NEWS
DOMESTIC NEWS
Economy
• Foreign direct investment into India grew by 28 per cent to $16.33 billion
during the first quarter of the current fiscal. Inflow of foreign direct
investment (FDI) during April-June of 2018-19 stood at 12.75 billion.
• Growth of eight core industries dropped to 2.1 per cent in July, mainly
due to contraction in coal, crude oil and natural gas production. The
eight core sector industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery
products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity - had expanded by
7.3 per cent in July last year.
Information Technology
• Wipro has bagged an IT outsourcing contract worth around $300 million (around Rs 2,200 crore) from ICICI Bank under which it would provide a comprehensive suite of services to the lender.
Pharmaceuticals
• Lupin has tied up with Germany’s Boehringer Ingelheim to develop a novel cancer drug that will potentially earn it over $700 million in milestone-based payments and royalties.
Automobile
• M&M has deferred its planned capex of around Rs.1,000 crore by a year, which, if not reversed within this fiscal, would lead to more job losses in the sector. The company that recently underwent a plant shut-down exercise to adjust production also said that if sales do not pick up in the festive season, it may have to undertake the exercise again in October.
• Ashok Leyland Ltd will be the first Indian original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to meet the BS-VI emission norms for all its heavy-duty trucks.
• Ashok Leyland plans to develop a range of light commercial vehicles (LCVs) in the sub-5 tonne category. The move will help the company further consolidate its position in the LCV segment, while reducing its dependency on medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCVs).
FMCG
• Dabur India is stepping up product launches to sell only on e-commerce platforms, as it looks the leverage increasing sales from the channel. It has entered the kids’ hair care space with a range of products under its new Amla Kids franchise, which will be sold only through e-commerce platforms.
Engineering
• Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has created advanced metering infrastructure solutions for five lakh smart meters for state-owned Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. The smart meter project is aimed at regulating power consumption pattern, promoting online billing, infusing transparency and reducing line losses.
Telecom
• Mukesh Amabani’s Jio announced launch of its fibre-based broadband service, offering minimum internet speed of 100 Mbps for Rs.699 a month, a rate 35-45 per cent lower than rivals, as it looked to repeat the disruption caused in the telecom sector three years back.
Bank
• Yes Bank has partnered with Microsoft to strengthen its first of its kind, AI enabled chatbot, Yes Robot, with advanced neuro language programming (NLP) engine LUIS (Language Understanding Intelligent Service) and other cognitive services, capable of understanding and resolving the evolving banking needs of customers without the need for human intervention.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
US factory orders surged up by 1.4 percent in July after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.5 percent in June. Economists had expected factory orders to jump by 1.0 percent compared to the 0.6 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
• US productivity increased by 2.3 percent in the second quarter, unchanged from the preliminary estimate. Economists had expected the pace of productivity growth to be downwardly revised to 2.2 percent.
• US initial jobless claims inched up to 217,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level of 216,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to come in unchanged compared to the 215,000 originally reported for the previous week.
US trade deficit narrowed to $54.0 billion in July from a revised $55.5 billion in June. Economists had expected the deficit to narrow to $53.5 billion from the $55.2 billion originally reported for the previous month.
• The average of household spending in Japan was up 0.8 percent on year in July, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications - coming in at 288,026 yen. That was in line with expectations and down from the 2.7 percent annual increase in June.