Trading of CNX Nifty futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could fall 17 points at the opening bell. Asian stocks were mixed.
Among corporate news, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced after market hours on Tuesday, 16 December 2014, that the company has joined the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC). The membership provides TCS an opportunity to contribute to the innovation, best practices and transformational opportunities that the Industrial Internet offers. The IIC comprises leading global research universities, organisations and government bodies, and it offers an unparalleled opportunity to coordinate industry-wide efforts around building reference architecture and technology testbeds, TCS said in a statement.
Mahindra & Mahindra announced after market hours on Tuesday, 16 December 2014, that the company, as part of its efforts to align its production with sales requirements, may observe on a need basis, 1 to 7 days in a month as 'No Production Days' at some of its Automotive and/or Tractor plants and /or Chakan plant of its wholly owned subsidiary Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturers during the period upto March, 2015. The management does not envisage any adverse impact on the availability of products in the market due to adequacy of stocks to serve the market requirements.
NMDC will be in focus after the Ministry of Steel after trading hours yesterday, 15 December 2014, said that the Minister of Steel and Mines Narendra Singh Tomar has directed NMDC to enhance production of iron ore incrementally and aim for annual production of 75 million tonnes iron ore by 2018-19 and 100 million tonnes by 2020-21, to increase iron ore availability in the country. The target was assigned in a review meeting with NMDC officials held in New Delhi. In 2013-14, iron ore production by NMDC was 30 million tonnes. After due deliberations, it was decided that NMDC will increase production every year to reach the target of 75-100 million tones, the steel ministry said. It was also decided to incorporate this target in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that the company signs with the government, the steel ministry said. Tomar underscored the fact that raw material availability at reasonable prices is essential for economic development of the country. He directed NMDC to use all resources in its command, to achieve this ambitious target and remarked that this achievement will be the most important criterion while assessing the performance of the company. This is an important decision, which will definitely enhance availability of iron ore in the country and as a result steel industry will have access to iron ore at reasonable prices, the steel ministry said in a statement. Annual production of steel in the country is planned to be increased to a level of 300 million tonnes by 2025. That will necessitate production of 500 million tonnes of iron ore annually. To meet country's requirement of iron ore, it is essential that NMDC enhances its iron ore production substantially through all possible means, the steel ministry said.
Meanwhile, investors are closely monitoring if the government's key legislative reform bills are passed during the ongoing winter session of the parliament. The government may table the constitutional amendment bill to facilitate the levy of goods & services tax (GST) during the ongoing winter session of the parliament. The constitutional amendment Bill will provide the legal framework for rolling out the levy, giving states power to tax both goods and services. As of now only the central government can impose service tax. The amendment Bill will also create a GST council, a body that will have representatives of the states and the Centre that will take decisions on the tax after it is rolled out.
The government's intension is to implement a nationwide GST from 1 April 2016. GST is a major indirect tax reform. GST will subsume central indirect taxes such as excise duty and service tax at the central level and value added tax at the state level besides other local levies such as octroi and entry tax.
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Meanwhile, the Indian government intends to get the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008 passed in both the Houses of Parliament in this week. The Union Cabinet, last week, approved the official amendments to the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008. The Parliamentary Select Committee in its report tabled in Rajya Sabha on 10 December 2014 agreed a composite cap of 49% on foreign investment in the insurance sector, which includes all types of foreign investment as opposed to the 26% foreign direct investment (FDI) allowed at present. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said in his maiden budget speech in July that the composite cap in the insurance sector should be increased to 49% from the current level of 26%, with full Indian management and control.
It also remains to be seen if the government will be to find support for the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2014 in the Rajya Sabha where it's in a minority. The Lok Sabha last week passed the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2014. The bill allows the government to enforce rules and guidelines for auction/allocation of 204 coal blocks cancelled by the Supreme Court in September this year.
Meanwhile, at least 132 students and nine staff members were reportedly killed on Tuesday, 16 December 2014, after Taliban gunmen broke into a school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar and opened fire, in the bloodiest massacre the country has seen for years.
A further slide in global crude oil prices, a sharp rise in Russian interest rates and weakness in Asian stocks triggered by data showing a further slowdown in China's manufacturing sector sent key equity benchmark indices in India tumbling on Tuesday, 16 December 2014. The S&P BSE Sensex fell 538.12 points or 1.97% to settle at 26,781.44 on that day, its lowest closing level since 27 October 2014.
Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth a net Rs 1,247.24 crore on Tuesday, 16 December 2014, as per provisional data.
Asian stocks were mixed today, 17 December 2014. Key indices in Indonesia, South Korea, China and Japan rose 0.07% to 0.7%. Key indices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan were off 0.31% to 0.7%.
Japan's exports rose less than forecast in November, underlining challenges to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts to steer the economy out of recession. Overseas shipments rose 4.9% from a year earlier, the finance ministry said.
US stocks ended a seesaw session with broad declines on Tuesday, 16 December 2014, after spending much of the day swinging alongside crude-oil prices.
Among economic data, the residential real estate recovery in the US is plodding, with the industry taking a step back in November for the first time in three months. Housing starts declined 1.6% the first drop since August, to a 1.03 million annualized rate from a revised 1.05 million pace in October that was stronger than previously estimated, figures from the Commerce Department showed.
A two-day meeting of Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to discuss monetary policy review ends today, 17 December 2014. The policy meeting will be keenly watched for any hints on the timing of interest rate increases in the world's biggest economy. It remains to be seen whether Federal Reserve officials would signal a rate hike by dropping their assurance that rates will stay low for a considerable time.
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