To access the newsletter, click on the link: here If you would like to receive this newsletter via email, please register at: here FACTORS TO WATCH 9:30 am: Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and Steel Secretary Aruna Sharma at an event in New Delhi. 11:00 am: Parliament panel on finance likely to meet RBI Governor Urjit Patel and finance ministry officials in New Delhi. LIVECHAT - COMMODITIES FOCUS Clyde Russell, Reuters Asia Commodities and Energy Columnist speaks on the subject at 9:30 am. To join the conversation, click on the link: here INDIA TOP NEWS • Tata Steel profit lifted by one-off UK pension gain Tata Steel was helped to a quarterly profit of 146.88 billion rupees by a one-off pensions gain, in contrast with an 11.68 billion rupee loss a year earlier. • India's Infosys sets up blockchain-based trade finance network with seven banks Infosys has formed a blockchain-based trade finance network with seven private-sector banks, to increase security and efficiency in the banking sector while also broadening its product offering. • Former Indian central bank boss says won't apply for top BoE job Former Reserve Bank of India chief Raghuram Rajan said on Wednesday he did not intend to apply for the job of Bank of England governor which is due to come vacant next year. • India police charge jeweller Choksi, others in PNB fraud case Indian federal police have filed charges against five further people including jeweller Mehul Choksi as part of a probe into an alleged $2 billion fraud at state-run Punjab National Bank, two police sources said. • JSW Steel posts record quarterly profit JSW Steel posted record quarterly net profit on Wednesday, nearly tripling from last year, largely beating market estimates thanks to higher commodity prices and spreads. • TVS Motor Co Q4 profit up 31 percent, lags Street TVS Motor posted an about 31 percent increase in quarterly profit on Wednesday, helped by higher vehicle sales at home and growth in exports, but missed analysts' estimates. • ITC Q4 profit rises 10 percent; beats estimates India's biggest cigarette maker ITC posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, helped by a fall in excise duty. • Hindalco Industries Q4 profit dives 25 percent, lags estimate Aluminium producer Hindalco Industries posted a 25 percent fall in its fourth-quarter profit, widely missing street estimate. GLOBAL TOP NEWS • Trump says 'We'll see' on N.Korea summit, to insist on denuclearization U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledged on Wednesday it was unclear if his summit with North Korea would go ahead after Pyongyang threatened to pull out of the unprecedented meeting, a move that could deny him a potentially major foreign policy achievement. • U.S., China to launch trade talks; China hawk Navarro's role reduced -officials The United States and China launch trade talks on Thursday in a bid to avert a damaging tariff war, with the White House's harshest China critic relegated to a supporting role, senior Trump administration officials said on Wednesday. • Malaysia police seize handbags, other personal items from ex-PM's home Malaysian police seized handbags and few other personal items from the home of former prime minister Najib Razak in connection with a money laundering probe, a lawyer of the ex-leader said. LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) • SGX Nifty nearest-month futures were trading almost flat at 10,768.50. • Indian government bonds are likely to fall in early trade tracking sharp overnight gains in U.S. Treasury yields and crude oil prices. The yield on the benchmark 7.17 percent bond maturing in 2028 is likely to trade in 7.90 percent-7.96 percent band today. • The Indian rupee will likely open higher against the dollar amid a mild recovery in emerging market currencies. GLOBAL MARKETS • Retail and technology stocks led Wall Street higher on Wednesday and the small-cap Russell 2000 hit a record peak, even as a rise in U.S. bond yields to an almost seven-year high suggested more competition for equities and investors fretted over geopolitics. • Asian shares held steady, while the euro struggled near five-month lows set a day earlier following a report that Italian populist parties trying to form a coalition could ask the European Central Bank to forgive 250 billion euros of debt. • The dollar stood tall against a basket of currencies, as the euro retreated to a five-month low on concerns the political developments in Italy could cause wider disruptions in the common currency bloc. • U.S. Treasury yields rose on Wednesday as the 10-year yield reached seven-year highs and tested key technical support at 3.10 percent, which may touch off another wave of bond sales if it rises much further above that level. • Oil prices firmed, with Brent crude creeping ever closer to $80 per barrel, a level it has not seen since November 2014, as supplies tighten while demand remains strong. • Gold prices were mostly steady after touching their lowest level this year in the previous session, with the U.S. dollar hovering below its 2018-peak. CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 67.91/67.94 May 16 -$103.14 mln -$143.83 mln 10-yr bond yield 8.07 pct Month-to-date -$415.81 mln -$1.58 bln Year-to-date $766.24 mln -$3.25 bln For additional data: India govt bond market volumes Stock market reports Non-deliverable forwards data Corporate debt stories [IN CORPD] Local market closing/intraday levels [IN SNAPSHOT] Monthly inflows [INFLOWS RTRS TABLE IN] ($1 = 67.7700 Indian rupees) (Compiled by Erum Khaled in Bengaluru)