Indian markets to open higher, Asia gains, oil at $101

Top of the Morning

In this episode, find out who is the latest contender to buy out IDFC Asset Management Company, also find out about Maruti Suzuki’s plans to enter the electric car segment
Business Term of the Day: Economic Sanctions
U.S. has imposed stiffer penalties on Russia banks after it launched a wide ranging attack on Ukraine. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top government officials met on Thursday to take stock of the implications of the crisis on India.  Modi also spoke to Russian president Vladimir Putin and appealed for immediate cessation of violence.   Apollo Hospitals will replace Indian Oil in the benchmark Nifty 50 from March 31, 2022, as part of the semi-annual index review. The changes will also be applicable to Nifty 50 Equal Weight Index.
Hinduja family-led IndusInd Bank Ltd has emerged as one of the top contenders to buy out IDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd, which manages assets worth around ₹1.3 trillion. The mutual funds business of IDFC Ltd is among India’s top 10 asset management companies.   Maruti Suzuki: India’s largest passenger carmaker is developing a platform to enter the electric cars segment by 2025, Kenichi Ayukawa, its managing director and chief executive, has said. Maruti will develop majority of the features, but will share expertise with Toyota Corp.,  to build the platform.   HUL: The consumer goods company on Thursday announced splitting up of positions of its chairman of the board and the chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD), in line with the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi’s) guidelines for listed companies to voluntarily split the two roles.   Telecom stocks: The Telecom Department has urged the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to expedite recommendations on spectrum, as it cited PMO’s request to the department to work towards the initial launch of 5G by 15 August, and to possibly obtain the regulator’s views before March 2022.   Auto component major Bharat Forge on Thursday said it will acquire JS Autocast Foundry India. The company, along with its subsidiary, BF Industrial Solutions, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire JS Auto).   Oil and gas producers: With crude oil soaring past $100 per barrel on rising geopolitical tensions, stake-owned oil explorers ONGC and Oil India will be in focus. Given attractive valuations and a possible earnings upgrade led by higher realisations, these stocks will likely attract investors.   Moving on to markets Stocks rose in Asia on Friday

Overnight on the Wall Street, the S&P 500 rallied 1.5% after erasing an early 2.6% loss, while the Nasdaq staged an even bigger comeback to end with a gain of more than 3%. The heaviest losses hit stocks in Europe, with the German DAX down 4%   Oil advanced, the U.S. dollar was steady. Gold has slipped from a 17-month peak but remains above $1,900 an ounce while bitcoin hovered around $38,300.

Business term of the day Economic sanctions are punitive and deterrent actions taken by one government or multilateral body against another country, entity or individual. Economic sanctions can range from travel bans and export restrictions to trade embargos and asset seizures