BQuick On Feb. 22: Top 10 Stories in Under 10 Minutes

This is a roundup of the day’s top stories in brief.

2. Suzlon’s Debt Demons

Once tipped to be a global powerhouse of renewables, Suzlon Energy Ltd. has been battling debt demons for more than six years.

• Beset by the fallout of boom-year excesses, the maker of wind turbines was working on a turnaround by selling assets and cutting costs.
• It even brought in a white knight in billionaire Dilip Shanghvi. But then India shifted from a subsidy-based programme to competitive auctions for wind farms, driving tariffs to record lows and eroding volumes and profits of Suzlon.

Suzlon has lost nearly 99 percent of its market value since its peak in January 2008.

• Meanwhile, Suzlon shares rose as much as 38 percent on Friday, the biggest gain in its history, after CNBC-TV18 reported that the two companies were in talks about Vestas taking a majority stake.

• Suzlon responded saying that it is exploring multiple options for debt reduction, but added that it won't comment on market speculation.

4. Sensex Ekes Out Weekly Gain

Indian equities fluctuated as investors continued to look ahead to the outcome of a national election for direction even as minutes of the recent central bank meeting signaled more cuts in benchmark interest rate. Key indexes eked out weekly gains.

• The S&P BSE Sensex Index ended flat at 35,871.
• The NSE Nifty 50 Index ended two points higher at 10,791.
• The market breadth, however, was tilted in favour of buyers.
• Eight out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE advanced, led by the NSE Nifty Metal Index’s 1.65 percent rally.

Follow the day’s trading action here.

U.S. stocks rose along with Treasuries as investors awaited results from top-level trade talks between America and China.

• The S&P 500 edged toward a weekly gain as President Donald Trump’s scheduled meeting with China’s lead negotiator on Friday afternoon boosted hopes headway will be made before tariffs on some Chinese goods more than double on March 1.
• Kraft Heinz plunged after announcing a $15 billion write-down, dragging down consumer staples stocks.
• The 10-year Treasury yield fell below 2.67 percent while the dollar erased gains against major currencies.
• The pound weakened even as the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator said he won’t rule out a delay to the date Britain leaves the bloc.
• West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 1.3 percent to $57.68 a barrel, the highest in more than 14 weeks on the largest gain in a week.

Get your daily global markets fix here.

5. Mumbai: Real Estate Risk!

The biggest risks to Indian realty might come from Mumbai, according to Nirmal Jain.

• The founder and chairman of IIFL Holdings Ltd. said the sector’s “fragility” was largely due to high-priced pockets in India’s financial capital, causing 80-90 percent of the problems.
• However, Jain said the sector doesn’t face a systemic risk.
• The expensive real estate in Mumbai, according to Jain, is “the epicentre of all problems” due to sky-high prices and minimal end-user demand.

Watch the full interview where Jain also talks about the NBFC pain.

6. Niti Aayog Bats For Public Debt Management Office

Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar on Friday made a case for setting up an independent public debt management office to manage the government’s debt.

• Kumar questioned whether the Reserve Bank of India should have the responsibility of setting the monetary policy, play supervisory role for banks, and at the same time manage Indian government's debt.
• "In 2014, the Finance Minister in his budget speech had announced, but it has not happened. How do we segregate different aspects of Reserve Bank's responsibilities?" Kumar asked.
• The government, he said, has been very courageous to give RBI the statutory authority of inflation targeting.

Many committees in the past have suggested forming an independent debt management office.

7. Mr. Buffett, Please Answer These Nagging Questions

Warren Buffett’s annual letters to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shareholders have felt a bit dry in recent years. Perhaps it was the noticeable reduction in dirty-grandpa humor, or the fact that the world’s most renowned dealmaker hasn’t had a transaction to crow about since 2016, writes Bloomberg Opinion's Tara Lachapelle.

But for this year’s missive, expected to arrive on Saturday evening India time, Buffett has provided himself with plenty of fodder — if only he’ll use it to answer two nagging questions for investors:

1. Should anything be gleaned about the future of Berkshire from its relatively new, and recently erratic, interest in technology investments?
2. If Buffett didn’t find a significant acquisition in December’s market swoon, then when will he?

Here’s why investors deserve more than just a memo from Buffett this year.

8. CBI Issues Lookout Notice Against Chanda Kochhar

The Central Bureau of Investigation has issued lookout notices against former ICICI Bank Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak and Managing Director of the Videocon Group Venugopal Dhoot, officials said.

• The move was taken nearly a week after a case was registered against Chanda Kocchar, Deepak and Dhoot, they said.
• They added that the move is to ensure that none of the accused in the case related to alleged corruption in clearing loans worth Rs 1,875 crore to the Videocon Group.

No summons have been issued against Chanda Kochhar to record her statement.

9. Congress To Promise One-Time Farm Loan Waiver

The Congress party will pledge a one-time farm loan write off and focus on “have nots” in a bid to woo voters from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling group in elections due by May.

• His party is also considering a plan to provide income for landless farmers and agricultural workers, said M.V. Rajeev Gowda, a Wharton School doctorate in public policy who’s convener of the panel drafting the Congress’ manifesto.
• Congress will get more people to pay taxes and better target subsidies to help fund these payouts, he said.
• Rahul Gandhi has already promised a minimum income guarantee to the poor.

Congress’ manifesto will focus on the “have nots” of India.