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No intent of nationalising KG D6 fields: GovtOil Secretary RS Pandey said that the reports of Additional Solicitor General of India (ASG) advising nationalisation of KG D6 were false.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 9 Oct 2009 | 8:56 am IT raid on ABG Shipyard concludes: SourcesThe Income Tax (IT) department concludes a raid on ABG Shipyard, reports CNBCTV18, quoting sources. The reason being learnt is the possibility of tax evasion.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 9 Oct 2009 | 7:39 am Sensex rises 120 pts in opening trade on Infosys results!The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark index Sensex on Friday added nearly 120 points in opening trade, extending yesterday`s gains after IT bellwether Infosys announced better-than-expected quarterly results.Source: Zee News : Business | 9 Oct 2009 | 6:42 am Pipavav hits floor with a premium of 3.54% on BSE!Private sector shipbuilder Pipavav Shipyard on Friday hit the floor with a premium of 3.54 percent on the Bombay Stock Exchange, over the issue price of Rs 58 a piece.Source: Zee News : Business | 9 Oct 2009 | 6:42 am Oil prices fall to near $71!Oil prices fell to near USD 71 a barrel on Friday in Asia, giving up part of the previous day`s big gains, as the US dollar rebounded.Source: Zee News : Business | 9 Oct 2009 | 6:42 am Asia shares hit 14-month high, dollar rebounds!Asian shares hit a fresh 14-month high on Friday on optimism over US earnings and the global economy.Source: Zee News : Business | 9 Oct 2009 | 6:42 am Infosys projects 5.4% Q3 revenue decline, declares 200% interim dividend!Infosys Technologies Ltd has projected revenue of Rs.54.76 bn (Rs.5,476 crore) for the third quarter (October-December) of this fiscal (2009-10), indicating a decline of 5.4 percent year-on-year (YoY).Source: Zee News : Business | 9 Oct 2009 | 6:42 am Gas row: ADA firm blinks; agrees to pay mkt margin to RIL!Anil Ambani Group firm Reliance Infrastructure has agreed to pay the levy, although under protest, and has asked the Mukesh Ambani firm to resume natural gas supplies to its power plant.Source: Zee News : Business | 9 Oct 2009 | 6:42 am Steady expansion in India`s domestic demand: Pranab!The economy has seen steady expansion in domestic demand while savings and investment rates have picked up, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday.Source: Zee News : Business | 9 Oct 2009 | 6:42 am Infosys Q2 net profit up 7.54% at Rs 15.4 bn!India`s 2nd largest IT company Infosys said that it has posted 7.54% growth in its Q2 profits.Source: Zee News : Business | 9 Oct 2009 | 6:42 am `Plan panel to set up wing to evaluate govt schemes`!The Planning Commission on Friday said it will soon set up a separate independent evaluation office (IEO) to assess the extent to which the government`s flagship schemes are benefiting the poor.Source: Zee News : Business | 9 Oct 2009 | 6:42 am Dell closing US plant, cutting 900 jobs!US computer giant Dell announced that it was closing a desktop computer manufacturing plant in the United States next year and laying off some 900 workers.Source: Zee News : Business | 9 Oct 2009 | 6:42 am Nifty closes near 4940; auto, banks down - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 9 Oct 2009 | 4:26 am Pipavav Shipyard ends day 1 below issue price - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 9 Oct 2009 | 4:23 am Impact of global recession to be felt in 2000-11, says Montek - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 9 Oct 2009 | 4:22 am INSTANT VIEW 6-UK Sept PPI output price inflation turns positive - Forbes
Source: Business - Google News | 9 Oct 2009 | 4:20 am Eco meltdown, delayed orders pull down Mastek's revenue, PAT - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 9 Oct 2009 | 4:16 am India Shouldn't Compromise on Growth, Mukherjee Says - Bloomberg
Source: Business - Google News | 9 Oct 2009 | 4:16 am BSE Sensex provisionally ends down 1.3 pctMUMBAI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex fell 1.28 percent on Friday, led by banks as investors booked profits ahead of the weekend after the market rose early.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Oct 2009 | 4:15 am Tata Motors raises $750 mln to pay down debt - Forbes
Source: Business - Google News | 9 Oct 2009 | 4:09 am Infosys results signal bumpy ride to recoveryBANGALORE (Reuters) - Infosys Technologies' improved outlook failed to impress investors on Friday, suggesting the road to recovery for India's showpiece software services companies will be long and bumpy.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Oct 2009 | 4:07 am China to carry on with economic stimulus -XiBRUSSELS (Reuters) - China will carry on with its fiscal stimulus and loose monetary policy as the country's economic recovery is not yet on a solid footing, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Oct 2009 | 4:02 am Gold traders stay away, seek price fallMumbai: India’s gold traders stayed away from taking fresh position on Friday, seeking a further fall in prices, in the middle of the festival season, dealers said. “There are enquiries, but nothing is materialising,” said a dealer with a private bank in Mumbai. The most-traded December gold contract on the Multi Commodity Exchange was 0.01 percent lower at Rs15,837 per 10 grams at 2:38pm. International spot gold prices were at $1.044.90/1,046.10 (an ounce) as against 1,054.00/1,056.00 on Thursday. “There are orders at $1,020 (an ounce),” said another dealer with a state-run bullion dealing bank in Mumbai. India, which accounts for more than 20% of the global demand for gold jewellery, is in the midst of a festival season which peaks with Diwali on 17 October, when weddings usually take place, pushing up the demand for jewellery. India’s gold imports in September provisionally fell 30%, the smallest year-on-year decline in five months, as steady prices and the festival season attracted more buyers. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:58 am Reliance Communications rolls out 8080 mobile series in MumbaiReliance Communications is offering the 8080 series on both its pre-paid and post-paid platforms across its GSM network.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:55 am Wynn Macau debut cashes in on Asia gaming feverHONG KONG (Reuters) - Wynn Macau's strong debut in Hong Kong on Friday shows appetite for gambling stocks is strong despite high valuations, and will cheer rival Las Vegas Sands, which plans a listing later this year.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:54 am Tata Motors raises $750mn via GDRs, CBs: SourcesTata Motors has raised USD 750 million via fund raising equipments, reports CNBCTV18 quoting sources. Of the USD 750 million amount, Tata Motors, it is learnt, raised USD 375 million each via global depositary receipts (GDRs) and convertible bonds (CBs).Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:50 am IIP numbers to cross double digits by Dec - officialKOLKATA (Reuters) - India's index of industrial production (IIP) numbers will cross double digits by December, while inflation numbers may shoot past the Reserve Bank of India's comfort zone by then, the chief statistician said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:49 am Development of handicrafts is a priority for the government: OmarJammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said that the handicrafts sector was playing a key role in the development of the state.