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A look at top cues from the domestic and international markets that could have a bearing on D-Street today including Modi's Cabinet reshuffle to North Korea's hydrogen bomb test.The GRS SolutionIt was a good start to the September series on Friday as the Nifty moved closer to the psychological 10,000-mark despite sluggish economic growth in Q1FY18, driven by autos (after strong August sales data) and pharma stocks. Positive global cues also led support to the market.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 161.74 points at 31,892.23 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 56.50 points at 9,974.40. All broader markets and sectoral indices ended the week on a green note, with the midcap index gaining 3 percent, while the Bank Nifty traded flat.
Asian markets are under pressure by elevated tensions on the Korean peninsula early on Monday after North Korea said it tested a hydrogen bomb over the weekend.
Stay tuned with Moneycontrol to find out what happens in currency and equity markets today. We have collated a list of important headlines from across news agencies:
Wall Street edges up as rate-hike bets in check after jobs data
Wall Street gained modestly on Friday as a tepid US jobs report kept expectations muted for another interest rate hike this year, said a Reuters report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39.46 points, or 0.18 percent, to end at 21,987.56, the S&P 500 gained 4.9 points, or 0.20 percent, to 2,476.55 and the Nasdaq Composite added 6.67 points, or 0.1 percent, to 6,435.33.
US job growth slowed more than expected in August after two straight months of hefty increases. The Labor Department said on Friday nonfarm payrolls increased by 156,000 last month, while economists had forecast an increase of 180,000, it said.
SGX Nifty
The Nifty50 futures on the Singapore Stock Exchange were trading 27.50 points lower at 9,986.50 indicating a flat opening for the domestic market.
Cabinet Reshuffle: 9 new ministers in; 4 elevated to cabinet rank
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday elevated Nirmala Sitharaman as India’s first full-fledged woman Defence Minister. Piyush Goyal, who will be India’s new Railway Minister, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, have been elevated to Cabinet rank.
Suresh Prabhu, a former chartered accountant who resigned as rail minister in wake of a spate of recent train accidents, will be the commerce and industry minister replacing Sitharaman.
Bihar MP Ashwini Kumar Choubey, MP from Uttar Pradesh Shiv Pratap Shukla, MP from Madhya Pradesh Virendra Kumar, MP from Karnataka Ananthkumar Hegde and MP from Rajasthan Gajendra Singh Shekhawat are the other new ministerial joined in the Modi government.
North Korea tests hydrogen bomb
North Korea detonated its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sunday, Japan and South Korea said, hours after Pyongyang said it had developed an advanced hydrogen bomb that possesses great destructive power.
Japanese and South Korean meteorological officials said an earthquake detected near the North’s test site - measured by the US Geological Survey (USGS) at magnitude 6.3 - was around 10 times more powerful than previous detonations.
The move is a direct challenge to US President Donald Trump, who hours earlier had talked by phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about the escalating nuclear crisis in the region.
Infosys promoters offer shares worth Rs 2,038 cr for buyback
Infosys promoters, including iconic co-founders N R Narayana Murthy and Nandan Nilekani, have offered to sell as many as 1.77 crore shares worth up to Rs 2,038 crore in the company's Rs 13,000 crore buyback offer.
At a buyback price of Rs 1,150 per share, this could mean a windfall of Rs 2,038.94 crore for the promoter group, if all the shares tendered by them are accepted in the buyback offer.
Infosys' buyback offer of up to 11.3 crore shares comes at an almost 25 per cent premium over Friday's closing price of Rs 920.10 a share. The record date is expected to be on or after October 25, 2017.
ICICI Bank win in Innoventive Industries’ case
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed an appeal filed by Innoventive Industries against a National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) verdict that ICICI Bank could start bankruptcy proceedings against the company.
The Apex Court's decision that bankruptcy code is superior to the Maharashtra Act was the last hurdle banks' way to start bankruptcy proceedings against companies that have defaulted, and recover their money.
