Good morning.
Here is a list of market-moving macro stories that you may like to read.
The same has been prepared from newspaper and wire feeds.LICs stock purchases under radar Indias largest domestic institutional investor LIC surprised markets by having picked up stakes in companies such as Swan Energy, Granules India, Rajesh Exports, Omaxe India, Future Lifestyle, Tata Coffee and Gateway Distriparks at elevated prices at a time liquidity dried up at smaller counters making exits difficult for many HNI investors.
Indias largest fund has come under the radar of market watchers for its questionable judgement over investments in several stocks shortly before they crashed.Aadhaar returns for use in banks, telecomThe Union Cabinet has approved amendments to communications and money laundering laws to comply with Supreme Court rulings relating to privacy and Aadhaar.
Amendments to the Telegraph Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act will allow use of the 12-digit biometric ID for obtaining mobile numbers or opening bank accounts if customers opt for its use.
This will come as an immediate relief for the telecom and banking sectors even as government moves legal changes for voluntary use of Aadhaar by these sectors.SP warns over RBI spatSP Global Ratings said the circumstances that led up to the recent resignation of Urjit Patel as RBI governor were credit negative for the country and the increasing involvement of the Indian government in affairs of the central bank could undermine the hard-fought improvements in the banking system over the past few years.
Remember, the global rating agency has an investment grade BBB rating for India with a stable outlook.MP announces massive farm loan waiverThe new government in Madhya Pradesh has decided to waive up to $5.3 billion of farm loans, becoming the latest state to offer relief ahead of a general election next year as farmers reel from losses caused by falling crop prices.
Congress leader Kamal Nath, who became chief minister of the state on Monday, decided to write off farmers loans up to Rs 200,000.UK plans mid-Jan Brexit votePrime Minister Theresa May said on Monday she would bring her Brexit deal back to Parliament for a mid-January vote, pledging to get assurances from the European Union before then to break a deadlock over Britains fraught efforts to quit the bloc.
With just over 100 days until Britain is due to leave the EU, May faced accusations from some lawmakers that she was trying to force a deeply divided parliament into backing her deal by running the clock down to exit day.
A mid-January vote could oblige lawmakers to make a decision between her deal or leaving without one on March 29, a nightmare scenario for many businesses.Top banks in race for ILFS assetsLenders including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank, and Rakesh Jhunjhunwalas private equity firm Rare Enterprises are among a dozen bidders for the securities business of Infrastructure Leasing Financial Services (ILFS), which is the first ILFS subsidiary to be put on the block.Wadia-Tata fight in courtA local court in Mumbai has admitted industrialist Nusli Wadias criminal defamation case against Ratan Tata and 10 board members of Tata Sons and has issued process, thereby kick-starting the trial for charges of criminal defamation.FB verifying political advertisersFacebook, for the first time globally, is embarking on a strictly offline process to verify identity and locations of political advertisers in India ahead of the general elections next year.
The social network, which counts India as its largest market by users, has written an email on December 8 to individual advertisers and agencies that they must provide scanned copies of address and identify proofs, which will be verified through visits by its India-based team.
The rupee appreciated by 16 paise to 71.74 against the US dollar in early trade Monday at the interbank foreign exchange, amid weakness in the greenback against some currencies overseas and a higher opening of domestic equities.
Demand for diesel fell 5% and that of cooking gas shrank 8%, contracting Indias total oil demand in November.
A combination of higher prices, drop in vehicle sales and decreasing use of polluting industrial fuels is said to have contracted the oil demand by 0.87%.
Commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu will this week review the proposed ecommerce policy that is being put together by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
The policy is likely to propose restrictions for differential and predatory pricing strategies such as deep discounts used by ecommerce firms