Apr 03, 2018 11:36 AM IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com
News Live: SC to hear Centre’s review petition against its SC/ST verdict at 2 pm
This blog will keep track of key global and local developments impacting business and markets through the day. Important local and global political developments will also find resonance here.
Top
highlights
Lacklustre demand drags March PMI to 5-month low
Formula 1-inspired electric cars are coming to India
RBI drops Axis Bank from list of bullion importers
4 PSUs file IPO papers with Sebi
RBI allows banks to spread treasury losses over 4 quarters
Here’s what Warren Buffett says to do when the market tanks
It hurt when country looked at Tata Motors as a failing co: Ratan Tata
Prices of 869 formulations to rise 3.44%: NPPA
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) said prices of 869 formulations, including antibiotics, cancer and cardiovascular disease treatment drugs and two types of coronary stents, have gone up by 3.44%, reports PTI.
Core sector growth up 5.3% in Feb vs 6.1% in Jan
Direct tax mop up at Rs 9.95 lakh cr in FY18
Essar Steel auction: ArcelorMittal puts in bid, along with Japan's NSSMC in second round
Tatas to pay Rs 35,200cr cash for Bhushan Steel, to convert remaining debt to equity
Govt rules out excise duty cut to cushion fuel prices
Ex-ICICI Bank chief defends Chanda Kochhar, says Rs 3,250cr was total exposure to Videocon
US designates Hafiz Saeed's MML as terrorist outfit
Paytm Mall gets Rs 2,900cr from SoftBank, Alibaba
Journalist accreditation could be permanently cancelled for fake news: Govt
Dow ends down 459 points, after dropping 758 points intra-day
Winnie Mandela, tainted anti-apartheid figurehead, dies at 81
The Delhi High Court has disposed of the defamation suit filed by Arun Jaitley against Arvind Kejriwal for remarks made by AAP leaders' former lawyer Ram Jethmalani. The court closed the defamation suit after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tendered an apology and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley accepted it.
The Delhi High Court has disposed of the defamation suit filed by Arun Jaitley against Arvind Kejriwal for remarks made by AAP leaders' former lawyer Ram Jethmalani.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Centre's review petition against its SC/ST verdict at 2 pm after the Attorney General referred to violence leading to loss of lives and damage to property during Bharat Bandh. The bench asked AG to seek from the Chief Justice of India the constitution of same bench which passed the SC/ST verdict. CJI has agreed to set up the original bench to hear the Centre's review petition.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear on April 9 the Centre's plea for clarification on the Cauvery water dispute verdict, reports PTI. The Centre in its plea has referred to divergent views of concerned states on setting up of the Cauvery management scheme.
Here are the top headlines at 11 am from Moneycontrol News' Sakshi Batra
US blasts 'unfair' Chinese tariffs on 128 products
The United States has blasted as ‘unfair’ Chinese tariffs imposed on 128 US imports worth $3 billion, including fruit and pork, in the latest tit-for-tat over US duties on steel and aluminium, reports AFP.
MiG 17 chopper crashes near Kedarnath
A MiG 17 helicopter of the Indian Air Force crashed near Kedarnath at 8:10 am, reports PTI. All persons on board are safe, officials said.
Lacklustre demand drags Indian March factory growth to 5-month low: PMI
Activity in India’s manufacturing sector expanded at its weakest pace in five months in March as order and production growth slowed, discouraging firms from hiring. The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 51 last month from February’s 52.1.
Here are the top headlines at 10 am from Moneycontrol News' Anchal Pathak
Formula 1-inspired electric cars are coming to India
Tycoon Sanjeev Gupta could start building Formula 1-inspired electric vehicles in India and Australia early next decade, adding automobiles to a roster of global businesses that span steel-making to banking, reports Bloomberg. Gupta’s GFG Alliance, which aims to model the budget, lightweight city cars on a design developed by former McLaren Racing and Brabham technical director Gordon Murray, will build EV plants as part of his worldwide push into the auto supply chain.
RBI drops Axis Bank from list of bullion importers
The Reserve Bank has dropped Axis Bank from a list of banks it has cleared to import gold and silver in FY19. It was unclear why Axis, one of India’s leading importers of bullion, did not feature in the list that was released late on Monday, reports Reuters. Bank of Baroda, HDFC Bank and Bank of Nova Scotia were among the 16 banks allowed to import bullion. Two other small banks Karur Vyasa and South Indian Bank, were also dropped from the RBI list.
Facebook CEO defends advertising-supported business model
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that an advertising-supported business model is the only way that the service can survive because not everyone would be able to pay for Facebook if it charged a fee, reports AP. His defence comes after Apple CEO Tim Cook said his company wouldn't be in Facebook's situation because Apple doesn't sell ads based on customer data the way Facebook does.
Sensex, Nifty continue to trade flat despite weak global cues
Shrugging off global weakness, the market began the day on a flat note, with the Nifty holding on to the 10,200-mark. The Street is looking past the global selloff on the back of a rally in banks as well as robust GST collections. The government mopped-up Rs 89,260 crore in February via GST collections.
Almost all sectoral indices are trading in the green, led by Nifty PSU bank, auto and Bank Nifty. There are some cuts visible in the metals space, with the frontline index down around a percent. Midcaps, meanwhile, are trading one-third of a percent higher.
Among stocks, State Bank of India, Yes Bank and HPCL are the top gainers, while Wipro and Adani Ports have lost the most. Shares of VST Tillers Tractors added 5.5% in early trade on the back of strong growth in March sales figures.
