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    Market Movers: US, China head for new trade talks; RBI's big dividend & spike in crude price

    Synopsis

    Here’s a lowdown on top macro triggers that may move market on February 19, 2019.

    market5
    Good morning! Here’s a lowdown on top macro triggers that may move market on February 19, 2019. This report was compiled from agency feeds.

    New US-China trade talks begin today
    A new round of talks between the United States and China to resolve their trade war will take place in Washington on Tuesday, with follow-up sessions at a higher level later in the week, the White House said on Monday. The talks follow a round of negotiations that ended last week in Beijing without a deal. Meanwhile, China unveiled a sweeping plan to link Hong Kong and Macau with cities in southern China to create a so-called Greater Bay Area, aiming to transform the coastal region into a high-tech megalopolis to rival California’s Silicon Valley, reports Bloomberg.

    RBI to pay Rs 28,000 cr dividend to govt
    RBI will pay an interim dividend of Rs 28,000 crore to the government, a move that will help the Centre keep fiscal deficit in check. On Monday, the announcement came after the bank's central board meeting, which was addressed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. This is the second successive year when the central bank will be transferring an interim surplus. This is in addition to Rs 50,000 crore surplus transfer announced by RBI in August 2018 for 2017-18.

    Jaitley calls for fewer, stronger big banks
    Finance minister Arun Jaitley called for further consolidation of India’s banking industry, saying the country needs fewer, stronger mega lenders to exploit economies of scale. He also dismissed fiscal concerns over welfare programmes announced in the February 1 budget. All such schemes have a cost but there has been reasonably high growth in revenue in the last five years as well, he told reporters after the finance minister’s customary post-budget address to the board of the central bank.

    US oil prices hit three-month high
    US oil prices hit a three-month high on Tuesday, buoyed by production cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $55.95 per barrel at 0034 GMT, up 36 cents, or 0.7%, from their last settlement. Earlier in the session, they marked their strongest since November 20 at $56.33 a barrel. Prices had risen 2.2 percent on Friday, the last trading session due to a US public holiday on Monday. International Brent crude oil futures had yet to trade. They closed Monday up 0.4%, after touching their highest since November 20 at $66.83 a barrel.

    SBI has no headroom to cut rates
    State Bank of India currently does not have any headroom to cut deposit rates and thus cannot cut its base lending rate, its Chairman Rajnish Kumar told news channel CNBC TV18 in an interview on Monday. Kumar was responding to a query on why the bank had not cut the marginal cost of funds based lending rates, or the MCLR and only cut the rate on home loans by 5 basis points despite a 25 basis points cut by the central bank at its monetary policy review earlier this month.

    SC sets aside NGT order to reopen Sterlite unit
    Vedanta’s Sterlite copper plant in Thoothukudi will remain shut for now, with the Supreme Court on Monday setting aside a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order allowing the plant to reopen, on the ground that it’s outside the tribunal’s jurisdiction. Vedanta can now go to the high court against the April 9, 2018, closure order of Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board amid local unrest over alleged pollution caused by the unit.

    63 Moons to file Rs 10K-cr suits against PC
    63 Moons Technologies Monday said it has served legal notices to Congress leader P Chidambaram and two civil servants informing them of the company's intention to move court to seek damages worth Rs 10,000 crore in connection with the NSEL scam. Formerly known as Financial Technologies Ltd (FTIL), 63 Moons and some of its former executives, including founder Jignesh Shah, are under the scanner of multiple probe agencies regarding the Rs 5,600 crore payment scam at the now defunct National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL).

    PFC to resolve 20-30% NPAs in 4 months
    Power Finance Corporation plans to resolve 20-30% of its stressed assets worth Rs 28,000 crore over the next four months, chairman Rajeev Sharma told ET. The state-run lender to power projects expects the upcoming acquisition of Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) to help in and expedite resolution of some stressed assets. PFC said resolution of the first of its stressed assets — related to GVK’s Ratle hydroelectric project of Rs 811 crore — is almost complete.

    UK manufacturers warn of 'catastrophic' no-deal Brexit
    Britain faces the “catastrophic prospect” of a no-deal Brexit next month due to the selfishness of some politicians and chaotic parliamentary proceedings, the head of the country’s main manufacturing association said on Tuesday. The strong warning from Make UK, previously known as the EEF, comes as Japanese carmaker Honda is expected to say it is preparing to shut its main UK plant with a loss of 3,500 jobs. Nissan earlier this month canceled plans to build its X-Trail sport utility vehicle in Britain, mostly blaming “business reasons” but also citing Brexit uncertainty.

    POLICIES & MORE

    • In the first-ever deal by an Indian company, Indian Oil Corp has signed an annual deal worth $1.5 billion to import 3 million tonnes of crude oil in the fiscal year beginning April 1.
    • Opposition from farmers has prompted Maharashtra to move the location for what would be the country’s biggest oil refinery, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said. The refinery will be built at a place where local population won’t oppose the project, he said.
    • The proposed merger of the three state-owned general insurance firms will happen only in the next fiscal, said two government officials aware of the developments told ET.


    TOP VIDEO

    Post-Pulwama attack, no handshake, only namaskar

    Post-Pulwama attack, no handshake, only namaskar: India’s stern message to Pakistan at ICJ

    Sending a strong message to Pakistan, members of the Indian delegation attending the hearing of Kulbhushan Jadhav case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Monday snubbed their Pakistani counterparts by refusing to shake hands with them. The gesture reflected the heightened tensions between the two sides in the wake of a brutal terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14.


    TOP QUOTE

    'Don’t risk your hard-earned money for sake of excitement, stick to leaders'


    FUNDAMENTALS

    Rupee down: The rupee weakened by 11 paise to end 71.34 against the US dollar Monday amid firming crude oil prices and persistent foreign fund outflows.

    10-yr bond yields : India 10-year bonds' yields remained the same at 7.58% on Monday over the previous trading session, according to RBI data.

    Call rate: The overnight call money rate weighted average was 6.02% on Monday, according to RBI data. It moved in a range of 4.60-6.25%.



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