Commodities guru Jim Rogers has a word of caution: the tendency among global central banks and governments to print money and spend every time they panic over a crisis is not a good sign. They are going to drive interest rates to unbelievably low levels. "While it is good for the markets for a while, we may eventually have a blow-off bubble. It has been a while since we have had a blow-off bubble in any stock market in the world. When all that comes to an end, we will have the worst financial markets in my lifetime," he warns.
STREET PULSE: Where we stand Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded nearly 30 points down at 7 am (IST), signalling possible weakness ahead on Dalal Street. Elsewhere in Asia, shares were looking to rally for a fourth straight session as US markets swung sharply higher and another dose of central bank stimulus offered some salve for the global economic outlook.
HERE'S WHAT TO WATCH  | MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.2%, in its fourth day of gains. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.8% and hard-hit Australian shares finally managed a bounce of 1.6%. |
| Overnight, Wall Street seemed to find relief in the strong performance of former Vice President Biden in the Democratic nomination campaign. In another wild swing the Dow surged 4.53%, while the S&P500 gained 4.22% and the Nasdaq 3.85%. |
| Oil prices rose more than 1%, recouping losses from the previous day on a smaller-than-expected rise in crude oil inventories in the US, although the gains were capped by uncertainties over cuts by major oil producers. Brent crude rose by 78 cents, or 1.5%, to $51.91 a barrel, while WTI crude gained by 69 cents, or 1.5%, to $47.47 |
| The rupee closed at 73.22 to the dollar on Wednesday, stronger than Tuesday's closing of 73.30 on visible regulatory intervention, and as importers rushed to cover their payment liabilities after the rupee had shed more than 2% against the dollar this week. |
| LOOK WHO'S |  |
SLOW BUT STEADY… SBI Cards' initial public offering was subscribed 15.5 times on strong demand from institutional investors led by foreign investors and domestic investors, like banks and insurance companies, on the last day of bids for these investors. Institutional investors came with full force with the portion of shares reserved for them subscribed 57 times. Bankers expect the issue to be subscribed 30 to 35 times as HNIs are expected to place most of their bids on the last day, specially reserved for them and retail investors on Thursday.
Read More SERVICES BOUNCE… India's services activity marked its quickest rise in over seven years, coupled with a renewed increase in new export orders and strengthening business confidence, a private survey showed Wednesday. The IHS Markit India Services Business Activity Index rose from 55.5 in January to 57.5 in February. This is the fastest expansion in services output since January 2013. Service providers saw a marked increase in new work intakes during February, the second-fastest in over seven years. Finance and insurance, and consumer services firms were the most confident during February, as per the survey report.
Read More BALANCED OUT… The slump in the stock market has prompted balanced advantage mutual funds — a product that invests in a mix of equities and debt — to increase allocation to stocks. ICICI Balanced Advantage Fund, the biggest scheme in the category with assets of Rs 28,853 crore, has increased equity allocation to 58.5% as of February end from 49.67% in January. This is the highest equity allocation the scheme has had since December 2016. Other funds in the category have also increased their equity allocations during the last one month.
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PROBE INTO FLIPKART… The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal asked India's competition watchdog to investigate Walmart-owned Flipkart for alleged unfair business practices through misuse of its dominant position. That overturned a 2018 ruling by the Competition Commission. "We set aside the order passed by CCI," said the three-member bench led by Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya. The regulator "is directed to initiate probe against Flipkart." CCI should direct the director general of its investigative unit to look into the allegations, the tribunal said.
Read More TELECOM TARIFF FLOOR… Niti Aayog and the Competition Commission of India have opposed any move to fix a floor tariff for voice and data services, saying setting a base price would disincentivise competition, deter innovation and deprive consumers of benefits. They instead called for policy reforms to restore the health of the sector. These views deal a blow to the operators who say that a floor price, along with reforms, is key for the long-term viability of the sector.
Read More CRYPTO BLOW TO RBI… The Supreme Court scrapped an RBI circular preventing banks from providing services in support of cryptocurrencies, lifting a de facto ban on trading in bitcoin and other such instruments. Cryptocurrency exchanges welcomed the decision and startups said they will revive plans to invest and expand their businesses in India. The move may set the tone for a more calibrated regulatory approach toward digital currencies, lawyers said.
Read More Meanwhile... NO CAPPING FARM SUBSIDY… India has ruled out any chances of capping input subsidies for irrigation, fertilisers and electricity, stating that these support rural development, food and livelihood security of marginal farmers.Instead, around 60 countries including China and India have insisted that the focus of multilateral trade talks should be on addressing product-specific subsidies that the US, the EU and Canada give as these allow them more policy space and cause distortions in global farm trade. These are called aggregate measurement of support, or AMS, in trade parlance.
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