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highlights
Oil prices hit highest since 2014, but analysts warn of overheated market
Oil prices hit their highest levels since 2014 on Wednesday due to ongoing production cuts led by Opec as well as healthy demand, although analysts cautioned that markets may be overheating, reports Reuters. A broad global market rally, including stocks, has also been fuelling investment into crude oil futures.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $63.40 a barrel at 06:30 am - 44 cents, or 0.7%, above their last settlement. They marked a December 2014 high of $63.53 a barrel in early trading. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $69.15 a barrel, 33 cents, or 0.5%percent, above their last close. Brent touched $69.29 in late Tuesday trading, its strongest since an intra-day spike in May 2015 and, before that, in December 2014.
Jamie Dimon says he regrets calling bitcoin a fraud
JP Morgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon is backpedalling a bit on his earlier criticisms on cryptocurrencies. In September, Dimon called bitcoin a fraud. "I regret making" that comment, he told Fox Business on Tuesday.
"The blockchain is real," Dimon added in the interview. "You can have cryptodollars in yen and stuff like that. ICOs ... you got to look at every one individually. The bitcoin was always to me what the governments are going to feel about bitcoin when it gets really big. And I just have a different opinion than other people."
UK eco set for 'underwhelming' 2018, says British Chambers of Commerce
Britain’s economy looks set for an underwhelming 2018, according to a major survey on Wednesday that showed businesses are in a subdued mood ahead of Brexit, reports Reuters. Companies continued to grapple with cost pressures in the last three months of 2017 and were reluctant to invest more, the British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC) Quarterly Economic Survey showed.
The services sector, which represents the lion’s share of Britain’s economy, continued to expand at a subdued pace, the BCC said. Manufacturers did better than services firms, but still reported a slowdown in both domestic and export sales. Overall the survey suggested the economy grew modestly at the end of last year, after picking up slightly in the three months to September with quarterly growth of 0.4% - below a historic trend of nearer 0.6%.
“The economy is set to continue on an underwhelming growth trajectory over the near term with uncertainty over the impact of Brexit coupled with high inflation and weak productivity likely to dampen overall economic activity,” the BCC’s head of economics, Suren Thiru, said.
World Bank projects 7.3% growth for India in 2018
With an "ambitious government undertaking comprehensive reforms", India has "enormous growth potential" compared to other emerging economies, the World Bank said, as it projected country's growth rate at 7.3% in 2018 and 7.5% for the next two years, reports PTI. India, despite initial setbacks from demonetisation and Goods & Services Tax (GST), is estimated to have grown at 6.7% in 2017, according to the 2018 Global Economics Prospect released by the World Bank in Washington today.
"In all likelihood India is going to register higher growth rate than other major emerging market economies in the next decade. So, I wouldn't focus on the short-term numbers. I would look at the big picture for India and big picture is telling us that it has enormous potential," Ayhan Kose, Director, Development Prospects Group, World Bank, said in an interview.
He said in comparison with China, which is slowing, the World Bank is expecting India to gradually accelerate. In 2017, China grew at 6.8%, 0.1% more than that of India, while in 2018, its growth rate is projected at 6.4%. And in the next two years, the country's growth rate will drop marginally to 6.3% and 6.2%, respectively.
Cabinet may review FDI policy in construction, single brand retail today
The Union Cabinet is likely to review foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in certain sectors today with a view to attract more overseas funds, sources told PTI. The sectors, which could be considered for further relaxation, include construction and single brand retail. According to sources, FDI policy review in various sectors is expected to figure in today’s meeting of the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Last year, there was a proposal to permit 100% FDI through automatic route in single brand retail trading. Currently, FDI up to 49% is permitted under the automatic route but beyond that limit government nod is required.
AirAsia CEO says India unit exploring IPO
Malaysia-based carrier AirAsia’s India unit is looking at a potential initial public offering, the group’s chief executive, Tony Fernandes, said on Wednesday. The company will seek approval at AirAsia India’s next board meeting to pick a banker to start the preliminary process for the IPO, Fernandes said on Twitter.
“Analysts (are) giving zero value to AirAsia India. Not far from 20 planes and a potential IPO,” Fernandes tweeted. It’s a “very valuable asset with huge growth potential,” he said. AirAsia India, a tie-up between Asia’s biggest low-cost airline and India’s Tata Sons conglomerate, made revenue of Rs 6 billion in 2016 and expects revenue to double to Rs 12 billion in 2017.
