The week beginning on Monday, June 12, is packed with a string of meetings in New Delhi that can have significant impact on stock and currency markets.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will be meeting chiefs of public sector banks (PSBs) on Monday to take stock of non-performance assets (NPAs), financial inclusion, progress in schemes such as Start-up India and status of loans to medium and small enterprises, in addition to goods and services tax (GST).
The GST Council will meet on Sunday in New Delhi to approve the decisions of the previous meeting held on June 3 and "rate adjustment, if any, based on the representations received from different trade and industry and their associations, according to a finance ministry update.
The meeting will also deliberate on social security schemes (Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY), cyber security and preparedness of banks to implement GST.
Banks not ready for GST
It is significant here that the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) had told a parliamentary panel a few days ago that lenders are not yet prepared for implementing the indirect tax legislation.
"Since the GST will be operational from July 1, 2017, banks have to make lot of changes in their systems and other procedures. The preparedness of all banks for implementation of GST on July 1, 2017, is a question mark," the IBA told the parliamentary standing committee on finance, according to a report by PTI on June 4.
IT minister to meet top executives of software companies
Ravi Shankar Prasad is expected to meet heads of IT software services companies such as Infosys, TCS, Wipro and others in New Delhi on June 16 to discuss challenges the $150-billion sector is facing, apart from the roadmap for implementing the $1-trillion digital economy project.
The meeting would be held in the backdrop of visa woes being faced by IT companies, uncertainty affecting revenues, reports of layoffs and the recent rumours of stake sale by Wipro and Infosys, though both the companies strongly dismissed the speculations.
In a letter addressed to his employees, Wipro chairman Azim Premji said: "I remain as committed to Wipro as I have ever been. The news article about promoters of Wipro evaluating sale of their holding in the company is baseless and malicious. There is no truth to these unsubstantiated rumours."
Infosys too came out with a statement scoffing at rumours of stake sale by founders.
"Infosys would like clarify reports in the media speculating on plans of stake sale by the promoters. This speculation has already been categorically denied by the promoters. The company further reiterates that it has no information on any such development. We would like to appeal to the media not to fuel such speculative stories as they are likely to harm the interests of the company and all its stakeholders," it said in a statement.
On Friday, Infosys shares closed 0.80 percent lower at Rs 948 apiece, Wipro ended 1.61 percent lower at Rs 536, TCS closed flat at Rs 2,510 and Tech Mahindra at Rs 387, down 2.68 percent.
The BSE Sensex closed 49 points higher at 31,262 while the NSE Nifty ended at 9,668, up 21 points.
Read: India's foreign exchange reserves hit fresh high; list of countries with high forex holdings
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net sellers of Indian equities worth Rs 100 crore on Friday while their domestic counterparts were net buyers to the tune of Rs 324 crore, according to provisional data released by the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
Besides domestic factors, stock markets will also be influenced by the outcome of UK elections and the likely interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve. "Going ahead, markets will focus on the policies of President Trump along with US Fed rate hike decision in next week. Impact of UK election results on Brexit negotiations along with oil price movement are also crucial for the markets," Teena Virmani, vice president - PCG Research at Kotak Securities Limited, said.
"Domestically, markets will watch for progress and geographical spread of monsoons as it will be important for agri-related, cement, automobile and FMCG companies," she added.