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:44 am US President Obama wins Nobel Peace PrizeOslo: US President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for giving the world “hope for a better future” and striving for nuclear disarmament. The decision to award one of the world’s top accolades to a president less than nine months into his first term, who has yet to score a major foreign policy success, came as a major surprise. The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised Obama for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”. The first African-American to hold his country’s highest office, Obama has called for disarmament and worked to restart the stalled West Asia peace process since taking office in January. “Very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the committee said in a citation. In a speech in Prague in April, Obama declared: “So today, I state clearly and with conviction America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.” But he was not the first American president to set that goal, and acknowledged it might not be reached in his lifetime. On other pressing issues, he is still searching for breakthroughs on Iran’s disputed nuclear programme and on the stalled West Asia peace process. Israel’s foreign minister said on Thursday there was no chance of a peace deal for many years. The chief Palestinian peace negotiator, Saeb Erekat, welcomed the award to Obama. “We hope that he will be able to achieve peace in the West Asia and achieve Israeli withdrawal to 1967 borders and establish an independent Palestinian state on 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital,” he told Reuters. In Gaza, however, an Islamic Jihad leader, Khaled Al-Batsh, condemned the Nobel committee decision. “Obama’s winning the peace prize shows these prizes are political, not governed by the principles of credibility, values and morals,” he told Reuters. “Why should Obama be given a peace prize while his country owns the largest nuclear arsenal on Earth and his soldiers continue to shed innocent blood in Iraq and Afghanistan?” Last month Obama chaired a historic meeting of the United Nations Security Council, which unanimously approved a US-drafted resolution calling on nuclear weapons states to scrap their arsenals. Obama is the third senior US Democrat to win the prize this decade after former Vice President Al Gore won in 2007 along with the UN climate panel and Jimmy Carter in 2002. The prize worth 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.4 million) will be handed over in Oslo on 10 December. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:38 am AP, News Corp bosses tell search engines to pay upBeijing: The leaders of two of the world’s major news organizations said Friday that it is time for search engines and others who use news content for free to pay up. The comments from Tom Curley of The Associated Press and News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch come as the media industry struggles in the Internet age. Many news companies contend that sites such as Google have reaped a fortune from their articles, photos and video without fairly compensating the news organizations producing the material. “We content creators have been too slow to react to the free exploitation of news by third parties without input or permission,” Curley, the AP’s chief executive, told a meeting of 300 media leaders in Beijing. “Crowd-sourcing Web services such as Wikipedia, YouTube and Facebook have become preferred customer destinations for breaking news, displacing Web sites of traditional news publishers,” Curley said. “We content creators must quickly and decisively act to take back control of our content.” He said content aggregators, such as search engines and bloggers, were also directing audiences and revenue away from content creators. “We will no longer tolerate the disconnect between people who devote themselves at great human and economic cost to gathering news of public interest and those who profit from it without supporting it,” Curley said. Murdoch also told the opening session of the World Media Summit in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People that content providers would be demanding to be paid. “The aggregators and plagiarists will soon have to pay a price for the co-opting of our content. But if we do not take advantage of the current movement toward paid content, it will be the content creators the people in this hall who will pay the ultimate price and the content kleptomaniacs who triumph,” the News Corp. chief executive said. Curley said in a speech earlier this week in Hong Kong that the AP was considering selling news stories to some online customers exclusively for a certain period, perhaps half an hour. The AP licenses its stories and photographs to many of the Internet’s main hubs, including Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s MSN, and its work is also used by hundreds of Web sites owned by newspapers and broadcasters. Currently, they all get the material at the same time. Curley did not clarify how a product that provided some news earlier would work or specify the target customers for the potential new service. The AP already plans to roll out a system, called a news registry, that will track its content online and detect unlicensed uses in ways that could help boost revenue for the not-for-profit news cooperative, which was founded in 1846, and its member newspapers. The system will be tested in six weeks by nine newspapers along with a sports statistics provider run jointly by AP and News Corp. The AP and its member newspapers contend that unauthorized use of their material is costing them tens of millions of dollars in potential advertising revenue at a time when they can least afford it. The AP’s revenue is expected to be around $700 million this year, down from $748 million in 2008, in part because of reductions in the fees it charges newspapers and broadcasters, whose advertising revenue has been dwindling as more marketers shift to less expensive or better-targeted options online. Murdoch has been a strong advocate of charging for online content. News Corp. already owns the newspaper industry’s most successful Internet subscription model in The Wall Street Journal, with more than 1 million customers who pay for online access. Murdoch had said in the past he hopes to make online fees pay off for his other publications, which include the New York Post and The Times of London. He hasn’t provided specifics about his plans. Last month, The Wall Street Journal said it plans to start charging as much as $2 per week to read its stories on BlackBerrys, iPhones and other mobile devices, expanding the newspaper’s effort to become less dependent on its print edition. The mobile fees will be imposed in the next month or two, Murdoch said at the time. Murdoch and Curley were speaking to 300 representatives from more than 170 media outlets from 80 countries at a meeting that will look at the challenges and opportunities the media face from the Internet, changes in technology and the world economic crisis. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:36 am Global financial firms eye back office salesMUMBAI (Reuters) - Global financial firms, emerging from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, are looking to shed India back office operations as they focus on core operations and cost cuts.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:31 am Inflation likely to rise beyond predicted levels: Pronab SenIndia's inflation rate is expected to rise beyond predicted levels by the end of the year, according to Pronab Sen, secretary in the ministry of statistics and programme implementation.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:31 am Sensex down 204 points in afternoonA key Indian equities index fell sharply about an hour before the closing bell Friday, and was ruling 204 points below its last closing figure.