MORNING NEWS CALL

FACTORS TO WATCH

8:30 am: Maharashtra Industries Minister Subhash Desai at Sintercom India listing ceremony in Mumbai. 12:00 pm: Government to release January wholesale price inflation data in New Delhi. 1:00 pm: Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu and NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant at Yes Bank’s annual economic conclave in New Delhi.

LIVECHAT-BONDS UPDATE Reuters interest rate reporter Dhara Ranasinghe delves into government bond markets. To join the conversation at 1900 IST, click here

INDIA TOP NEWS

PNB detects $1.77 billion fraud in latest India bank case

Punjab National Bank has detected fraudulent transactions worth $1.77 billion at a single Mumbai branch in a case that could affect more banks and raise fresh questions about lending procedures at Indian banks mired in soured debt.

Sun Pharma quarterly profit plunges on weak U.S. sales

India's largest drugmaker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries reported a 75 percent plunge in third-quarter net profit on Wednesday as pricing pressures in the United States, its biggest market, hit sales.

Indian state warns local firms over spread of unauthorised Monsanto GM cotton

A top Indian cotton-growing state has told two local companies that seeds they sold to farmers may have contained traces of an unapproved GM strain from Monsanto, according to government notices seen by Reuters that warn of action against the firms.

Idea Cellular launches up to $546 million share sale

Wireless carrier Idea Cellular on Wednesday launched a share sale to institutional investors to raise up to 35 billion rupees ahead of its merger with Vodafone's Indian business.

Nestle India Q4 profit up 60 percent Nestle India, maker of Maggi instant noodles and Kit-Kat chocolates, on Wednesday posted a 59.6 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit, boosted by higher domestic sales.

Tata Power Q3 profit drops, beats estimate

India's Tata Power reported a marginal drop in quarterly profit, but beats analysts' forecasts.

Bharti Airtel's holding company for Africa explores IPO

India's biggest mobile carrier Bharti Airtel said on Wednesday its holding company for Africa operations is looking at a potential initial public offering.

REUTERS INDIA EDITION Thursday, February 15, 2018

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MORNING NEWS CALL - INDIA EDITION February 15, 2018

Jet Airways Q3 profit nearly halves as fuel costs soar

Jet Airways (India), the country's second-largest airline, on Wednesday reported a 46 percent drop in third-quarter profit, hurt by higher fuel expenses.

GLOBAL TOP STORIES

Japan's Dec machinery orders cast doubt on strength of capex

Japan's core machinery orders tumbled in December and companies expect orders to rise only marginally in January-

March, raising concerns that recent gains in capital expenditure will start to peter out.

Ex-student kills 17 in shooting spree at Florida high school A 19-year-old gunman returned to a Florida high school where he had once been expelled for disciplinary reasons and opened fire with an assault-style rifle on Wednesday, killing 17 people and injuring more than a dozen others before he was arrested, authorities said.

Zuma quits, ending scandal-plagued term as South African president Jacob Zuma resigned as President of South Africa on Wednesday, reluctantly heeding orders by the ruling African National Congress to bring an end to his nine scandal-plagued years in power.

STATE OF THE MARKETS

The SGX Nifty Futures were trading at 10,541.00, trading up 0.75 percent from its previous close. -NewsRise

The rupee will likely open steady to higher against the dollar, tracking gains in most Asian peers after greenback fell overnight despite upbeat U.S. inflation data, which prompted expectations the Fed may hike rates at a faster pace going ahead. -NewsRise

Indian sovereign bonds are likely to edge lower in early session tracking a jump in U.S. Treasury yields. The yield on the 7.17 percent bond maturing in 2028 is likely to trade in a 7.48 percent-7.55 percent band today. -NewsRise Wall Street surged on Wednesday as investors shrugged off stronger-than-expected inflation data and snapped up shares of Facebook, Amazon.com and Apple.

Asian stocks gained after Wall Street brushed aside strong U.S. inflation data and surged, a counterintuitive move that also saw the dollar pinned at two-week lows even as Treasury yields jumped in anticipation of a quicker pace of U.S. interest rate hikes. The dollar extended its losses against the yen and hit a fresh 15-month low, with market participants bracing for further near-term weakness in the U.S. currency.

U.S. Treasury yields on most maturities rose on Wednesday, with those on benchmark 10-year notes hitting a four-year high, boosted by data showing consumer prices in the world's largest economy gained more than expected last month, with underlying inflation posting its largest monthly increase in a year.

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MORNING NEWS CALL - INDIA EDITION February 15, 2018

Oil prices extended gains from the previous session, pushed up by a weak dollar and by comments from Saudi Arabia that it would rather see an undersupplied market than end a deal with OPEC and Russia to withhold production. Gold prices held steady, near the 2-1/2-week high hit in the previous session, supported by a weaker dollar and as investors bet on higher U.S. inflation after a faster-than-expected rise in consumer prices last month.

CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT

PNDF spot 64.14/64.17 February 14 -$113.74 mln -$246.68 mln

10-yr bond yield 7.59 pct Month-to-date -$908.27 mln $402.29 mln

Year-to-date $1.13 bln $1.87 bln

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MORNING NEWS CALL - INDIA EDITION February 15, 2018

PICTURE OF THE DAY

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Brides and grooms arrive to take their vows at a mass wedding ceremony organised on the occasion of Valentine's

Day, in Kolkata, February 14. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri