Markets & Finance News

* But well-received results lift Just Eat, Iliad (Adds details, closing prices)

* Just Eat, Intertek gain after updates (Adds quotes and detail, updates prices)

European shares extended losses on Tuesday on an earnings-heavy day as the biggest fallers Aggreko and Casino were all weighed down by results.

European shares posted their best weekly gains of 2017 of Friday, although they were down on the day following disappointing company updates.

European shares dropped on Friday following disappointing company updates, with WPP falling after giving a cautious outlook and Berendsen plunging on its results.

European shares slipped in early trading on Friday following some poor company updates, with WPP falling after painting a cautious picture about its outlook and Berendsen plunging following disappointing results.

* Disappointments from Capita, Travis Perkins weigh (Adds quotes and detail, updates prices at close)

* Eyes on Luxottica's drop after lukewarm results (Updates)

European shares steadied early on Thursday, pausing after a strong rally in the previous session, with strong earnings updates driving shares in Melrose Industries and Subsea 7.

* Basic resources, defence stocks also in demand (Adds details, closing prices)

* Likelihood of March Fed rate hike seen to be mostly priced in

To access the newsletter, click on the link: http://share.thomsonreuters.com/assets/newsletters/Indiamorning/MNC_IN_03082017.pdf If you would like to receive this newsletter via email, please register at: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/india-morning/ FACTORS TO WATCH 9:45 am: Central Board of Excise and Customs Chairman Najib Shah to speak at seminar on trade facilitation agreement in New Delhi. 11:00 am: Power Minister Piyush Goyal at India Smart Grid Forum event in New Delhi. 12:00 pm: Environment Minister Anil Dave to launch CRZ portal in New Delhi. 2:30 pm: Farm Minister Radha Mohan Singh to give concluding remarks at national workshop on strengthening women cooperatives in New Delhi. LIVECHAT-CHINA TRADE Exports in February are estimated to grow at 12.3 pct, the fastest pace in two years. At 12.00 pm, Chua Han Teng, Senior Asia Country Risk & Financial Markets Analyst, Fitch's BMI Research, will discuss the drivers of growth and whether they can be sustained going forward. To join the conversation, click on the link: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/communities/ INDIA TOP NEWS • India mulls local steel requirement for $59 billion infrastructure spend India may soon mandate the use of local steel in government infrastructure projects worth billions of dollars, sources said, pitching it as a WTO-compliant protectionist measure aimed at further cutting cheap imports, mainly from China. • CERAWEEK-India expects a prompt integration between oil, refining firms The Indian government expects domestic oil companies now working to combine their exploration and refining operations to show progress by the end of 2017, the country's oil minister said on Monday. • Reliance Capital sells stake in Paytm parent to Alibaba- source Reliance Capital Ltd has sold a less than 1 percent stake in payments and e-commerce startup One97 Communications to Alibaba Group Holding for 2.75 billion rupees, a source with direct knowledge of deal said on Tuesday. • OPPO pays $162 million to sponsor Indian team for five years Chinese smartphone maker OPPO outbid rival Vivo to be the new sponsor of the India's cricket team and will pay 10.79 billion rupees for a five-year period starting in April, the Indian cricket board said on Tuesday. • Tata Steel UK closes pension scheme to new accruals from March 31 Tata Steel UK on Tuesday said it would close its final salary pension scheme to accruals from March 31 as a step towards resolving the future of its British operations. • COLUMN-Indian wheat could weigh on 2017/18 world balance sheet -Braun India will be the first major wheat-growing country to harvest the 2017/18 crop, and most of its wheat will be cut by the time the U.S. Department of Agriculture rolls out its first production estimate in May. GLOBAL TOP NEWS • Japan fourth quarter GDP revised up as capex rises at fastest in almost 3 years Japan's economy grew more than earlier estimated in the fourth quarter as capital expenditure grew at its fastest in almost three years, welcome news for policymakers as they begin to discuss how to wind down years of massive stimulus. • Conservatives rebel against Trump-backed Republican healthcare plan U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday endorsed Republican legislation to replace the Obamacare healthcare law but the measure faced a rebellion by conservative groups and lawmakers, complicating its chances for passage in the U.S. Congress. • Trump to nominate Francisco as U.S. solicitor general U.S. President Donald Trump will nominate Washington lawyer Noel Francisco to be solicitor general, the government's top advocate before the U.S. Supreme Court, the White House said on Tuesday. LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) • The SGX Nifty Futures were trading at 8,961.00, trading down 0.21 pct from its previous close. • The Indian rupee will likely open slightly higher against the dollar, as gains in the greenback paused ahead of a key U.S. employment report and the Federal Reserve’s policy review next week. • Indian sovereign bonds will likely open steady amid government plans to buy back papers, even as the market braces for a likely U.S. Federal Reserve rate increase next week. The yield on the benchmark 6.97 pct bond maturing in 2026 is likely to trade in a 6.81 pct-6.87 pct band today. The paper had settled at 100.95 rupees, yielding 6.83 pct yesterday. GLOBAL MARKETS • U.S. stock prices closed lower on Tuesday as weakness in drug and financial shares sent the S&P; 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average to their first consecutive sessions of declines in more than a month. • Asian shares edged lower after the week's strong start as investors took profits in the wake of a weak Wall Street and in anticipation that U.S. interest rates will rise next week for the second time in three months. • The dollar stood little changed early, its modest advance from the previous day bogging down as investors started to take a wait-and-see attitude ahead of Friday's U.S. jobs report. • U.S. Treasury yields rose on Tuesday, with the 30-year yield at its highest level in over a month as skittishness that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next week led to a lackluster sale of $24 billion of three-year government notes. • Oil futures fell in Asian trade after industry data pointed to a potential ninth straight week of inventory builds, renewing concerns about an oversupply of oil despite output curbs by OPEC and non-OPEC members. • Gold prices were steady ahead of U.S. payrolls data this week, but were not far from over four-week lows hit in the previous session on increased expectations of a U.S. rate hike in March. CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 66.61/66.64 March 7 $138.11 mln $42.60 mln 10-yr bond yield 7.3 pct Month-to-date - $41.27 mln Year-to-date - $1.36 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 = 66.67 Indian rupees) (Compiled by Erum Khaled in Bengaluru)