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:30 am Infosys Q2 profit up, raises full year forecastBangalore:Infosys Technologies Ltd, India’s second largest software services firm, said second quarter profit grew 7.5% to Rs1,540 crore and raised forecast for the year ahead on improved business from customers in the US, which is seeing an economic revival. Revenue for the quarter grew 3% to Rs5,418 crore over the year before period. “In the second quarter, business climate has improved,” said Kris Gopalakrishnan, chief executive officer said in a statement. “Clients are now looking to invest in a few strategic initiatives and relationships to maximize value from opportunities when the economic downturn ends.” A Mint analysis of forecasts by 11 brokerages showed Infosys’ average profit of Rs1,524 crore on sales of Rs5,629 crore. On Thursday, technology researcher Forrester Inc., forecast a rebound in technology spending from the October-December quarter as the world’s largest economy recovers from a downturn. The US accounts to nearly 60% of India’s software exports. Infosys added 35 new clients. It added a net of 1,548 employees to take its total strength to 10,5433. “The pricing environment seems to have stabilized,” said S D Shibulal, chief operating officer. “There is increasing traction for our system integration services due to mergers and acquisition, especially in the financial services segment,” he said. Infosys raised its full year guidance to Rs21,961 crore and Rs22,055 crore, an yearly growth of 1.2% to 1.7%. In July, it forecast annual revenue to be Rs21,416 crore and Rs21,747 crore. The rupee, which has appreciated 3.7% over the dollar in six trading sessions to Rs46.34 on Thursday, from Rs48.11 could be a concern going ahead. “The global currency markets continue to be extremely volatile, even though we have seen some stability in the rupee against the dollar in the quarter,” said V Balakrishnan, chief financial officer. The Indian currency was almost stable during the three months to September. Infosys said revenue in dollar terms for the year to March 2010 would decline 1.0-1.3% to $4.60-$4.62 billion, a smaller decline than its July forecast for a drop of 3.1-4.6%. India’s nearly $60 billion outsourcing sector has been hit in the global economic downturn as its core financial clients slam the brakes on technology spending and demand sharp price cuts. Indian firms are also facing rising competition from the likes of IBM and Accenture, who have raided their home turf as they look for growth outside their mature markets. Nasdaq-listed Infosys, the first IT firm to kick off results, expects its earnings per share to fall 6.7-7.1% in dollar terms for the full year, less than its previous forecast of 11.1-12.4% drop. India’s IT industry has thrived by providing services ranging from managing complex computer networks and call centres to software coding to maintaining technology operations. Hopes for a business revival have risen in the last few months after firms including No. 1 ranked Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys won some large deals and said demand for price cuts had reduced. But the rupee’s rise this week to its highest level in more than a year against the dollar could squeeze margins for the sector, which gets more than half its revenue from North America. Shares in Infosys, valued at about $28 billion, jumped 30% in July-September versus a 39% rise in the sector index and a 18% rise in the broader market. Reuters contributed to the story raghu.k@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:26 am Rupee extends fall on dollar gains; share lossesMumbai: The Indian rupee extended its drop in afternoon trade on Friday weighed by losses in the domestic sharemarket and the dollar’s gains versus other major currencies overseas. At 2:50pm, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs46.64/65 per dollar, weaker than its previous close of Rs46.34/35. On Thursday, the rupee had risen as high as 46.22, its strongest since 26 September, 2009. The dollar rose broadly on Friday after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke made clear he was thinking of an exit strategy from quantitative easing and low interest rates as the economy improves. The dollar index, a gauge of the US unit’s performance versus six majors, was up 0.4%. Stocks were trading down more than 1.2% as investors booked profits in banking stocks, erasing early gains made on better-than-expected quarterly results from Infosys Technologies. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were both quoting at Rs46.6750 each, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $2.1 billion. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:22 am Rupee extends fall on dollar gains; share lossesMumbai: The Indian rupee extended its drop in afternoon trade on Friday weighed by losses in the domestic sharemarket and the dollar’s gains versus other major currencies overseas. At 2:50pm, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs46.64/65 per dollar, weaker than its previous close of Rs46.34/35. On Thursday, the rupee had risen as high as 46.22, its strongest since 26 September, 2009. The dollar rose broadly on Friday after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke made clear he was thinking of an exit strategy from quantitative easing and low interest rates as the economy improves. The dollar index, a gauge of the US unit’s performance versus six majors, was up 0.4%. Stocks were trading down more than 1.2% as investors booked profits in banking stocks, erasing early gains made on better-than-expected quarterly results from Infosys Technologies. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were both quoting at Rs46.6750 each, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $2.1 billion. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:22 am Jewellers vie with banks for gold coin salesMUMBAI (Reuters) - Some large Indian jewellers and traders have started selling imported gold and silver coins, ahead of big festivals, raising competition for banks in a fast expanding investment segment, industry players said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:14 am ED probing income source of lands owned by Satyam's RajuEnforcement Directorate, which has attached close to 285 properties worth over Rs 1,000 crore of Ramalinga Raju is now probing more such assets.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:13 am Infosys Q2 profit up, raises full year forecastInfosys Technologies Ltd expects annual sales and profit to fall less than previously forecast as global demand for outsourcing grows.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:12 am Nirupama Rao in Afghanistan after bombingKabul: Foreign secretary Nirupama Rao arrived in Kabul on Friday to inspect the site of a huge bomb attack on the Indian embassy a day earlier that killed 17 people and renewed focus on India’s tense relations with Pakistan. The attack, which harmed no Indian embassy staff, occurred as India seeks to retain influence in Afghanistan and control any possibility of an Islamist surge in a region with traditional ties to Islamabad. India last year accused Pakistan’s military spy agency, the ISI, of orchestrating an attack on the Indian embassy that killed 58 people. While New Delhi has made no public accusations in the latest blast, links will most likely be drawn to Pakistan. In Kabul, Foreign secretary Nirupama Rao was due to visit the embassy and meet top Afghan officials to discuss security, but no details were immediately available. “The foreign secretary is here for a day to meet foreign minister (Rangeen Dadfar) Spanta and visit the embassy,” said an embassy spokesman. Another Indian diplomat told Reuters separately that Rao would meet Afghan president Hamid Karzai to discuss security. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the latest blast which was carried out by a suspected suicide bomber and wounded 76. Afghanistan itself has uneasy relations with Pakistan, but improving ties between them is now a key part of US President Barack Obama’s strategy against regional Islamist militancy. Pakistan has long seen Afghanistan as a strategic fall-back position in the event of war with India and fears being squeezed between India and a potentially hostile, Indian-backed Afghanistan. The explosion in the centre of Kabul also highlights worsening security in the country as the NATO-led war in Afghanistan enters its ninth year. This year has already been the deadliest for foreign troops fighting an increasingly fierce Taliban insurgency. The rise in casualties has made many in the West question their countries’ involvement. Washington is embroiled in a debate over whether to boost the size of its force in Afghanistan to confront the Taliban insurgency or to scale back the US mission and focus on a more modest goal of striking at al Qaeda cells. To prevail in the counter-insurgency fight, US general Stanley McChrystal, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, has asked for a minimum 40,000 more troops, two sources told Reuters in Washington. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:11 am Bhel eyeing foreign buys, plans diversificationNew Delhi: Bharat Heavy Electricals is planning overseas buys to gain new markets and technologies and will diversify into areas such as transmission, transportation and nuclear power, its chairman said on Friday. B.P. Rao, who moved into the top slot at India’s largest power-equipment maker last week, said Europe and the former Soviet republics were focus areas for the firm. “Acquisitions used to be viewed to acquire intellectual property rights or to acquire a market,” Rao told reporters at a briefing. “We’re looking at opportunities for satisfying one of those needs.” Rao did not deny media reports about Bhel beginning due diligence for buying into a Hungarian power plant parts maker, but offered no comment. Bhel is in talks with global firms like Areva, Toshiba and Westinghouse Electric for nuclear technology tie-ups, Rao said. It already has a similar deal with a joint venture of General Electric and Hitachi. It will sign a joint venture with an overseas partner for the power-transmission business in three months, Rao said. Bhel also plans to jointly bid with GE-Hitachi to supply engines to the Indian Railway, Rao said. Details of the tender size were yet to come, he said. The firm had won 200 billion worth of contracts since the fiscal year began in April, taking its total order book to Rs1.25 trillion, Rao said. Rao said BHEL was on target to boost manufacturing capacity to 15,000 megawatts (MW) by March 2010, at a cost of Rs2,400 crore, as were plans to expand to 20,000 MW by March 2011. Shares in Bhel were down nearly 1% at Rs2,460 by 1:41pm in a Mumbai market that was down 0.56%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:09 am Bhel eyeing foreign buys, plans diversificationNew Delhi: Bharat Heavy Electricals is planning overseas buys to gain new markets and technologies and will diversify into areas such as transmission, transportation and nuclear power, its chairman said on Friday. B.P. Rao, who moved into the top slot at India’s largest power-equipment maker last week, said Europe and the former Soviet republics were focus areas for the firm. “Acquisitions used to be viewed to acquire intellectual property rights or to acquire a market,” Rao told reporters at a briefing. “We’re looking at opportunities for satisfying one of those needs.” Rao did not deny media reports about Bhel beginning due diligence for buying into a Hungarian power plant parts maker, but offered no comment. Bhel is in talks with global firms like Areva, Toshiba and Westinghouse Electric for nuclear technology tie-ups, Rao said. It already has a similar deal with a joint venture of General Electric and Hitachi. It will sign a joint venture with an overseas partner for the power-transmission business in three months, Rao said. Bhel also plans to jointly bid with GE-Hitachi to supply engines to the Indian Railway, Rao said. Details of the tender size were yet to come, he said. The firm had won 200 billion worth of contracts since the fiscal year began in April, taking its total order book to Rs1.25 trillion, Rao said. Rao said BHEL was on target to boost manufacturing capacity to 15,000 megawatts (MW) by March 2010, at a cost of Rs2,400 crore, as were plans to expand to 20,000 MW by March 2011. Shares in Bhel were down nearly 1% at Rs2,460 by 1:41pm in a Mumbai market that was down 0.56%. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:09 am Infosys Q2 beats street but mgmt concerned over weak dollar - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:04 am Mobile handset sales up 6.7 percentMobile handset sales in India recorded a 6.7 percent increase to 100.9 million in the year ended June 30, as compared to 94.6 million the year before, according to an IT market intelligence firm.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:03 am Anil Ambani Group agrees to gas marketing margin under protestThe Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group has agreed to pay under protest a marketing margin to Reliance Industries for the gas supplied from the Krishna-Godavari basin, over and above the price formulae of the government.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:03 am IEA raises 2010 global oil demand forecastLondon: World oil demand will recover at a faster pace than previously expected next year due to a more optimistic economic outlook, the International Energy Agency said on Friday. In a monthly report, the agency, which advises 28 industrialised economies, increased its global oil demand growth estimate for 2010 to 1.42 million barrels per day (bpd), up 150,000 bpd from its previous projection. Next year, world oil demand is expected to average 86.05 million bpd, reflecting more optimistic economic projections from the International Monetary Fund and stronger data for the Americas and Asia. “Demand is nudging higher,” David Fyfe, head of the IEA’s Oil Industry and Markets Division told Reuters. “On the assumption that we are not in a double-dip situation economically speaking, we would still expect a pick-up in demand next year.” Oil inventories in the developed OECD countries fell to the equivalent of 60.7 days of forward demand cover at the end of August, down from 61.4 days at the end of July, it said. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) pumped more oil in September than in August - taking compliance with promised output curbs down to 62% from 66%, the IEA said. Opec decided to leave its official output target unchanged at a meeting in September, but lower supply from the group still has the potential to tighten the market, the IEA said. “While Opec is presently producing well above output targets, the existing production agreement at least holds the potential to push absolute OECD inventory levels closer to seasonal norms again by second-half 2010,” it said. Oil prices remained lower after the report was released. US crude was down 49 cents at $71.20 as of 2:00pm. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:03 am New direct tax regime from 2011: MukherjeeFinance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Friday said a new direct tax regime with rationalised rates and simplified procedures will take effect 2011, even as the government was open to suggestions from all stakehopders to fine tune the proposals.