4 PSUs file IPO papers with Sebi
Four state-owned firms, including Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders and Rail Vikas Nigam, have filed draft papers with markets regulator Sebi to float initial public offerings. Railway infrastructure firm Ircon International and warship maker Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers are the other two firms which have filed IPO papers, reports PTI.
Govt levies 10% import duty on key smartphone components
The government has imposed a 10% duty on import of key smartphone components like camera module and printed circuit board assembly, with a view to boost domestic manufacturing, reports PTI.
RP submits Vedanta offer for Electrosteel to NCLT
The Resolution Professional (RP) has submitted Vedanta’s offer for bankrupt Electrosteel Steels before the Kolkata bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for approval, reports PTI. Vedanta's offer is pegged around Rs 4,500-5,000 crore.
RBI allows banks to spread treasury losses over 4 quarters
With a view to help banks spread losses incurred on bond yield movements, Reserve Bank of India has allowed banks to spread the provisioning they need to make for these losses over a maximum of four quarters. But banks will have to create an Investment Fluctuation Reserve to protect against an uptick in yields in the future.
Here’s what Warren Buffett says to do when the market tanks
Worries of a trade war and rising social unrest in the country has left many investors worried and wondering what to do. During times of stress and uncertainty, Oracle of Omaha Warren Buffett recommends keeping a level head and that buy-and-hold is still the best strategy, reports CNBC.
It hurt when country looked at Tata Motors as a failing co: Ratan Tata
Tata group Chairman Emeritus Rata Tata asked employees of Tata Motors to plan on becoming leaders again, saying it hurt him when the auto maker lost market share in the last four-to-five years and the country looked at it as a 'failing company', reports PTI.
Prices of 869 formulations to rise 3.44%: NPPA
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) said prices of 869 formulations, including antibiotics, cancer and cardiovascular disease treatment drugs and two types of coronary stents, have gone up by 3.44%, reports PTI.
Core sector growth up 5.3% in Feb as cement, refinery output pick up
Eight infrastructure sectors grew by 5.3% in February, helped by a robust performance in refinery products, fertiliser and cement segments. This compares to a growth of 0.6% in February 2017 and 6.1% in January this year.
Direct tax mop up at Rs 9.95 lakh cr in FY18, misses revised estimates
Income tax collections during the FY18 has exceeded the Budget target at Rs 9.95 lakh crore, helped by addition of one crore new assessees who have started filing income tax returns, reports PTI. However, the government has missed its ambitious target of Rs 10.05 lakh crore as per the revised estimates set in the Budget for 2018-19.
Essar Steel auction: ArcelorMittal puts in bid, along with Japan's NSSMC in second round
ArcelorMittal has joined hands with Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC) and announced a joint bid for Essar Steel in the second round of bidding. Apart from the ArcelorMittal-NSSMC combine, Numetal and Vedanta Resources have also placed their bids, sources said.
Tatas to pay Rs 35,200cr cash for Bhushan Steel, to convert remaining debt to equity
Tata Steel has offered Rs 35,200 crore in cash and conversion of the remaining debt of about Rs 27,000 crore into equity to take over Bhushan Steel, the counsel for the Committee of Creditors (CoC) informed the National Company Law Tribunal. The creditors would get 12.27% equity in Bhushan Steel, said senior advocate Ravi Kadam to the Principal bench of NCLT.
Govt rules out excise duty cut to cushion fuel prices
The government ruled out any immediate reduction in excise duty to cushion relentless rise in international oil prices that have sent retail diesel rates in India to record high and petrol to a four-year high, reports PTI.
Ex-ICICI Bank chief defends Chanda Kochhar, says Rs 3,250cr was total exposure to Videocon
Former Chairman ICICI Bank N Vaghul defended the bank's current Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, and clarified that no new loans have been issued to Videocon Group since 2012. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Vaghul defended ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar, saying that he “can’t imagine she would be party to a transaction that would have a shadow of doubt."
US Postal Service losing a 'fortune' due to Amazon: Trump
President Donald Trump hit out at Amazon again, alleging that the US Postal Service is losing a ‘fortune’ due to the online retail giant, reports PTI.
US designates Hafiz Saeed's MML as terrorist outfit
In a major move ahead of the general elections in Pakistan, the US designated Milli Muslim League (MML), the political front of Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud Dawa, as a foreign terrorist organisation, reports PTI. In a simultaneous move, seven members of MML central leadership body have been designated as foreign terrorist. The US also added Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (TAJK) to the list of terrorist groups. TAJK is said to be a front of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Paytm Mall gets Rs 2,900cr from SoftBank, Alibaba
Paytm Mall has raised close to Rs 2,900 crore from SoftBank Investment Holdings and Alibaba.com Singapore E-commerce, a move that will give the online shopping venture of Paytm more financial muscle to take on giants like Flipkart and Amazon. The deal values Paytm Mall at $2 billion.
Journalist accreditation could be permanently cancelled for fake news: Govt
The government said the accreditation of a journalist could be permanently cancelled if the scribe is found generating or propagating fake news, reports PTI. As per the amended guidelines for the accreditation of journalists, if the publication or telecast of fake news is confirmed, the accreditation of that journalist would be suspended for a period of six months in the first violation and for one year in case of a second violation. In case of a third violation, his or her accreditation would be cancelled permanently, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry said.