Tuesday, 2 May 2017

Nifty Closed On A Flat Note After Flat Mfg PMI & Govt/NITI Aayog’s Indication That A “Bad Bank” May Not Be The Solution of India’s NPA Mess



Market Wrap: 02/05/2017 (19:00)

NSE-NF (May): 9341 (+7 points; +0.08%)

NSE-BNF (May): 22395 (+28 points; +0.13%)

For 03/05/2017:

Key support for NF: 9305-9245

Key resistance for NF: 9425-9475            

Key support for BNF: 22150-21950

Key resistance for BNF: 22525-22675

Time & Price action suggests that, Nifty Fut (May) has to sustain over 9425 area for further rally towards 9475-9510 & 9550-9600 in the short term (under bullish case scenario).

On flip side, sustaining below 9405-9385 area, NF may fall towards 9305-9245 & 9200-9140 area in the short term (under bear case scenario).

Similarly, BNF has to sustain over 22525 area for further rally towards 22675-22800 & 23000-23200 area in the near term (under bullish case scenario).

On the flip side, sustaining below 22475 area, BNF may fall towards 22250-22150 & 21950-21750 area in the near term (under bear case scenario).

Nifty Fut (May) today closed around 9341, almost flat, but off the low, after making a day high of 9370 and low of 9284. Indian market today also opened almost flat following tepid global cues, but after trading in green for the 1st hour, a sudden selling pressure brought down the NF to the day’s low of 9284 in a matter of 30 minutes and then it recovered the lost ground after EU opens to close almost flat.

Although, exact reason for the sudden fall (long unwinding/fresh shorts from the record high level of Nifty) is not clear, it’s coincided with the release of Markit Mfg PMI for April today, which flashed as 52.5 at the same level of March’17. Although PMI was well off the boom/bust line of 50 recorded in post DeMo Month of Dec’16, it is also well off the recent high of 54.4 recorded in pre-DeMo month of Oct’16. As par Markit, there was strong growth in new orders & demand in April, but also accompanied by slower output, stocks repurchase and employment. Thus, today’s PMI report may be termed as market neutral and not upbeat.

There was also some report that NITI Aayog’s Panagariya, a close advisor of the PMO is against the concept of a “Bad Bank” (Govt sponsored Super ARC in PPP mode) for an effective speedy resolution of India’s NPA mess. As there were already such several ARC and also a SBI/Govt sponsored ARC is there, so creation of such ARC may not be a solution and it will only waste time by transferring the stressed asset from some PSBS to another Govt sponsored ARC; actual resolution may not happen in that way. There was a great hope in the market for the last few weeks for such super ARC (Bad Bank), an effective NPA policy thereof and subsequent instant resolution of India’s NPA issues after FM has indicated such bold steps last month. Thus, as hopes of such Bad Bank is now almost nil, PSBS & also some other private banks nosedived a little from their day highs.

As par some reports, IBA may be now scouting for external consultants for resolution of the NPA mess as the problem is a structural one except some stray cases; there are questions of project viability, India’s legacy issues of high real interest rates beside some policy paralysis of past and also some judicial over extremism (like 2G, mining and more recently the BS-III issues). Somehow rather, it seems that policymakers, judiciary and investor are quite divergent & confused at times and ultimately, it was investor’s money/bank’s fund which is at stake, although Judiciary may be quite right at its decision.

Govt may be also thinking to privatize some of the fragile PSBS by M&A with some private banks to get rid off the NPA issues. But, this proposal may also face serious political hurdles and there may also be lack of sufficient private interests for such privatization.

Soon after market hours today rating agency Fitch again disappointed the Indian Govt in its effort to upgrade the country’s sovereign rating. Fitch today affirmed India’s rating at the previous grade (BBB- with stable outlook), just one notch above junk due to weak public finances, high Govt debt/GDP ratio, huge banking NPA & lack of adequate recapitalization for the PSBS, low GDP per capita despite higher GDP (in new series) and incremental structural reforms.

Fitch pointed out that:

1.    Strong medium term growth outlook towards 7.7% by FY: 17-18 from 7.1% in FY-16. Average GDP growth for the last five years stands around 6.9% in new GDP series, which is significantly higher than the BBB median range of 3.2%, even if one discounted the transition from old series to new GDP series from Feb’15 onwards.
2.    India’s GDP growth may be supported by higher real disposable income coupled with implementation of 7-CPC and average normal monsoon this year.

3.    Due to incremental structural reforms for the last three years, India is getting huge FDI and is becoming a favourite destination of foreign investors.

4.    Now GST and insolvency & bankruptcy code has been passed in the Parliament, its implementation is more vital going ahead to improve the overall still weak business environment (economic activity).

5.    RBI’s focus on managing inflation is encouraging. Traditionally, incrementally higher inflation is a big issue for Indian economy and RBI is trying to bring it around 4-5% from previous decades of average 8%. But, oil & food prices may also pose some of the risks for higher inflation for the Indian economy in the days ahead.

6.    Weak public finances continue to spoil India’s rating upgrade. India’s Govt debt/GDP ratio is around 70% against BBB average of around 41%. Also fiscal balance is wide around -6.6% against BBB median of -2.7% for FY-17E; however, Govt is now more focused on bringing down debt. As par recent FRBM recommendation, Govt may gradually bring down the Govt debt/GDP ratio to 60% in the coming years irrespective of infra spending push.

7.    India’s problem of huge NPL is another reason against any rating upgrade. Banking NPL is now estimated to be around 9.7% of total advances by FY-17 from 4.6% in FY-15. As a result, fragile PSBS are finding it difficult to raise capital from non-Govt sources. Govt’s capital infusion plan for the PSBS under Indradhanush may be too little & too late, being only Rs.700 bln against actual requirement of Rs.6 tln, which is equivalent to almost 3% of India’s estimated GDP of Rs.200 tln by FY-19.

8.    Although, India is not immune to external shock, but it may be less vulnerable than many of its peers due to strong external finances. Due to narrower CAD & incremental FDI, India’s current account balance is estimated to be -0.9% in FY-17 against BBB median of -1.5%. Also, FX reserve of India is now around 8.4 months of current external payments against BBB average of 6.6 months.

9.    India, being a domestically driven economy with lower export dependence on the volatile commodity, is relatively stable against any external trade shocks.

10.  One of the main reasons for India’s poor rating is lower per capita GDP at around $1714 against BBB median of $9701. Also, India ranks poor in the ease of doing business with a low World Bank governance indicator of 46% against BBB median of 58%.

For the last few months, Govt/policy makers are trying their best to convince various rating agencies to upgrade India’s rating due to higher GDP growth, incremental reforms (GST, insolvency code etc) and political stability. Market may be also expecting an immediate rating upgrade for India after huge win by BJP in the UP election for the factor of political stability and greater emphasis on big bang reforms.

But, it seems that rating agencies are not so convinced and they want to see the actual implementation of various reforms & its ultimate result on their own parameters before going for a rating upgrade. This may be a significant disappointment for both the market & the Govt. Apart from the above reasons, India’s problem of twin balance sheet & tepid private investments may be also responsible for the rating agencies to adopt a cautious stance despite some green shoots in the economy.



 SGX-NF


BNF


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