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:02 am Unitech delays project delivery; homebuyers see redEven though Unitech succesfully raised nearly USD 900 million via two QIP issues, the country\'s second largest realty firm is lagging behind in construction. This resulted in nearly 250 angry home buyers of the Unitech habitat gathering outside the company\'s headquarters on Thursday to protest against late delivery.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 9 Oct 2009 | 3:00 am Midsession: Sensex extends fall to 1%; banks weighMumbai: Indian shares extended their losses to 1% on Friday afternoon as investors booked profits in banking stocks, erasing early gains made on better-than-expected quarterly results from Infosys Technologies. At 2:09pm, the 30-share BSE index was down 1.02% at 16,671.18 points, with 25 components declining. The 50-share NSE Index was down 0.83% at 4,961.05. State Bank of India and ICICI Bank, the top two lenders in the country, fell more than 1% after the sector index had climbed over 18% since the start of September. Shares in Infosys Technologies turned negative after earlier rising as much as 3.7% after the firm reported a rise in quarterly profit just above market expectations and raised it full-year forecast. At 12:42pm, the shares were down 0.2% at Rs2,206.70 in a Mumbai market down 0.7%. Infosys shares started 2% higher and rose to a high of Rs2,293.65. “Investors are cautious as valuations seem stretched,” said Gajendra Nagpal, founder and CEO of Unicon Financial. “Sectoral rotation is taking place.” He said there was money waiting on the sidelines but investors were wary ahead of the results. State Bank of India was down 2.8% at Rs2,056.10 while private lender ICICI Bank fell 1.6% to Rs907.55. Leading vehicle maker Tata Motors shed 5.1% to Rs557.60 after a source said the company was raising about $750 million through global depositary receipts and convertible bonds. Top mobile operator Bharti Airtel climbed 3.7% and rival Reliance Communications gained 2.7% after slumping more than 20% over the last four sessions on profitability concerns. In the broader market, gainers outpaced losers in the ratio of 1.2:1 on relatively lower volume of 191 million shares. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 2:41 am Get ready for more, longer ad breaks at multiplexesFirst, it was the hike in ticket prices. Now, multiplex operators are planning to increase the intermission duration to make more money from advertising during the Diwali season.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 9 Oct 2009 | 2:38 am BPCL turns the heat on Kingfisher for jet fuel duesBharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) has decided to take a tough stance against Kingfisher Airlines on nonpayment of aviation turbine fuel dues totalling Rs 314 crore (including interest).Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 9 Oct 2009 | 2:36 am Infosys adds 5,000 employees in last yearMumbai: Notwithstanding the economic slump, software services firm Infosys Technologies has increased its headcount and has made a total addition of over 5,000 employees in the last 12-month period. The total employee strength of the group stood at 1,05,453 till the quarter ended 30 September, where as in the corresponding period a year ago the figure stood at 1,00,306, Infosys said in a statement. During the quarter, there was a gross addition of 6,069 employees for Infosys and its subsidiaries and a net addition of 1,548 employees, even as the hiring trend across the board was on a downslide. In a bid to wriggle out of the economic crisis, Infosys made certain changes and adopted new methods of company management. “In response to the economic crisis, we had stepped up our investment in training. This has made us more competitive in fulfilling clients’ needs today,” member of Infosys board and Head - HRD and Education and Research T V Mohandas Pai said. In line with the economic slump, the attrition rate of Infosys has decreased considerably and stands at 10.9%, registering a significant decline from the year ago period when the attrition rate stood at 12.8%. “We have successfully completed the implementation of iRACE (Infosys Role and Career Enhancement), our programme for growth focused career architecture across the company, thus, completely transforming our people strategy,“ Pai said. However, the consolidated employee base of Infosys BPO Ltd witnessed a major decline both in terms of yearly and quarterly basis. Infosys BPO’s employee base for the September quarter stood at 16,033, where as in the corresponding quarter a year ago it was as high as 17,327. The number of trainees has also come down significantly from the beginning of this financial year from 8,694 to 6,996. Infosys is strengthening its infrastructure in a big way and boasts of a total of 1,06,064 seats and as many as 13,442 additional seats, where work is currently under process as on 30 September. Last month the Global Education Centre (GEC) at Mysore was inaugurated, which is the largest corporate education centre in the world. The total capacity of the centre has been enhanced to educate 14,000 Infoscions. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 2:33 am Infosys adds 5,000 employees in last yearMumbai: Notwithstanding the economic slump, software services firm Infosys Technologies has increased its headcount and has made a total addition of over 5,000 employees in the last 12-month period. The total employee strength of the group stood at 1,05,453 till the quarter ended 30 September, where as in the corresponding period a year ago the figure stood at 1,00,306, Infosys said in a statement. During the quarter, there was a gross addition of 6,069 employees for Infosys and its subsidiaries and a net addition of 1,548 employees, even as the hiring trend across the board was on a downslide. In a bid to wriggle out of the economic crisis, Infosys made certain changes and adopted new methods of company management. “In response to the economic crisis, we had stepped up our investment in training. This has made us more competitive in fulfilling clients’ needs today,” member of Infosys board and Head - HRD and Education and Research T V Mohandas Pai said. In line with the economic slump, the attrition rate of Infosys has decreased considerably and stands at 10.9%, registering a significant decline from the year ago period when the attrition rate stood at 12.8%. “We have successfully completed the implementation of iRACE (Infosys Role and Career Enhancement), our programme for growth focused career architecture across the company, thus, completely transforming our people strategy,“ Pai said. However, the consolidated employee base of Infosys BPO Ltd witnessed a major decline both in terms of yearly and quarterly basis. Infosys BPO’s employee base for the September quarter stood at 16,033, where as in the corresponding quarter a year ago it was as high as 17,327. The number of trainees has also come down significantly from the beginning of this financial year from 8,694 to 6,996. Infosys is strengthening its infrastructure in a big way and boasts of a total of 1,06,064 seats and as many as 13,442 additional seats, where work is currently under process as on 30 September. Last month the Global Education Centre (GEC) at Mysore was inaugurated, which is the largest corporate education centre in the world. The total capacity of the centre has been enhanced to educate 14,000 Infoscions. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 2:33 am Mobile plans must declare hidden charges, riders: TRAIIn a bid to bring in more transparency in mobile tariffs, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India intends to ask the operators to come clean on all hidden charges and be upfront about all riders while announcing a new scheme.