Wednesday, March 18
NEW DELHI: India and the US are expected to finalise and sign a joint statement on the first part of the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) in four-five days and aim to conclude a formal, legally binding pact by midMarch, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said Thursday.“India and the US are having a meaningful dialogue. The first tranche of the BTA is almost ready. We will finalise and sign the joint statement in fourfive days. Based on the joint statement, the next leg of the partnership will start,” Goyal said.The formal agreement is being drafted, a process that may take a month or a month and a half. “We plan to sign the formal agreement by mid-March,” he said. The minister ruled out any investment commitments in the pact.The US will slash tariffs on India to 18
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Thursday proposed tightening margin rules for a trading strategy in single-stock derivatives.Under the proposal, the benefit of offsetting positions across different expiries will not be available on the day of expiry for singlestock derivative contracts expiring that day.The review follows feedback from market participants flagging potential risks arising from calendar-spread benefits on expiry days for single-stock contracts. A calendar spread is when a trader holds the same stock’s derivatives with two different expiry dates, which lowers margin because the positions offset each other. The risk appears on expiry day when the near-month contract expires and the hedge no longer exists. This leaves the trader exposed to one-way moves o
Mumbai : Better than expected levels in the latest open market operation (OMO) auction of ₹50,000 crore triggered a rally in bond yields, as the 10 year benchmark yield closed at 6.65%, four basis points lower than its previous close, CCIL data showed.The OMO received bids of ₹87,161 crore, and three out of the seven bonds in the auction were accepted at lucrative levels than market prices, treasury heads said.The 7.18% GS 2033 paper saw the most demand, with ₹26,406 crore offered, of which the RBI accepted ₹20,346 crore. While the 6.92% GS 2039 paper saw the least demand with markets offering ₹1,999 crore, of which the RBI accepted ₹1,780 crore.“The OMO was definitely better than expected and as soon as the cut off prices were released, the 10-year paper saw a rally. The RBI
