1. FM Arun Jaitley to Talk to Congress on GST
On the eve of the winter session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday reached out to the opposition parties seeking their support to run Parliament smoothly. In a rare move, Modi informed the opposition parties that he has asked the environment minister to brief them about what India’s stand is going to be at the Paris climate change summit and that finance minister Arun Jaitley would hold discussions with them on the Goods and Services Tax Bill.
The government also made it clear that it was agreeable for a discussion on the issue of “growing intolerance” but ruled out any House resolution condemning incidents of intolerance.
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2. Just Growth, Fiscal Improvement Can’t Resolve NPA Issues: S&P
Global ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) today called for a multi-pronged strategy to help banks tide over asset quality issues, saying stronger economic growth and an improvement in fiscal situation alone cannot resolve the crisis.
The agency noted that while improvements in policy making have raised prospects for a stronger economic and fiscal performance, there is need for action on other fronts to improve the weakness in asset quality, which it termed as a “risk”.
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3. K Raheja to Buy Out JPMorgan in Rs 2,400 Crore Joint Venture
In what could be the largest real estate deal in recent memory, Mumbai-based realty major K Raheja Corporation is set to buy out the share of JPMorgan in the Airoli Gigaplex commercial project in Navi Mumbai.
Acoording to The Financial Express, while there were others interested, the Rahejas were likely to clinch the deal given they own 51 per cent in the venture. The price paid for JPMorgan’s 49 per cent stake will no doubt pencil in the debt taken on for the project. A back-of-the-envelope calculation pegs the value of the project at approximately Rs 2,400 crore.
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4. Europe’s Central Banks in Quandary as US Federal Reserve Tightening Nears
Europe’s central banks are struggling with divergent quandaries over how to revive inflation and sustain economic growth as the US Federal Reserve prepares to start raising interest rates for the first time since the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
The world’s major economies are recovering at very varying paces from seven years of economic and financial crisis, with Japan tipping back into recession and China trying to surmount a severe wobble this year.
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5. Record Cash Pullouts Signal Spending Binge
Consumers withdrew record amounts of cash from the banking system during the just-concluded festive season that saw strong sales of consumer products, the two data points together offering a comforting picture of consumer sentiment in the country.
Cash and currency in circulation in the system, essentially computed using data on cash withdrawals from banks and money held in banks’ and central bank vaults, rose by a record Rs 66,070 crore in the first two weeks of November, according to latest data from the Reserve Bank of India.
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6. Market Verdict: Rajan to Hold Interest Rate
Bankers, economists and market participants expect the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to maintain status quo in its fifth bi-monthly policy review for 2015-16, scheduled on December 1.
All participants in a Business Standard poll said RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan would be in no mood to tinker with the interest rate or even the cash reserve ratio. He would ideally wait to see the impact of a possible rate hike by the US Federal Reserve on December 15-16, possibly the first by the world’s largest economy since June 2006.
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7. Hero MotoCorp’s Pawan Munjal is Highest Paid Director Among Listed Private Companies
Hero MotoCorp’s promoter Pawan Munjal emerged as the highest paid director among the top listed private companies, taking home a pay packet of nearly Rs 44 crore last fiscal, followed by two other executives of the auto group, says a report.
The group’s two other promoters - late Brijmohan Lall Munjal and Sunil Kant Munjal - were the second and third most paid directors during 2014-15 period, according to proxy advisory firm InGovern.
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8. Railway Vendor Stocks like Kalindee, Titagarh Wagons, Texmaco, Back in Limelight as Budget Nears
The shares of companies catering to Indian Railways’ network will be in sharp focus in the coming weeks with brokers advising their clients to buy into railway stocks based on past record that shows that these shares tend to rally ahead of the Rail Budget that’s presented in February.
Market experts also say that railway company stocks will be in focus due to the opening up of FDI in many rail-related sectors.
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9. Fall Below 7,539 on Nifty Would Indicate Long-Term Bear Market
The Nifty has meandered within a trading range going into the derivatives settlement. The index found support at 7,700-7,725, but it has not been able to climb past resistance around the 7,875-7,900 mark. The short-term trend and intermediate trends remain indeterminate. But, the long-term must be accounted bearish.
The Nifty failed to beat the simple 200-Day Moving Average in the last rally, which fizzled out with a peak around 8,336 on October 23. The index has also established a pattern of falling peaks since August, when it was trading around 8,600.
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