* Nintendo most traded stock by turnover on strong Switch sales

Citigroup Inc will include China's onshore bonds in its emerging markets and regional indexes starting on Feb. 1 2018, marking another victory in Beijing's efforts to woo foreign investors to its bond market and counter capital outflows.

* Likelihood of March Fed rate hike seen to be mostly priced in

* Pharma stocks fall after Trump says he will cut drug prices

The world's financial leaders may no longer explicitly reject protectionism or competitive currency devaluations, a draft communique of their meeting next week showed, promising only to keep an "open and fair international trading system".

* Aussie gyrates after RBA meeting (Updates to afternoon U.S. trading)

Gold hit the lowest level in more than four weeks on Tuesday as the dollar strengthened and expectations for a U.S. interest rate hike this month weighed, though moves were muted ahead of U.S. payroll data this week. The precious metal has fallen in five out of the last six sessions as expectations for the Federal Reserve to push ahead with a U.S. rate increase this month ramped up. Spot gold was down 0.9 percent at $1,214.51 an ounce by 2:52 p.m. EST (1952 GMT), having touched its lowest since Feb. 3 at $1,213.65 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for April delivery settled down 0.8 percent at $1,216.10. "The technical rejection at the 200-day moving average last week, combined with the rapid build up in spec longs that week, has left gold vulnerable," Saxo Bank's head of commodity strategy Ole Hansen said. "There is no appetite for buying for gold ahead of a FOMC rate hike." The metal slipped last week after comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen that the Fed was poised to lift benchmark U.S. rates were seen as cementing plans for an increase at the Fed's March 14-15 meeting. Gold is highly sensitive to rising U.S. interest rates, as these increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion, while boosting the dollar in which it is priced. Holdings of the world's largest gold ETF, New York-listed SPDR Gold Shares , fell another 3.8 tonnes on Monday, adding to the previous session's 4.7-tonne decline. "It's people getting out of it ahead of the Fed," said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist for RJO Futures in Chicago. "Last week, Yellen pretty much laid it out; they're going to raise rates next week. The question is, how aggressive are they going to be and what's the language going to be." The dollar and U.S. Treasury yields rose Tuesday after data showed the U.S. trade deficit grew in January to its widest monthly level in nearly five years. Investors are now awaiting non-farm payrolls data for February on Friday, seen as an important barometer of the U.S. economy. Silver was down 1.9 percent at $17.44 an ounce, the lowest since Feb. 6. "Silver ETFs saw outflows of a good 73 tons yesterday – their most pronounced daily outflow in nearly two months," Commerzbank said in a note. Platinum was down 1.5 percent at $960.30, after falling to $954, its lowest since Jan. 20. Palladium was 0.2 percent higher at $772. (Additional reporting by Arpan Varghese and Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; editing by Louise Heavens and Grant McCool)

* Pharma stocks fall after Trump says he will cut drug prices