Financial focus Weekly Newsletter InFineeti ISSUE 1
VOLUME 1
2013
TOP STORIES…….….... 1 MARKET ACTIVTY ….... 2 ECONOMICS ........ …... 3 TERM OF THE WEEK … 4
Financial focus
A one stop guide to know about all the recent happenings in the finance world
TOP STORIES : INDIA
CAD DIPS SHARPLY TO 3.6% OF GDP IN Q4; FY13 AT 4.8% Current Account Deficit moderated sharply to 3.6% of GDP in Q4 of 201213 against a historically high level of 6.7% of GDP in Q3 of 2012-13. In the March quarter, CAD declined to $18.1 bn from $21.7 bn (around 4.4% of GDP) a year earlier. The full year CAD was at 4.8% of GDP. Trade deficit narrowed to $45.6 bn from $51.6 bn in the same period previous fiscal. Exports increased 5.9% compared with 2.6% in Q4 of 2011-12. Imports recorded a marginal decline of 1% against an increase of 22.6% in Q4 of 2011-12. Essentially, non-oil non-gold component of imports showed a decline, reflecting slowdown in domestic economic activity.
GAS PRICE HIKED TO $8.4; CCEA OKAYS RANGA PANEL RECOS The Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday approved the proposal to hike the natural gas price to USD 8.4 per mmbtu (metric million British thermal units) from April 1, 2014. The new price will apply uniformly to all producers, be it state-owned firms like Oil and Natural Gas Corp ( ONGC ) or private sector Reliance Industries
GOLD HITS 23-MTH LOW AT RS 25,650 ON WEAK GLOBAL CUES Gold prices on Friday tumbled by Rs 1,150 to Rs 25,650 per 10 grams in the national capital on heavy selling by stockists and investors. All round selling by stockists on free-fall in overseas markets and investors shifting their funds to surging equities mainly pulled down the gold prices to a level last seen on August 9, 2011.
Financial focus Weekly Newsletter InFineeti
TOP STORIES : WORLD
GDP REVISION SHOWS U.S. ECONOMY IS WEAKER THAN EXPECTED Gross domestic product rose at a 1.8% yearly rate in the first quarter, not the 2.4% estimated a month ago, the Commerce Department said. GDP revisions are customary, but economists were surprised the cut was so big. Figures for spending on nonresidential buildings and consumer items were revised down in the most recent calculation, the agency said.
FED TIGHTENING WON'T HURT GLOBAL ECONOMY, IMF'S LAGARDE SAYS As long as it is "properly announced" and "gradual," the Federal Reserve's monetary tightening won't cause serious problems for the world economy, said Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund. If developing nations are threatened with fiscal shocks because U.S. interest rates rise quickly, they can protect themselves by imposing temporary capital controls, a move the IMF supports, she said.
CHINA SUGGESTS NO RELIEF FORTHCOMING IN CASH CRUNCH China's government continued to take a hard line on the nation's supposed cash crunch, saying in an official commentary that shadow financing is causing the shortfall and driving up interest rates. "It's not that there's no money, it's that the money is not in the right places," the Xinhua commentary said.
MARKET ACTIVITY
JAPAN LEADS GAINS AMONG RISING ASIANPACIFIC MARKETS Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 3.5% Friday, leading gains among most AsianPacific markets. Economic data suggested that the Japanese economy is gaining momentum and in the U.S., Federal Reserve officials gave assurances that stimulus policies won't be shut down any time soon. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.8%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.2%. China's Shanghai Composite gained 1.5%. South Korea's Kospi added 1.6%. India's Sensex was up 2.9%.
RUPEE POSTS BIGGEST DAILY GAIN IN 9 MONTHS The rupee posted its biggest daily gain in nine months on Friday, 28 June 2013, fuelled by a robust rally in local stocks, with the government's move to raise gas prices for the first time in three years also aiding sentiment. Still, the rupee lost 4.9 per cent in June after foreign investors sold a net $7 billion in bonds and shares for the month, and ended down 8.6 per cent in April-June, its biggest quarterly fall in nearly two years.
US ECONOMY GROWTH RATE
Financial focus Weekly Newsletter InFineeti
SENSEX ZOOMS 520 PTS LED BY ENERGY STOCKS
Markets closed in the green today after seeing heavy FII inflows and rally in energy stocks like ONGC which rose 3.4% and Reliance Industries gained 3.9% after the government approved a hefty increase in gas prices. Sensex closed at 19395.81 and was up 2.75%, while the Nifty closed at 5842.20, up 159 pts. Market sentiment was also boosted as the Indian Rupee gained today, 28 June 2013, further retreating from a record low hit on Wednesday.
ECONOMICS
IRELAND SLIDES BACK INTO RECESSION Ireland's Central Statistics Office said data confirm that the economy is officially in a recession. In the first quarter, gross domestic product contracted 0.6%. Major factors included a 7.4% drop in capital spending and a 3.2% decline in the export of goods and services, the biggest quarterly export drop ever recorded.
FOREIGN RETAILERS ARE HESITANT TO INVEST IN INDIA Foreign retailers long eager to enter India's multibrand-retail sector, including Wal-Mart Stores, are increasingly wary of going ahead with investments because of opposition by some political parties. In September, the government opened the sector to as much as 51% foreign ownership of local ventures. Many states ruled by the main opposition party have since refused to implement the policy.
ANALYSIS: HIGH RATES MIGHT BE AS BAD AS LOW ONES FOR BANKS Banks have been expressing concern for years about being squeezed by low interest rates, but they might soon discover that higher rates aren't necessarily good news, according to The Economist. "Rising rates may restore banks' profitability but too sudden an increase may damage their health," the magazine says
DID YOU KNOW? Bank of Baroda has become the first Indian Bank to offer home loans at uniform rates, irrespective of amount or tenor of the loan. It will charge 10.25% (its base rate) for all its home loans. The idea is to grow average size of the loans.
Financial focus Weekly Newsletter InFineeti
Financial focus Weekly Newsletter InFineeti
InFINeeti Team Aakanksha Hajela Bhushan Kanathe Kunal Maheshwari Vaibhav Garg Md. Umair Ansari