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 9 Oct 2009 | 2:32 am BHEL eyeing foreign buys, plans diversificationNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Bharat Heavy Electricals is planning overseas buys to gain new markets and technologies and will diversify into areas such as transmission, transportation and nuclear power, its chairman said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Oct 2009 | 2:29 am Need balanced approach on rates, says FMMumbai: India needs a balanced approach on interest rates to support growth and contain inflation, the finance minister said, amid signs the Reserve bank of India (RBI) was planning to start to winding back some of its extraordinary policy easing. Pranab Mukherjee also said he saw improvement in the annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth from the Oct-Dec quarter. “We shall have to strike a balance on approaching objectively both,” Mukherjee told the ET Now channel on Friday. “We shall have to attain growth at the same time not with the runaway inflation. Inflationary pressure also needs to be restrained,” he said. As food prices drive inflation higher, notwithstanding an unexpected dip in late September, analysts say the central bank faces a policy dilemma of needing to contain price pressures without undermining an economic recovery. On Monday, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Duvvuri Subbarao said while there was broad agreement India needed to wind back some of its easy policy stance, there were risks if the move was mistimed. Those comments and an Australian central bank rate rise on Tuesday sparked speculation in Indian markets that some of the massive stimulus steps taken to shore up the economy against the global slowdown might soon be withdrawn. That pushed up swap rates to their highs for 2009 highs on Wednesday, although they eased after Mukherjee said India needed more time before deciding on an exit from accommodative policy. Earlier on Friday, Mukherjee said there had been a steady expansion in domestic demand and savings and investment rates had picked up. The finance minister said a proposed direct tax law would be implemented in 2011. The new direct tax law is expected to cut the corporate tax rate to 25%, phase out exemptions and simplify rules on mergers. India’s economic growth slowed to 6.7% in 2008-09 from rates of 9% or more in the previous three years as the global downturn hit harder than expected, and growth is expected to slow towards 6% in 2009-10. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 2:29 am Blast in Pakistan’s Peshawar kills 41Peshawar: A suspected suicide car-bomber killed 41 people on Friday in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, government officials said, vowing to press ahead with an offensive against militants in the northwest. “We have 41 dead and about 100 wounded but the figure could go up as over a dozen wounded are in critical condition,” Syed Zahir Shah, provincial health minister, told Reuters by telephone. The suspected car-bomber set off his explosives as he was passing a bus, police said. Television pictures showed the wrecked bus on its side on a road in a commercial neighbourhood of the northwestern city. Several cars were also destroyed. “The bus was making a turn when the blast occurred and it threw the bus into the air,” a witness told the Duniya television channel. Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, has been hit by numerous bombs over the past couple of years. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Security forces have made gains this year against al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban militants who have set off numerous bombs in towns and cities, mostly aimed at the security forces and government and foreign targets. The government ordered the army to go on the offensive against the Pakistani Taliban in their South Waziristan bastion on the Afghan border. Security forces have been launching air and artillery strikes, while moving-in troops, blockading the region and trying to split off factions, while preparing for a ground offensive. Interior minister Rehman Malik said the blast underscored the need for action against the militants. “One thing is clear, these hired assassins called Taliban are to be dealt with more severely,” Malik told reporters in Islamabad. “I think the incident of today has accelerated this,” he said, referring to preparations for the offensive. “We think we have no other option except to carry out an operation in South Waziristan because every matter, every incident, whatever is happening, all roads are leading to South Waziristan so I think we’ll have to proceed,” he said. He declined to say when an offensive would be launched. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 2:18 am Tata Motors raises $750 mln to pay down Jaguar debtMUMBAI (Reuters) - Tata Motors Ltd, India's largest commercial vehicle maker, said it raised $750 million by issuing global depositary receipts and convertible bonds to pay down debt taken on for its acquisition of the loss-making Jaguar and Land Rover brands last year.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Oct 2009 | 2:16 am News Corp's Murdoch calls on China to open marketBEIJING (Reuters) - Media baron Rupert Murdoch on Friday called on China to follow other Asian nations in opening its media market, and reiterated his recent mantra that people must pay for content from struggling global media companies.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Oct 2009 | 2:08 am J&K govt to take steps to fuel IT growth in the stateThe Jammu and Kashmir government is roping in big companies and business houses to launch new mega projects to spur information technology (IT) growth in the state.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Oct 2009 | 2:02 am Tata Motors raises $750 mn to pay down Jaguar debtMumbai: Tata Motors Ltd, India’s largest commercial vehicle maker, said it raised $750 million by issuing global depositary receipts and convertible bonds to pay down debt taken on for its acquisition of the loss-making Jaguar and Land Rover brands last year. Tata Motors, had consolidated debt of around Rs24,000 crore ($5.2 billion) at end-June, largely as a result of buying Jaguar Land Rover from Ford Motor Co for $2.5 billion. Tata Motors shares fell as much as 5.5% on Friday to Rs555.25, underperforming a 0.4% drop on the benchmark Sensex index. The price of the new GDRs was equivalent to Rs580.35 per common share, a term sheet said. “It’s a very positive development for the company. But it all depends on ... whether it would be entirely used to reduce the debt,” said Standard & Poor’s analyst Suzanne Smith. The company said the proceeds would repay the debt for the Jaguar Land Rover buy and go towards capital expenditure, working capital and general corporate purposes. Tata said earlier it was raising $600 million through the sale of GDRs and convertible bonds. It then increased the fund-raiser after robust investor demand. Chief financial officer C Ramakrishnan said the offering would “augment our long term resources, help us de-leverage and provide us with financial flexibility to pursue our strategic goals.” Surjit Arora, auto analyst at brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher, said the fund-raising will only make a small dent in Tata Motors’ hefty debt burden. “Still, it will provide some relief,” he said. Tata Motors said the GDRs were issued at $12.54 each -- a 1.5% discount to Tata’s Thursday close -- and the convertible notes, due 2014, carry a 4% coupon, and were issued at a 7.5% conversion premium over Tata’s GDR price with a yield to maturity of 5.5%. Analysts said the the GDR issue would dilute the equity of the founders by about 5-6%, while the convertible bonds could double that. At the end of the June quarter, Tata Sons, the holding company for the Tata industrial empire, and other Tata group firms held 41.4% of Tata Motors. Analysts have estimated their holding will have to be diluted by at least 15 percentage points to get its debt to equity ratio closer to industry norms from its current 5 to 1. Indian companies have been on a fund-raising spree in recent months, taking advantage of buoyant markets. Not counting the Tata Motors deal, Indian firms have raised nearly $17 billion in equity so far this year, nearly tripling the total at the same point last year, according to Thomson Reuters data. Tata Motors’ offering came a day after the country’s top engineering and construction firm, Larsen & Toubro Ltd, raised $600 million through a sale of shares and convertible debt. The Tata Motors deal was arranged by Citigroup, Credit Suisse and JPMorgan. