OPINION, P6 MARKETS, P10 SRIVATSA KRISHNA India must look at cryptocurrency as an opportunity, not ban it INTERNATIONAL, P8 EDITORIAL MPC MINUTES EXILE GAINS Time for Centre & states to cut taxes on fuel; these make up a large chunk of petrol prices ‘Moderate inflation in India provides room to support growth’ Twitter kicked Trump out and its stock surged to a record HYDERABAD, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2021 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOLUME XVII NO. 252, 14 PAGES, `6.00 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 49,744.32 ▼ 1,145.44 NIFTY: 14,675.70 ▼ 306.05 NIKKEI 225: 30,156.03 ▲ 138.11 HANG SENG: 30,319.83 ▼ 324.90 `/$: 72.50 ▲ 0.15 `/€: 87.78 ▼ 0.07 BRENT: $63.39 ▲ $0.48 GOLD: `46,475 ▲ `521 IN THE NEWS DHFL case: Auditor unearths `6,182-cr fraudulent deal DHFL ON MONDAY said its transaction auditor, Grant Thornton, has reported another fraudulent transaction of `6,182 crore in the company, reports PTI. The administrator received an initial report indicating that there are certain transactions which are "undervalued, fraudulent and preferential in nature", DHFL said in a filing. Tata Motors posts highest sales in the last 33 quarters FROM 11,419 UNITS sold in June 2020, Tata Motors has seen its sales jump two-anda-half times to 26,978 units in January 2021 — a total of 1,62,794 units sold in eight months, reports Vikram Chaudhary in New Delhi. High-speed rail body awards contract to L&T-IHI THE NATIONAL HIGH Speed Rail Corporation on Monday signed a contract agreement for procurement and fabrication of 28 steel bridges for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor with L&T-IHI Infrastructure Systems consortium, reports fe Bureau in New Delhi. Netflix launches auto content downloads feature NETFLIX ANNOUNCED A new feature that will automatically download recommended content for users on their smartphones, reports PTI. 'Downloads for You' automatically downloads recommended shows or movies to a user's mobile device based on their tastes. BEAR RUN FUTURE-RELIANCE DEAL FE BUREAU New Delhi, February 22 Overturns Delhi HC decision, restores freeze on deal and legal advantage for Amazon ● NCD PAYMENTS Stocks sell off on rising Supreme Court halts NCLT approval input costs and yields Advance/decline ratio on BSE STOCKS FELL SHARPLY on Monday, the fifth straight day of fall, with investors taking risk off the table on worries of soaring commodity prices, rising bond yields and a fresh wave of Covid-19 infections.Bonds also sold off aspricesofcrudeoilstayedelevatedand investors remained apprehensive after an auction lastThursdaymetwith lukewarm response. The breadth of the fall in the equities markets, post a huge liquidity-driven rally,suggests markets could be headed for some consolidation as the tailwinds from the Budget proposals and good corporate results in Q3FY21 recede. Nonetheless,foreign flows into equities are nudging a strong $4 billion in February so far on the back of net flows of $2 billion in January. There’s concern on highercommodity prices with analysts at BofA Global Research highlighting on Monday the markets had largely ignored the sharp increase in prices of several commodities of as much as 75% since June 2020. The commodity risk had found a dis- Sensex 52,000 51,000 Prev close: 50,889.76 50,910.51 0.80 FE BUREAU New Delhi, February 22 0.82 0.80 0.64 0.55 0.40 0.00 Feb 15 16 2021 17 18 19 Feb 22 2021 tinct mention in most corporate commentaries, they observed.“Inventories — typicallybetween 17-85 days — have so far cushioned the impact of the price spurt. However, these benefits are now behind,”they noted. Bonds also sold off on Monday with investors apprehensive afteran auction last Thursday met with lukewarm response. The yield on the benchmark was up seven basis points at 6.20% having climbed 14 bps last week. THE SUPREME COURT on Monday prevented the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) from taking a final call on the `24,713crore deal between Kishore Biyaniled Future Retail (FRL) and Reliance Retail, even as it allowed the tribunal to go ahead with the proceedings for merger of Future Oct 25: SAIC restrains FRLfrom selling its assets to Reliance Dec: Amazon buys 49% stake in Dec 21: HC holds deal complied Future Coupons with Indian laws, rejects Future's plea to restrainAmazon 2019 2020 Feb 2: HC directs Future group to maintain status quo Feb 8: HC lifts stay on its Feb 2 order that put a temporary freeze on the deal 2021 FE BUREAU Mumbai, February 22 Aug : Merger ofthe firm and other group firms into Future Enterprise approved before transfer to Reliance Oct 5: Amazon initiates arbitration against Future over RILdeal Feb 11:Amazon moves SC to block the deal, citing irreparable harm Feb 21: SC bars NCLTfrom passing final orders on deal group and Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance group firms. The apex court's decision to overturn the Delhi High Court's February8rulingthatliftedafreeze on the deal and allowed the NCLTto grant its approval for it based on merits is a positive for American ecommerce giant Amazon, which is keen to scuttle the deal. RELIANCE CAPITALHAS once again failed to make interest payment for non-convertible debentures(NCDs)dueonFebruary 21. Although the quantum of default could not be ascertained, it will be at least 49thdefaultinarow.Thecompany had disclosed during its December quarter (Q3FY21) earnings that it had listed NCDs worth `14,827 crore. Continued on Page 2 Detailed report on Page 10 Continued on Page 2 10-yr bond yield (%) 6.21 6.20 6.198 6.19 49,000 48,000 0.97 6.205 49,744.32 50,000 1.21 1.20 CASE FILE Reliance Cap defaults for 49th time Open Close 6.18 1.06 pm 3.30 pm ● COVID-19 Fresh restrictions imposed in Maha over case surge REUTERS Mumbai, February 22 ALARMEDBYSIGNSthatasecond wave of coronavirus is building,Maharashtraordered fresh restrictions on people’s movement and imposed night curfews in some cities,though not in Mumbai. Maharastra alone reported nearly 7,000 new cases on Sunday, a steep rise from just 2,000 cases earlier this month, with fears heightened by the appearance of new strains of the virus in parts of the country. Latest figures given by the health ministry on Monday, showedIndiareported14,199 new infections, and 83 new deaths on Sunday. Continued on Page 2 ● TENSION EASING India may clear 45 investments from China AFTAB AHMED & ADITI SHAH New Delhi, February 22 INDIAIS SETtoclear45investment proposals from China, which are likely to include those from Great Wall Motor and SAIC Motor Corp, governmentandindustrysourcestold Reuters, as military tensions betweenthetwocountriesease at the disputed border. The proposals have been held up since last year after India tightened controls on Chinese investment in the country in retaliation against alleged Chinese troop incursionsinthewesternHimalayan region. China blamed Indian troops for the standoff. About 150 investment proposals from China worth more than$2billionwerestuckinthe pipeline.CompaniesfromJapan and the US routing investment through Hong Kong were also caught in the cross-fire as an inter-ministerial panel increased scrutiny of such proposals. A home ministry spokesmandidnotrespondtoa request for comment on the proposalsto be cleared. Two government sources who have seen the list said most of the 45 proposals set for early approvals are in the manufacturingsector,whichis considered non-sensitive in terms of national security.The sources did not elaborate but twoothergovernmentofficials and two industry sources who are privy to the process said proposals from GreatWall and SAIC are likely to be on the list. Continued on Page 2 HYDERABAD
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