Top Headlines
1. Cabinet may review FDI policy in construction, single brand retail today, reports PTI
2. World Bank projects 7.3% growth for India in 2018, reports PTI
3. Cong questions PM Modi's assertion on FDI numbers, reports PTI
4. Oil prices hit highest level since 2014, reports Reuters
5. UK economy set for 'underwhelming' 2018, says British Chambers of Commerce
Oil prices hit highest since 2014, but analysts warn of overheated market
Oil prices hit their highest levels since 2014 on Wednesday due to ongoing production cuts led by Opec as well as healthy demand, although analysts cautioned that markets may be overheating, reports Reuters. A broad global market rally, including stocks, has also been fuelling investment into crude oil futures.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $63.40 a barrel at 06:30 am - 44 cents, or 0.7%, above their last settlement. They marked a December 2014 high of $63.53 a barrel in early trading. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $69.15 a barrel, 33 cents, or 0.5%percent, above their last close. Brent touched $69.29 in late Tuesday trading, its strongest since an intra-day spike in May 2015 and, before that, in December 2014.
Jamie Dimon says he regrets calling bitcoin a fraud
JP Morgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon is backpedalling a bit on his earlier criticisms on cryptocurrencies. In September, Dimon called bitcoin a fraud. "I regret making" that comment, he told Fox Business on Tuesday.
"The blockchain is real," Dimon added in the interview. "You can have cryptodollars in yen and stuff like that. ICOs ... you got to look at every one individually. The bitcoin was always to me what the governments are going to feel about bitcoin when it gets really big. And I just have a different opinion than other people."
Telecom Commission favours raising spectrum holding limit
Telecom Commission has concurred with sectoral regulator Trai's suggestion to raise spectrum holding limit of mobile operators which will ease the exit route for operators under stress, sources told PTI. Trai had recommended last month that the ceiling on spectrum held by mobile operators within a particular band should be removed. It suggested a 50% cap on combined radiowave holding in efficient bands like 700 MHz, 800 MHz and 900 MHz. As per the current rules, no mobile service provider can hold more than 25% spectrum, vital for transmitting signals, in an area and more than 50% in a frequency band.
Magnitude 7.6 quake strikes off Central America, says USGS
A massive earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck north of Honduras in the Caribbean Sea on Tuesday, sparking a tsunami warning in the area, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. The US.Geological Survey said the quake, initially reported as a magnitude 7.8, was centered 202 km northeast of Barra Patuca in Honduras and 307 km southwest of George Town in the Cayman Islands. It was very shallow, only 10 km, which would have amplified its effect.
NMDC disinvestment: Inst’l buyers offer bids of Rs 976cr
Institutional investors put in bids worth Rs 976 crore on Tuesday for buying government's part stake in state-owned miner NMDC, reports PTI. The government had originally planned to sell 1.5% stake in the company, with a greenshoe option to retain an equal quantum.
Based on the response from institutional buyers, however, it has decided keep the issue size at 2.52%, according to a Finance Ministry official. The sale of 2.52% in NMDC by the government after exercising greenshoe option would fetch about Rs 1,200 crore to the exchequer.
Apollo Micro Systems raises Rs 47cr from anchor investors
Apollo Micro Systems raised nearly Rs 47 crore from anchor investors on Tuesday, ahead of its initial share-sale on Wednesday. It has allotted 16,96,050 shares to four anchor investors at a price of Rs 275 per scrip, garnering Rs 46.64 crore, the company said in a statement.
Among the anchor investors are Sundaram Mutual Fund, Sundaram Infrastructure Advantage Fund and Jupiter South Asia Investment Company - South Asia Access Fund. The price band for the offer, which will close on January 12, has been fixed at Rs 270-275 per equity share.
Infosys signs pricing pact with US Rev Dept, gets $225m tax reversal
IT major Infosys on Tuesday said it has signed an advance pricing agreement (APA) with the US Revenue Department, which will result in reversal of tax provisions of about $225 million. The reversal of the tax provisions will have a positive impact on its consolidated basic earnings per share (EPS) for the December, 2017 quarter by about $0.10, Infosys said in a statement. "In accordance with the APA, the company expects to reverse tax provisions of approximately $225 million made in previous periods which are no longer required (both under International Financial Reporting Standards and Indian Accounting Standards)," it added.
SBI to raise Rs 5,000cr via bonds for affordable housing
Country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday said it proposes to raise Rs 5,000 crore through long term bonds to fund affordable housing. The proposed bond raising programme aims at funding infrastructure and affordable housing, SBI said in a filing to the stock exchanges.
The bank will seek approval of the board for issuance of long-term bonds of Rs 5,000 crore for financing of infrastructure and affordable housing in domestic and overseas market, it said. The bank, however, did not specify whether the borrowing would be in rupee denomination or dollar.
Microsoft says security patches slowing down PCs, servers
Microsoft Corporation said that software patches released to guard against microchip security threats slowed down some personal computers and servers, with systems running on older Intel Corporation processors seeing a noticeable decrease in performance, reports Reuters. The comments in a blog post were the clearest signal from Microsoft that fixes for flaws in microchips from Intel and rivals described last week could meaningfully degrade performance.
