Morning News Call - India, April 11

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    FACTORS TO WATCH
    9:00 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and
energy industry officials at International Energy Forum in New Delhi.
    11:30 am: Federal cabinet likely to meet in New Delhi.
    12:00 pm: Mahindra Powerol Business Head Sachin Nijhawan to brief media
about CNG Powered Genset in New Delhi.
    12:30 pm: UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei to interact with
media in New Delhi.
    1:00 pm: International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol to
interact with media in New Delhi.
    3:00 pm: Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani at an event in New Delhi.
    
    LIVE CHAT - BALKAN OUTLOOK 
Cvete Koneska, senior analyst at Control Risks assesses the progress of the
Western Balkan countries towards EU membership, the unresolved problems in
Kosovo and Russia's influence in the region at 2:30 pm IST. To join the
conversation, click on the link: here
    
    
    INDIA TOP NEWS
    • India's Manipal Hospitals sweetens bid for Fortis hospital unit
    India's Manipal Hospitals Enterprises Private Ltd on Tuesday raised its
offer price to buy Fortis Healthcare Ltd's hospital business by 21 percent, in
an effort to douse any opposition from Fortis minority shareholders.
    • India anti-trust case against Google in India goes to appeal
    Google has appealed against a ruling by India's competition watchdog that
found it guilty of "search bias", while the website that brought the case also
challenged the outcome, complaining the online search giant had got off too
lightly.
    • India prepared to give Saudi Aramco 50 pct stake in planned mega refinery
    India is set to grant Saudi Aramco a 50 percent stake in a planned 1.2
million barrels per day west coast refinery, said an industry source privy to
the deal, in a move that would give the kingdom a new stable outlet for its
oil.
    • ONGC, Reliance in talks with customers to sell east coast gas
    India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd and Reliance Industries Ltd have
started discussions with buyers to sell natural gas from their fields in the Bay
of Bengal that are expected to start production over the next three years.

    • Vedanta's request to renew copper smelter operations in India rejected
    Vedanta Resources Plc said on Tuesday its application for renewal of consent
to operate its copper smelting plant, one of India's biggest, in the South
Indian town of Thootukudi was rejected by the state pollution
regulator.
    • India looks to use new-found clout to seek better oil bargains
India is aiming to drive harder bargains with global oil producers, including
Saudi Arabia, during bilateral meetings at a conference of energy ministers this
week, officials said, leveraging its strength as the world's third-biggest crude
importer.
    • India's JSW Steel, AION get creditors' nod for Monnet Ispat takeover
    Creditors of India's Monnet Ispat and Energy Ltd have approved a joint bid
from AION Investments and JSW Steel to take over the bankrupt firm, according to
a regulatory filing on Tuesday.
    • Telkom Kenya and Airtel seek merger to take on Safaricom -sources
    Telkom Kenya plans to merge operations with Indian-owned Bharti Airtel's
local unit as a first step to acquiring all of Airtel's assets, sources said on
Tuesday, creating a stronger challenger to market leader Safaricom.
    
    
    GLOBAL TOP NEWS
    • As Trump fumes over FBI raid, White House lawyers urge restraint
    White House lawyers are trying to dissuade U.S. President Donald Trump from
seeking to get rid of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, as Trump weighs options
after the FBI raided his personal attorney's office and home, two U.S. officials
said on Tuesday.
    • Zuckerberg resists effort by U.S. senators to commit him to regulation
Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday navigated through the
first of two U.S. congressional hearings without making any further promises to
support new legislation or change how the social network does business.

    • China's Xi renews vow to open economy, cut tariffs as U.S. trade row
deepens 
    Chinese President Xi Jinping promised on Tuesday to open the country's
economy further and lower import tariffs on products like cars, in a speech seen
as an attempt to defuse an escalating trade dispute with the United States.  

    
    
    LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK
    (As reported by NewsRise)
    SGX Nifty nearest-month futures at 10,426.00, little changed from its
previous close. 
    The Indian rupee is expected to open little changed against the dollar after
crude oil prices jumped to more-than-three-year highs. 
    Indian government bonds are likely to edge lower today as gains in crude oil
prices boost the possibility of local inflation gathering pace.  The yield on
the benchmark 7.17 percent bond maturing in 2028 is likely to trade in 7.37
percent-7.42 percent band today, a trader with a state-run bank said.
    
    GLOBAL MARKETS
    • U.S. stocks climbed on Tuesday as investor concerns about rising trade
tensions between the United States and China eased after Chinese President Xi
Jinping promised to cut import tariffs.
    • Asian stocks rose modestly, paring earlier gains as optimism that trade
ties between Washington and Beijing were on the mend gave way to questions about
the next phase of the diplomatic tit-for-tat between the two
countries.
    • The dollar traded near a two-week low against a basket of currencies after
Chinese President Xi Jinping's promise to cut import tariffs eased concerns
about a U.S.-China trade conflict.
    • The dollar traded near a two-week low against a basket of currencies after
Chinese President Xi Jinping's promise to cut import tariffs eased concerns
about a U.S.-China trade conflict.
    • Oil prices eased away from 2014 highs reached the previous session as
escalating Middle East tensions were offset by increasing inventories and
production in the United States.
    • Oil prices edged higher, adding to steep gains in the previous session, as
markets eyed an escalation of Middle East tensions after Europe's air traffic
control agency warned of possible air strikes on Syria in the next 72
hours.
        
                   CLOSE        FII INVESTMENTS  EQUITIES       DEBT
 PNDF spot         64.96/64.99  April 10         - $105.33 mln  - $31.08 mln
 10-yr bond yield  7.51 pct     Month-to-date    - $197.31 mln  $227.45 mln
                                Year-to-date     $1.97 bln      $948.08 mln
 
   
    For additional data:
    India govt bond market volumes                 
    Stock market reports                
    Non-deliverable forwards data              
    Corporate debt stories               [IN CORPD]
    Local market closing/intraday levels [IN SNAPSHOT]
    Monthly inflows                      [INFLOWS RTRS TABLE IN]
 
($1 = 64.9400 Indian rupees)