any given day. On Friday, bitcoin hit a record peak $6,000.10 on the BitStamp platform, and was last at $5,964.24, up 4.7% on the day.
The Spanish cabinet was meeting on Saturday to prepare to impose direct rule on Catalonia and thwart a drive by the autonomous region to breakaway from Spain, reports CNBC. It will be the first time in Spain's four decades of democracy that Madrid has invoked the constitutional right to take control of a region and rule it directly from Madrid. Independence supporters were due to rally in the Catalan capital Barcelona on Saturday afternoon. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy insists that Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who heads the wealthy northeastern region's government, has broken the law several times in pushing for independence, thus justifying the imposition of central government control. (Picture courtesy: BBC)
Cyclical stocks lifted European shares on Friday, recovering some losses as well-received earnings reports boosted shares in Volvo and Ericsson, though ongoing political malaise held back Spanish equities, reports Reuters. The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.1%, rebounding from its lowest closing level so far in October. Spain's benchmark IBEX was in negative territory, however, down 0.2% ahead of a Saturday’s special cabinet meeting which could see Spain suspending Catalonia's autonomy. While the IBEX is still up around 9% so far this year, it has lagged the STOXX 600 in October, down around 1.7% since Catalonia’s independence referendum on October 1.
In the wake of rising pollution due to bursting of firecrackers, industry body Assocham on Saturday said clean environment should be a combined responsibility of the Centre, state governments, civil society and public at large, and not of the apex court alone, reports PTI. The industry body said enforcement of the Supreme court order banning sale of firecrackers should have been ensured by the Union Environment Ministry, Delhi government, the state governments of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana in the entire NCR. Air pollution in the capital soared to alarming levels on Diwali night, reaching as much as five times over the safe limit because of bursting of firecrackers despite a Supreme Court ban on their sale in the NCR. (Photo courtesy: Reuters)
Hoping to garner support of various communities in Gujarat polls, the state Congress on Saturday invited Patidar quota stir spearhead Hardik Patel, Thakor community leader Alpesh Thakor and dalit leader Jignesh Mevani to join hands with the party to defeat the ruling BJP, reports PTI. Apart from these leaders, the Congress also hinted at forging a pre-poll alliance with Sharad Pawar-led NCP and bringing on board Chhotu Vasava, the lone JD(U) MLA from the state.
US stocks closed higher on Friday after the Senate took a step toward achieving tax reform, reports CNBC. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 165.59 points to 23,328.63, reaching intraday and closing records. The S&P 500 also notched record highs, advancing 0.5% to close at 2,575.21 as financials led advancers by rising 1.2%. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4% to 6,629.05 in a record-setting session. The Dow, S&P and Nasdaq also posted weekly gains of 2%, 0.9% and 0.35%, respectively.
Pyongyang does not plan to hold any talks with Washington about its nuclear program, a senior North Korean diplomat said on Friday, declaring that possessing nuclear weapons was a matter of life and death for North Korea, the RIA news agency reported. Choe Son-hui, director-general of the North American department of North Korea’s foreign ministry, told a non-proliferation conference in Moscow Washington would “have to put up” with North Korea’s nuclear status. “This is a matter of life and death for us. The current situation deepens our understanding that we need nuclear weapons to repel a potential attack. We will respond to fire with fire.”
The US budget deficit widened to $666 billion for the fiscal year 2017 as record spending more than offset record receipts, the Treasury Department said on Friday. The 2017 deficit increased to 3.5% of gross domestic product, reports Reuters. The previous fiscal year deficit was $586 billion, with a deficit-to-GDP ratio of 3.2%.
US President Donald Trump is expected to pressure China’s president when they meet next month in Beijing to do more to rein in North Korea out of a belief that Xi Jinping’s consolidation of power should give him more authority to do so, reports Reuters. Trump leaves November 3 on a trip that will take him to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. It will be his first tour of Asia since taking power in January and one with a major priority: Preventing the standoff with North Korea from spiralling out of control.
Xi is immersed in a Communist Party Congress expected to culminate in him consolidating his control and potentially retaining power beyond 2022, when the next congress takes place. Trump believes that Xi should have even more leverage to work on the North Korea problem. “The president’s view is you have even less of an excuse now,” said one official. “He’s not going to step lightly.”
President Donald Trump is considering nominating Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell and Stanford University economist John Taylor for the central bank’s top two jobs, in an apparent bid to reassure markets and appease conservatives hungry for change, reports Reuters. Under that scenario, either Powell or Taylor would take the reins from Fed Chair Janet Yellen when her term expires in early February, and the other would fill the vice chair position left vacant when Stanley Fischer retired this month.
Don't 'demon-etise' Tamil pride, Rahul Gandhi attacks PM Modi on Mersal row
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi jumped into the Mersal controversy and asked PM Narendra Modi to not try and "demon-etise" Tamil pride.
"Mr. Modi, Cinema is a deep expression of Tamil culture and language. Don't try to demon-etise Tamil pride by interfering in Mersal (sic)," tweeted the soon-to-be party president.
Read the full story here.
Aadhaar card not mandatory to get ration in Jharkhand: Minister
The Jharkhand government today said Aadhaar card was not mandatory to collect food grains from the public distribution system after a 11-year-old girl allegedly died of starvation.
Local activists had alleged that the girl died of starvation on September 28 after her family was denied ration for the want of an Aadhaar-linked ration card.
Read the full story here.
The Information & Broadcast Ministry has said that it will not interfere in the 'Mersal' controversy as the film has already been passed by the Censor Board.
PM Modi is with us, nobody can shake AIADMK: Tamil Nadu Minister
Tamil Nadu Minister KT Rajendra Balaji has said "nobody can shake" the AIADMK as long as Prime Minister Narendra Modi "supports the party".
Expressing confidence that Chief Minister K Palaniswami's camp would get the 'two leaves' symbol, the State Dairy Minister said, "The symbol will come to EPS camp... there is no doubt about it."
Addressing a party meeting here late last night, he said as along as "Prime Minister Narendra Modi is with us, nobody can shake our party... nobody can destroy AIADMK...."
Read the full story here.
China economy on track to hit 2017 growth target: State planner
China's economy is on track to meet the official growth target for 2017, the head of the state planning agency said today, according to Reuters.
"We expect to achieve the full-year growth target of about 6.5 percent," He Lifeng, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), told a briefing on the sidelines of China's Communist Party Congress.
Most economists believe actual growth should easily beat the target. The economy grew 6.8 percent in the third quarter of the year, and 6.9 percent in the first half.
Nearly 37 lakh GST returns for September have been filed till 19:00 hours and 75,000 sales data is being uploaded on the GSTN portal on hourly basis, its Chairman Ajay Bhushan Pandey said.
The deadline for filing the initial returns in GSTR- 3B for September under the Goods and Services Tax regime ends midnight yesterday.
Read the full story here.
Overall earnings season will also be closely watched due to the impact of GST that has been implemented with effect from July 1. The full impact of new tax system will be reflected in Q2 earnings.
Here's the Market Week Ahead: Q2 earnings of Infosys & top banks among 10 things to keep investors busy.
Typhoon could hamper tomorrow's snap election
Heavy rain and powerful winds are expected to lash large areas of Japan tomorrow as a strong typhoon sweeps ashore, possibly hindering voter turnout in a national election.
Typhoon Lan was classified as an intense Category 4 storm on Saturday, with winds of up to 250 km/h (156 mph), according to the Tropical Storm Risk web site.
Foreign leaders can't think they can get away with meeting exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama just because they are doing it in a personal capacity, as they still represent their government, a senior Chinese official said on Saturday.
China considers the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, to be a dangerous separatist. The Nobel Peace Prize winning monk says he simply seeks genuine autonomy for his Himalayan homeland.
Read the full story here.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit poll-bound Gujarat tomorrow for the third time this month, where he will inaugurate and lay foundation stones for a number of projects in Bhavnagar and Vadodara districts.
Modi will inaugurate the first phase of the Rs 615-crore 'roll-on, roll-off (ro-ro)' ferry service between Ghogha in Bhavnagar district and Dahej in Bharuch in the Gulf of Cambay.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has said greater co-operation between India and the US would help boost agricultural production and yield promising results for both countries.
The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) in collaboration with the Iowa State University organised a special session on agriculture as part of the World Food Prize meetings this week. Naidu was visiting the US to attend the meeting.
Read the full story here.
China's ruling Communist Party continues to hold talks and maintain contacts with its North Korean counterpart, a senior official said on Saturday, describing the two countries friendship as important for regional stability, according to Reuters.
While the United States and its allies, and many people in China, believe Beijing should do more to rein in Pyongyang, the acceleration of North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities has coincided with a near-total breakdown of high-level diplomacy between the two.
Read the full story here.
Delhi Metro's Blue Line services were disrupted due to a technical snag
Delhi Metro’s Blue Line services were disrupted today morning during the rush hours due to a technical problem, media reports have claimed.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has however not released an official statement revealing the exact reason behind the problem so far.
Malaysia Airlines picks new CEO
Malaysia Airlines named veteran senior executive Izham Ismail as its new CEO after his predecessor's shock departure dealt a fresh blow to the struggling carrier.
Izham, currently Malaysia Airlines chief operating officer, will be the carrier's fourth chief executive since 2014 when the company was plunged into crisis by the disappearance of flight MH370 and the downing of MH17.
The last CEO, Peter Bellew, abruptly resigned this week after just over a year in the job to rejoin Ryanair, which has recently been hit by a crisis that led to the cancellation of thousands of flights.
Read more here.
Global study says 25 lakh died in India due to pollution in 2015
Of the 90 lakh people who died due to pollution-related diseases in 2015, 25 lakh deaths were recorded in India, the highest in any country.
According to an international study published in The Lancet, pollution caused three times more deaths than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis put together in 2015. India not only recorded the maximum deaths in the year, but also the most due to air pollution: 18 lakh. Another 6.4 lakh died due to water pollution in India the same year.
Read the full story here.
PM Modi wants peace with Pakistan but not at security cost: US official
Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot "pursue peace" with Pakistan in a way that "cuts his own security", a top Trump administration official has said, asserting that it is in the interest of Islamabad to build confidence with New Delhi to restart commercial ties.
Ahead of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's maiden visit to India and Pakistan next week, the official, with an insight into the administration's policy over South Asia, was responding to questions on what India could do to bring peace and stability in the region, in particular with Pakistan.
Read the full story here.