To access a PDF version of this newsletter, please click here https://share.refinitiv.com/assets/newsletters/Indiamorning/MNC_IN_02032021.pdf If you would like to receive this newsletter via email, please register at: https://solutions.refinitiv.com/MNCIndiaSubscriptionpage FACTORS TO WATCH Monetary Policy Committee’s three-day interest rate-setting meeting begins in Mumbai. 9:00 am: Budget session of Parliament continues in New Delhi. 9:15 am: Home First Finance lists on exchanges in Mumbai. 10:00 am: Brookfield India Real Estate Trust IPO opens for subscription in Mumbai. 10:00 am: CBDT Chairman Pramod Chandra Mody, Joint Secretary Kamlesh Varshney at ASSOCHAM webinar on analysis of tax related budget proposals. 12:00 pm: Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan media interaction. 2:00 pm: Civil Aviation Ministry Joint Secretary Amber Dubey, Civil Aviation Security Director General M. A. Ganapathy at FICCI webinar. 3:00 pm: Adani Enterprises management at a media conference call post 3Q earnings. 4:15 pm: Adani Gas management at a media conference call post 3Q earnings. 4:00 pm: Brickwork Ratings Chief Economic Advisor M Govinda Rao at a webinar on decoding Union Budget. 5:30 pm: Ramco Cements management at a conference call post 3Q earnings. 6:15 pm: Adani Green Energy management at a media conference call post 3Q earnings. 6:30 pm: Indian Hotels Company management at a conference call post 3Q earnings. LIVECHAT - REUTERS GLOBAL MARKETS FORUM Reuters journalists will join Chris Rogers, Research analyst at Panjiva at S&P Global Market Intelligence, to discuss about global trade and investments. To join the conversation at 12:30 pm IST, click on the link: https://refini.tv/2P8N0Wp INDIA TOP NEWS • Amazon scores Indian win as court freezes Future's $3.4 billion retail deal An Indian court blocked Future Group's sale of a swathe of assets to rival Reliance Industries on Tuesday after Amazon raised objections to the $3.4 billion deal, in a battle of the retail titans that could reshape the shopping sector. • India's budget wins applause for keeping it real Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is winning rare plaudits for having delivered a budget that is transparent and prudent, coming amid a coronavirus-led economic slump, despite a record fiscal deficit. • Wider fiscal deficits could pressure India's ratings, says Fitch Wider fiscal deficits and a more gradual pace of consolidation will lift the Indian government's debt and pressure its sovereign ratings, Fitch Ratings said, cautioning that the fiscal firepower is limited due to a high debt ratio. • Indigo Paints soars in stellar market debut Shares in Indigo Paints jumped in their market debut on Tuesday after a bumper response to the Indian paint maker's $160 million initial public offering (IPO) last month, underscoring investor confidence in the sector as the economy recovers. • India tells Sri Lanka to honour pact after Colombo takes back port contract India said on Tuesday it expected Sri Lanka to honour its agreement to allow it to operate a major port terminal following Colombo's decision to pull out of the deal. • India's demand for COVID-19 drug remdesivir to fall, says Cipla Drugmaker Cipla said on Tuesday that India's demand for COVID-19 drug remdesivir will likely fall in coming months, as daily coronavirus infections in the country continue to decline. • Verity Pharma and India's SII apply to distribute AstraZeneca vaccine in Canada Verity Pharmaceuticals and Serum Institute of India (SII) have applied to distribute SII's licensed version of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine in Canada, potentially easing shortages as European manufacturing sites struggle to meet global demand. • Indian Oil may form subsidiary for retail assets to unlock value Indian Oil Corp (IOC) could create a subsidiary for its retail assets to help unlock value, the head of finance at India's largest refiner said on Tuesday, a day after the government announced plans to monetise IOC's pipeline assets. GLOBAL TOP NEWS • U.S. Democrats take first step to go it alone on Biden's COVID-19 aid Democrats in the U.S. Congress on Tuesday took the first steps toward advancing President Joe Biden's proposed $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid plan without Republican support. • Japan's service sector slump deepens as COVID-19 emergency hits businesses Japan's services sector shrank at the fastest pace in five months in January, as a heavy blow to demand from a resurgence in coronavirus infections and a state of emergency in parts of the country greatly hurt new business orders. • Bezos to give Amazon reins to cloud boss Jassy as sales rocket past $100 billion Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will step down as CEO and become executive chairman, naming the head of its lucrative cloud computing division as successor in a sign of the company's transformation from web retailer to internet conglomerate. LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) • SGX Nifty nearest-month futures were trading 0.3% higher at 14,777.50. • The Indian rupee is expected to trade little changed against the dollar today amid a further uptick in most regional equity indexes and high probability of the Reserve Bank of India’s intervention in the currency market. • Indian government bond yields will likely open little changed, as traders await likely measures from the central bank after the federal budget proposed higher borrowing. The yield on the benchmark 5.85% 2030 bond is likely to trade in a 6.10%-6.15% band. GLOBAL MARKETS • U.S. stocks finished sharply higher for a second straight day on Tuesday, helped by gains in Amazon.com and Google-parent Alphabet ahead of their results and by optimism over progress on a U.S. pandemic relief package. • Asian shares and U.S. stock futures rose as governments around the world looked poised to boost spending to help economies recover from the coronavirus and vaccine roll-out programmes accelerated. • The dollar traded near a two-month high versus the euro as investors looked to a widening disparity between the strength of the U.S. and Europe's pandemic recoveries. • U.S. Treasury yields climbed on Tuesday and the yield curve steepened on supply concerns as Congressional Democrats were set to take initial steps to advance President Joe Biden's massive COVID-19 relief plan. • Oil rose in early trade on expectations global oil stocks will fall back to more normal levels this year and as U.S. lawmakers moved closer to approving President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid bill without Republican support. • Silver prices attempted a rebound after an over 8% plunge in the previous session prompted some buying, although the social media-driven rally that started last week appears to have cooled off. CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 72.93/72.96 February 2 1,848.56 crores 133.51 crores 10-yr bond yield 6.13% Month-to-date (2,496) crores (54) crores Year-to-date 16,977 crores (2,572) 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= 72.92 Indian rupees) (Compiled by Nachiket Tekawade in Bengaluru)