Morning News Call – India, October 23 – Reuters India

By Reuters Staff
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FACTORS TO WATCH
11:00 am: Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals conference call post 2Q
results.
3:00 pm: Bharti Infratel conference call post 2Q results.
4:00 pm: Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey at PHD Chamber of Commerce webinar.
5:00 pm: Yes Bank Managing Director Prashant Kumar at a virtual press
conference post 2Q earnings.
5:30 pm: JSW Steel conference call post 2Q results.
6:00 pm: Tech Mahindra conference call post 2Q earnings.
6:30 pm: ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company conference call post 2Q
results.
INDIA TOP NEWS
Despite coronavirus, Indian traders stock up in hopes of festive cheer
Indian businesses are stocking up more ahead of this year’s big festival
season than at any time in the last five years, expecting people whose earnings
were relatively unaffected by the pandemic to spend the money they saved during
months of lockdowns.
BJP, courting votes in Bihar state, promises free COVID-19 vaccines
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday
promised free doses of any future COVID-19 vaccine for the residents of eastern
Bihar state if it wins local elections there, drawing accusations of playing
politics with the pandemic.
Maharashtra invites Tesla after Musk hints entry into country
India’s richest state Maharashtra has invited U.S. electric-car maker Tesla,
weeks after its Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk suggested entering the country
next year.
Dr Reddy’s isolates data center services after cyberattack
Indian drugmaker Dr Reddy’s Laboratories said on Thursday it had isolated
all its data center services as a preventive measure following a cyberattack.
Indian sugar export subsidy decision unlikely before state elections –
sources
Indian sugar export subsidies will not be renewed before state elections
finish next month, trade and government sources said on Thursday, with New Delhi
examining the level of subsidy needed to encourage shipments of surplus sugar.
Deutsche Bank in talks to sell IT unit as it trims staff – sources
Germany’s Deutsche Bank is in talks to sell IT services division Postbank
Systems, people with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday. A potential buyer
is India’s Tata Consultancy Services, the people said.
Blood of recovered COVID-19 patients shows little benefit as treatment
Using blood of recovered COVID-19 patients – or so-called convalescent
plasma – as a potential treatment is of little benefit in helping hospitalised
patients fight off the infection, according to results of a clinical trial in
India.
Doctors in Delhi see jump in breathing issues amid COVID-19, pollution
Top doctors in New Delhi are reporting a jump in respiratory problems among
its residents, coinciding with the onset of peak pollution season in India’s
capital and raising concerns about complications for COVID-19 patients.
GLOBAL TOP NEWS
Trump and Biden clash on pandemic, trade personal jabs at final debate
Democrat Joe Biden renewed his attacks on U.S. President Donald Trump’s
handling of the coronavirus pandemic at Thursday’s final debate before the Nov.
3 election, while Trump leveled unfounded corruption accusations at Biden and
his family.
Pelosi, White House see progress on COVID-19 aid talks; Senate Republicans
wary
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday said negotiators were making
progress in talks with the White House for another round of COVID-19 stimulus,
but Senate Republicans remained skeptical of a possible deal costing trillions
of dollars.
Japan’s consumer prices continue to slide on deflationary pressure from
COVID-19
Japan’s core consumer prices slipped for the second consecutive month in
September, a sign that a coronavirus-induced demand downturn is piling
deflationary pressure on the world’s third-largest economy already blighted by
recession.
LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK
(As reported by NewsRise)
SGX Nifty nearest-month futures were 0.1% lower at 11,890.20.
The Indian rupee is expected to trade lower against the dollar, tracking
losses in regional currencies amid a further increase in Treasury yields.
India’s federal government bond yields are likely to trade largely
unchanged ahead of a weekly auction today, while traders await the minutes of
the rate-setting panels latest meeting. The yield on the benchmark 5.77% bond
maturing in 2030 is likely to trade in a 5.88%-5.93% band until the auction
today.
GLOBAL MARKETS
Shares on Wall Street ended higher on Thursday in choppy trading, as
investors cheered the prospect of more fiscal stimulus to support a
pandemic-damaged U.S. economy, with more data pointing to a slowing labor market
recovery.
U.S. stock futures dipped and the Japanese yen ticked up after a final
debate between U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden
merely hardened investors’ caution heading into the election.
The dollar took stock at the end of a poor week, having shed about a cent
against the euro and suffered its largest weekly drop against the yen in a
month, as investors began to wager on a Biden presidency and big U.S. stimulus.
Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields rose to four-month highs on Thursday and
the yield curve steepened on hopes that U.S. lawmakers are close to striking a
deal on new fiscal stimulus.
Oil prices held on to gains made on the previous session, after Russian
President Vladimir Putin indicated he would be prepared to extend record supply
cuts in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gold prices dipped, weighed by a stronger dollar, as investors awaited
further clarity on U.S. coronavirus aid package.
CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT
PNDF spot 73.52/73.55 October 22 2,114.58 (133.90) crores
crores
10-yr bond yield 5.92% Month-to-date 14,417 1,002 crores
crores
Year-to-date 42,764 (1,07,785) crores
crores
(FII investment numbers are in Indian rupees. Source: National Securities
Depository Limited)
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= 73.66 Indian rupees)
(Compiled by Nachiket Tekawade in Bengaluru)read more