Market Movers: Trump threatens more China tariffs; Share buyback in oil PSUs likely, oil jumps & more

Here’s a lowdown on top macro triggers that may move market on Monday. This report was compiled from agency feeds.

Trump Threatens Another Round of China Tariffs
President Donald Trump threatened to impose another round of tariffs on China and warned that Chinese meddling in US politics is a “bigger problem” than Russian involvement in the 2016 election. Asked in an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” whether he wants to push China’s economy into a depression, Trump said “no” before comparing the country’s stock-market losses since the tariffs first launched to those in 1929, the start of the Great Depression in the US.

Share Buyback Likely by Indian Oil, ONGC & OIL
The boards of Indian Oil, Oil and Natural Gas Corp and Oil India may soon consider buying back their shares worth Rs 10,000 crore under pressure from the government, reports ET quoting multiple sources. The government has demanded these buybacks in a couple of months to meet its divestment target. Indian Oil is expected to buy back 3% of its shareholding, currently valued at Rs 4,000 crore, while ONGC’s buyback programme is slated to be about Rs 4,800 crore and Oil India’s Rs 1,100 crore.

Modi to Meet CEOs of Global, Local Oil Cos Today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will Monday brainstorm with chief executives of top global and Indian oil and gas companies on emerging energy scenario, with ripples from US sanctions on Iran and volatile oil prices threatening growth. The third annual meeting would also deliberate on ways to revive investment in oil and gas exploration and production, official sources said. Saudi Oil Minister Khalid A Al Falih, BP CEO Bob Dudley, Total head Patrick Fouyane, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and Vedanta chief Anil Agarwal are expected to attend the meeting Monday.

Oil Prices Jump on Tension with Saudi
Crude oil futures rose sharply on Monday as geopolitical tensions over the disappearance of a prominent Saudi journalist stoked worries about supply, although concerns about the long-term outlook for demand dragged on prices. Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose 1.7% to $81.82 per barrel, bouncing back from Friday’s near-three-week low of $79.23. Brent crude had risen 98 cents, or 1.22%, to 81.41 a barrel by 0124 GMT, on track for its biggest daily gain since Oct. 9. US crude futures climbed 80 cents, or 1.12%, to $72.15 a barrel, extending gains they racked up on Friday after hefty losses on Wednesday and Thursday.

Residential Property Sales Climb in Q2
Residential property sales climbed 15% on-year in top seven markets in second-quarter, led by demand for affordable homes. Bengaluru, Kolkata, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune witnessed more than 20% on-year sales growth in the quarter ending September, although Hyderabad and Chennai posted declines of 3% and 27%, respectively.

IIP Slips in Aug, Retail Inflation Up in Sept
Industrial production growth slipped to a three-month low of 4.3% in August mainly due to a sharp decline in the mining sector output and poor offtake of capital goods, according to the Central Statistics Office data. The IIP growth is the lowest since May when it touched 3.9%. Retail inflation rose marginally in September, nudged up by food and fuel prices, but short of RBI's 4% medium-term target, strengthening views it could tighten monetary policy in December.

Cement Prices May Go Up 10% in Next 6 Mths
Cement prices could go up by up to 10 per cent in the next six months in order to compensate for the increased fuel and transportation costs, according to a top official of industry body CMA. As per Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA), the industry has witnessed 14 per cent growth in the first half of 2018-19, providing an opportunity for correction of prices which have remained stagnant for the last six to seven years.


POLICIES & MORE

• In a likely blow to the government and the newly constituted IL&FS board, the Mumbai NCLT Bench rejected a plea for a three-month moratorium against any legal proceedings by any party against the stressed infrastructure financier and its 348 subsidiaries.
• The revenue department has issued preliminary notices to about 10,000 people under the benami law seeking source of income details as it analyses data on deposits of cancelled notes after the November 2016 demonetisation.
• The government may not go for another round of import duty hike on any more items and could take other measures to contain the impact of rupee slide on current account deficit (CAD).
• The RBI will not relax the October 15 deadline for global financial technology (fintech) companies to comply with its data localisation norms in the public interest.
• Mass players like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Mahindra, Ford and Tata Motorsa as well as luxury sellers like BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz are offering discounts ranging from Rs 50,000 on Maruti Alto mini, to Rs 70,000 on Mahindra Scorpio SUV, and going up to as high as Rs 14 lakh on BMW 7-Series saloon.

Top Video
Bajaj Qute Review & Test Drive

Watch: Bajaj Qute review, test drive

Bajaj Auto insists the Qute is not a like-for-like alternative to a car, nor is it here to replace the three wheeled autorickshaw. Bajaj’s thinking is that while cars, by virtue of their specifications, are suited to inter-city travel, even the smallest of the lot are too big, too heavy and too expensive to run for the average intra-city commute.

Top Quote
'Nifty50 Could Climb up to 11,000 by Diwali'

FUNDAMENTALS
Rupee Down: Rising for the third straight day, the rupee strengthened by 55 paise to settle at 73.57 against the US dollar on Friday, marking its biggest gain in over three weeks

Bonds Down: India 10-year bonds decreased 0.1% 7.98% on Friday October 12 from 7.99% in the previous trading session, according to Tradingeconomics.com.