The topic is of keen interest to large data centre operators, which could incur significant cost increases if computers slow down. Microsoft also said that security updates froze some computers using chipsets from Intel rival AMD, dragging the latter’s shares down nearly 4%. Shares in Intel, which reiterated on Tuesday that it saw no sign of significant slowdown in computers, fell 2.5% taking the loss since the issue surfaced last week to about 7% or around $15 billion in market value.
US hails Korea talks, despite North's rejection of denuclearisation
North and South Korea held their first talks in over two years on Tuesday, which Washington welcomed as a first step to solving the North Korean nuclear weapons crisis, even though Pyongyang said those were aimed only at the United States and not up for discussion, reports Reuters. The US State Department said Washington would be interested in joining future talks, but stuck to its insistence that they must be aimed at denuclearisation, showing that a diplomatic breakthrough remains far off.
In a joint statement after 11 hours of talks, North and South Korea said they had agreed to hold military to military talks and that North Korea would send a large delegation to next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea. However, North Korea made a “strong complaint” after Seoul proposed talks to denuclearise the Korean peninsula.
Cong questions PM Modi's assertion on FDI numbers
The Congress on Tuesday contested Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claim of a "record" foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country last year, saying it was far from the truth and that the FDI has been the lowest in 13 years in 2017, reports PTI. Congress leader Raj Babbar also said Modi should have talked about the "poor state" of the economy as well.
"The prime minister on Tuesday said fresh investment in the country has been the highest. This seems an incomplete truth...it would have been better had he told (the PIOs) that investment (made in the country) has been the lowest in last 13 years," Babbar said.
Earlier on Tuesday, addressing the first PIO-Parliamentarians Conference in New Delhi, Modi said, "India is changing, India is transforming. India has moved far ahead...A record $60 billion FDI came into the country last year." Babbar said the prime minister should have told the Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) that fresh investment in 2014, during the UPA government of Manmohan Singh, was Rs 16.2 lakh crore and it came down to Rs 7.9 lakh crore in 2017.
UK eco set for 'underwhelming' 2018, says British Chambers of Commerce
Britain’s economy looks set for an underwhelming 2018, according to a major survey on Wednesday that showed businesses are in a subdued mood ahead of Brexit, reports Reuters. Companies continued to grapple with cost pressures in the last three months of 2017 and were reluctant to invest more, the British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC) Quarterly Economic Survey showed.
The services sector, which represents the lion’s share of Britain’s economy, continued to expand at a subdued pace, the BCC said. Manufacturers did better than services firms, but still reported a slowdown in both domestic and export sales. Overall the survey suggested the economy grew modestly at the end of last year, after picking up slightly in the three months to September with quarterly growth of 0.4% - below a historic trend of nearer 0.6%.
“The economy is set to continue on an underwhelming growth trajectory over the near term with uncertainty over the impact of Brexit coupled with high inflation and weak productivity likely to dampen overall economic activity,” the BCC’s head of economics, Suren Thiru, said.
World Bank projects 7.3% growth for India in 2018
With an "ambitious government undertaking comprehensive reforms", India has "enormous growth potential" compared to other emerging economies, the World Bank said, as it projected country's growth rate at 7.3% in 2018 and 7.5% for the next two years, reports PTI. India, despite initial setbacks from demonetisation and Goods & Services Tax (GST), is estimated to have grown at 6.7% in 2017, according to the 2018 Global Economics Prospect released by the World Bank in Washington today.
"In all likelihood India is going to register higher growth rate than other major emerging market economies in the next decade. So, I wouldn't focus on the short-term numbers. I would look at the big picture for India and big picture is telling us that it has enormous potential," Ayhan Kose, Director, Development Prospects Group, World Bank, said in an interview.
He said in comparison with China, which is slowing, the World Bank is expecting India to gradually accelerate. In 2017, China grew at 6.8%, 0.1% more than that of India, while in 2018, its growth rate is projected at 6.4%. And in the next two years, the country's growth rate will drop marginally to 6.3% and 6.2%, respectively.
Asian shares just shy of 2007 peak on earnings optimism
Asian shares hovered just below their 2007 record peak on Wednesday, supported by expectations of solid corporate earnings on the back of synchronised growth in the global economy. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed in early trade, sitting just 0.4% below the record high touched in November 2007, having risen for six straight days since the start of new year. Japan's Nikkei was also flat in early trade, near a 26-year high hit the day before. The SGX Nifty is trading flat at 10,647.50.
Cabinet may review FDI policy in construction, single brand retail today
The Union Cabinet is likely to review foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in certain sectors today with a view to attract more overseas funds, sources told PTI. The sectors, which could be considered for further relaxation, include construction and single brand retail. According to sources, FDI policy review in various sectors is expected to figure in today’s meeting of the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Last year, there was a proposal to permit 100% FDI through automatic route in single brand retail trading. Currently, FDI up to 49% is permitted under the automatic route but beyond that limit government nod is required.