The decision brings a big relief for the banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government in their fight against bad debts.
UBS lowers India growth forecast to 6.6 percent for FY18
Global brokerage firm UBS has lowered India's GDP growth forecast to 6.6 percent for this fiscal from 7.2 percent earlier. The brokerage said that the growth is expected to pick up in coming quarters as the economy normalises post implementation of the GST.
However, it said that the structural growth story of the country remains intact thanks to the ongoing reform push by policymakers and consumer demand and that GST is a significant structural reform that could add 0.6-0.9 percentage point to India's GDP growth in the medium term.
Sebi to detoxify derivatives market
Brokers have petitioned Sebi that the NSE data showing 15-times higher volumes than cash market is grossly overstated and this segment is rather burdened with high taxes as the regulator looks to detoxify the high-turnover, high-risk derivatives trading.
According to Sebi, while a large number of individual investors are active in the derivatives segment, it has been observed that these investors may or may not have the adequate financial capability to withstand risks posed by complex derivative instruments.
Kumar Birla keen to enter ARC business
The diversified Aditya Birla Group is planning to enter the asset reconstruction business (ARC) as it sees this business as growth vertical. "Many more stressed assets will come into the market.
We've operating experience across businesses as a group, which we can bring in to this business. I am not talking from the strategic point of view but about turning around businesses as part of the asset reconstruction business," Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said.
Apex Frozen Foods to make a debut today
Apex Frozen Foods is set to make a debut on exchanges today with issue price fixed at Rs 175 per share. The Rs 152-crore initial public offer was oversubscribed 6.14 times, receiving bids for 3.8 crore equity shares against the IPO size of 62.1 lakh shares (excluding anchor investors' portion).
The retail investors’ category oversubscribed 8.53 times and the non-institutional investor's category 7.82 times while the reserved portion of qualified institutional investors oversubscribed 1.91 times. Apex Frozen is one of the integrated producer and exporter of shelf stable quality aquaculture products.
Rupee closes at one-week low against US dollar
The rupee on Friday weakened over one week low against the US dollar after India’s economic growth slowed down unexpectedly to three year low. The rupee ended at 64.03 a dollar - a level is last seen on August 24, down 0.19 percent from its Thursday’s close of 63.91. The rupee opened at 63.95 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 63.88 and 64.05 respectively.
Merkel, Macron call for tougher EU sanctions against North Korea
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday jointly condemned North Korea’s biggest nuclear test to date and called for tougher sanctions against Pyongyang, said a Reuters report.
Merkel and Macron agreed that North Korea was violating international law and that the international community must react decisively to this new escalation, it said.
Oil markets volatile in wake of Hurricane Harvey
Oil markets were volatile supported by shutdowns of US production following Hurricane Harvey, but pressured by an expected downturn in crude demand as the storm knocked out refineries along the Gulf of Mexico coast, said a Reuters report.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at USD 47.45 barrel at 0119 GMT, 17 cents above their last settlement. However, international Brent crude oil futures were at USD 52.53 per barrel, down 22 cents, or 0.4 percent from their last close.
MFs bought Rs 16,000 crore stocks in August
Domestic mutual funds bought stocks worth close to Rs16,500 crore in August, the highest ever equity investments in a single month, as households moved from physical assets to financial assets, driven by positive real rates, improving equity returns and better growth prospects, ET reported.
FPIs pulled out USD 2 billion from stock market in August
Foreign portfolio investors were buyers in the Indian debt market for the seventh month in a row in August, taking their total investment to USD 20 billion so far this year.
In August, overseas investors pulled out USD 2 billion from stock markets while they pumped in USD 2.40 billion in debt.
Jinping & Putin agree to stick to denuclearization
Delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum here, Xi asked BRICS countries to take a constructive part in the process of resolving geopolitical hotspot issues and make due contributions.
President Xi Jinping & Vladimir Putin agreed Sunday to stick to the goal of denuclearization on Korean Peninsula & keep close communication, Chinese state media said in a tweet.