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 2:00 am Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain town to have knowledge city soonHistorically known as a major centre for mathematical and astronomical research, Ujjain would soon have a knowledge city as part of an ambitious central government project being developed in Madhya Pradesh.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 9 Oct 2009 | 1:30 am Money Market updateG-sec Market: The 10-year G-sec 6.90% GOI 2019 opened at a same yield of 7.22% The 10-year US Treasury yield hardened from 3.21% to 3.27%. The 3-month Interest Rate Future is trading at a level of 7.99%. The 10-year G-sec 6.90% GOI 2019 is likely to be volatile and trade between 7.18% and 7.28%. Money Market: The Call Rate and CBLO rate opened at 3.30% and 2.10% respectively. The money market rates are expected to remain range-bound. Swap Market: The 5Y OIS swap rate is trading in the range of 6.82% - 6.87%, compared to previous closing levels of 6.85%. The OIS swap rates are expected to trade range-bound tracking G-sec yields. Forex Market: The INR opened at the same level of yesterday Rs46.35. Rupee is expected to trade in the range of 46.00 – 46.50. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 1:25 am Stock review: IVRCL InfraIVRCL Infrastructure is a rapidly growing infrastructure company with irrigation as its forte. IVRCL has exposure to the segments of irrigation, buildings, roads and power, in the infrastructure domain. The Company has bagged orders aggregating to the tune of Rs523 crore. A Work Order worth Rs287crore is for the survey, investigation, design, construction, testing and commissioning of Sewerage works in the district of Allahabad, UP, and has been awarded by the UP Jal Nigam, under the JNNURM scheme. The work order is to be executed in a time frame of 36 months. The second lot of orders is worth Rs236 crore, and is for the construction segment. It includes construction-related works of five building towers, of twenty-one floors each, over an area measuring 11,90,000sq ft, a super-specialty hospital and the Construction of a Grand Maratha Hotel. All the construction-related orders are awarded by Kakade Infrastructure, based out of Pune, Maharashtra. With the accretion of these orders, the order book of IVRCL Infra stands at Rs16,168 crore, or 2.5x its FY2010E revenues. Valuation We have valued the stock using the SOTP methodology. The Construction segment has been valued at a P/E of 14x its FY2011E earnings (at a premium to its peers, due to a superior business model and excellent execution capabilities) and contributes Rs338 to our target price. The Road BOT portfolio and IVRCL’s stake in IVR Prime and Hindustan Dorr-Oliver have been valued on a P/B and a discount-to-market valuation basis (20%), respectively, contributing Rs29 and Rs32 to our target price. At Rs381, the Stock trades at a 15.8x FY2011E P/E and a 2.1x FY2011E P/BV, on a standalone basis. With the recent run up in the stock price and a potential upside of 4.7%, we recommend a NEUTRAL view on the stock. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 1:05 am Post-bonus, Mukesh Ambani puts stock in society - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 9 Oct 2009 | 1:03 am Infosys hires over 6,000 people in second quarterInfosys Technologies Ltd, including its subsidiaries, hired 6,069 people during the second quarter (July-Sep) of this fiscal (2009-10), increasing the total headcount to 105,453 employees, the IT bellwether said Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 9 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am MTNL eyes Zamtel, stock gains - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 9 Oct 2009 | 12:56 am Indian professionals too focussed on salaried jobs: IT whiz kidYoung Indian professionals should put their 'heart and soul' into the job, be able to certify their work themselves and not always switch jobs in search of higher pay, advises IT whiz kid and author Subroto Bagchi.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 9 Oct 2009 | 12:31 am Infosys beats guidance but projects dip for third quarterSailing through tough times, Infosys Technologies Ltd has again beaten revenue guidance for the second quarter (July-September) of this fiscal (2009-10) by posting Rs.55.85 billion (Rs.5,585 crore) as against the projected Rs.53.65 billion (Rs.5,365 crore).Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 9 Oct 2009 | 12:30 am Bernanke sees tighter policies as economy healsWashington: The US Federal Reserve must continue to prop up the economy for an extended period but can’t do so indefinitely for fear of triggering an inflationary surge, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke warned on Thursday. The US central bank has cut interest rates to near 0% and pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial system to counter the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. At a Fed conference, where he discussed the central bank’s ballooning balance sheet, Bernanke made clear that policymakers were thinking how to terminate support as recovery sets in. “Accommodative policies will likely be warranted for an extended period,” Bernanke told participants at the conference held in the Fed’s headquarters. “At some point, however, as economic recovery takes hold, we will need to tighten monetary policy to prevent the emergence of an inflation problem down the road.” Bernanke sent a signal the Fed is gradually but steadily moving toward an exit from its supportive policies, even while evidence of the recovery has been mixed. A report last week showing that U.S. employers shed more jobs than expected in September dented confidence in the recovery. But data released on Thursday showed gains in retail sales and a nine-month low in unemployment claims reinvigorated optimism. Too Low For Too Long The dollar inched up from 14-month lows against a basket of currencies after Bernanke’s comments, while his Fed colleague, Kansas City Fed president Thomas Hoenig, also warned of the perils of leaving rates too low for too long. “I don’t believe necessarily an indefinite period of very accommodative policy is in the long-run best interests of the country,” he told an economic forum hosted by his bank in Oklahoma City. “If you leave it at zero for too long a period, then we will have other issues,” said Hoenig, who is seen as one of the more hawkish, or anti-inflation members of the Fed’s policy-setting committee, where he will be a voter next year. The dollar has been under pressure as the US economy has lagged some other economies in recovering from a crisis that reverberated around the world. On Tuesday, Australia became the first of the Group of 20 big industrialized and developing economies to increase borrowing costs, saying that the worst danger for the economy had passed. Hoenig, asked by the audience about the Australian central bank’s decision, said this reflected the better performance of the country’s economy. In the United States, most analysts do not see the Fed raising rates until the middle of next year. And the European Central Bank on Thursday cautioned against hopes of a speedy economic recovery in the 16-nation euro zone as it left benchmark interest rates at a record low 1.0% on Thursday for the fifth month in a row. ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet also turned up the heat on governments to rein in ballooning budget deficits, and said he saw hopeful signs of a normalization in money markets given lower demand for central bank loans. Fed Prepared To Tighten Although Bernanke indicated that it is not yet the time to roll back the Fed’s supportive policies, he said the bank has the tools and the ability to pull back its flood of cash and loans to the economy and to raise interest rates when the time is right. “When the economic outlook has improved sufficiently, we will be prepared to tighten the stance of monetary policy and eventually return our balance sheet to a more normal configuration,” he said. Bernanke gave a detailed tour of the Fed’s assets and liabilities, which have ballooned from around to almost $2.1 trillion from $900 billion. As the United States appears to be pulling out of a painful and lengthy recession, observers are watching closely for signs of when and how quickly the Fed intends to pull back its help. Bernanke said the Fed could remove its easy money policies even while its balance sheet remains bloated. To do so, it would raise interest rates on reserve balances that banks keep at the Fed and by other actions -- specifically reverse repurchase agreements, term deposits to banks, and sales of holdings of longer-term assets. Those steps would drain cash and help raise short-term interest rates, he said. Optimistic But Too Soon To Move Other Fed officials on Thursday sounded cautiously optimistic notes on the economy while saying it is too soon to pull back the life support system. “We’re going to look at the data as it comes in. Right now I don’t think it’s time to raise interest rates,” Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker told reporters after a speech. Another regional president of the US central bank system, Richard Fisher of the Dallas Fed, echoed Lacker’s comments. “We’re going to move when we have to move. But it’s not now,” Fisher said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Speaking in Phoenix, Fed governor Daniel Tarullo also backed the idea of keeping interest rates low for some time, if only because the economy’s prospects are so unsettled. “With the effects of the February stimulus package diminishing next year, bank lending that is still declining, and continued dysfunction in some parts of capital markets, there is considerable uncertainty as to how robust growth will be in 2010,” he said at a community leaders lunch. While the Fed has been under fire from Congress and other critics who believe its lenient oversight of financial institutions and lending practices contributed to the crisis, Bernanke got a significant political boost on Thursday when a key senator said he saw nothing in the way of his confirmation for a second term as Fed chairman. Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd, asked if he saw any roadblocks to the Senate reconfirming Bernanke, whose four-year term expires in January, said, “No, I don’t think so.” “I’ve indicated I want to be supportive. I think Ben Bernanke’s done a very good job, particularly in the last year or so. I think that view is embraced by a lot of people,” Dodd, a Democrat, told Reuters Television. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 12:17 am Gold edges lower after five days of gainsMumbai: India gold futures edged lower as investors resorted to profit-taking triggered by a strong dollar after the yellow metal gained 1.5% in the previous five sessions, analysts said. The most-traded December gold contract on the Multi Commodity Exchange was 0.23% lower at Rs15,802 per 10 grams at 10:33am, after gaining for five continuous sessions. “Gold might correct on the back of weak euro (against the dollar) and some profit-taking,” said Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, director, Commtrendz Research. Support is placed at Rs15,755/15,765. “There might be some profit-taking after Bernanke’s statement yesterday which supported dollar. Downside is seen till Rs15,750,” said Kunal Shah, analyst, Nirmal Bang Commodities. The US dollar rose with comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that indicated monetary policy might have to be tightened as a recovery takes hold, helping to pull the greenback off 14-month lows against a basket of currencies. A strong dollar dims yellow metal’s appeal as an alternative investment. Domestic gold rallied to a seven month high of Rs16,009 per 10 grams last month, within reach of its all-time high of 16,040, struck on 20 February. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Oct 2009 | 12:14 am Sensex trading with downward biasA key index of Indian equities markets was flat a little before Friday noon although many mid and small sized company scrips continued to find favour among buyers.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 9 Oct 2009 | 12:01 am KYC is not ‘Kill Your Customer’In recent years, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the banks and the mutual funds have been shouting from the rooftops that customer service is their creed. One does not question their intent, butSource: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am Stronger rupee affects sentiment for IT stocksBangalore, Oct. 8 The strengthening of the rupee against the greenback in the past one week has caused the Indian IT stocks to fall for the fourth successive day. The BSE IT index declined 1.86 per cent or 82.27 points on Thursday to close atSource: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am IBA suggests base lending rateMumbai, Oct. 8 The Indian Banks’ Association, in its recommendations to the Working Group on BPLR, has pitched for replacing the Benchmark Prime Lending Rate (BPLR) with a base rate.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am Soon, corporates to give shareholders more non-financial informationNew Delhi, Oct 8 Companies may soon have to compulsorily make non-financial disclosures to their shareholders.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am Goods and Services Tax will be levied on imports tooNew Delhi, Oct. 8 Imports will attract Goods and Services Tax (GST) under the new tax regime to be ushered in from next year.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideDesist trading in DLF as the stance is watchful. Fresh short position can be initiated if ICICI Bank tumbles below Rs 908 and SBI plummets below Rs 2096, with tight stop-loss. The near-termSource: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am BGR Energy Systems (Rs 484.5): BuyWe recommend a buy in BGR Energy Systems from a short-term perspective. It is evident from the charts of the stock that after recording a 52-week low of Rs 107 in March, it commenced an uptrend. Since then, the stock has been forming higher peaksSource: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am RIL’s bonus issue fails to create wavesMumbai, Oct. 8 A day after Reliance Industries announced 1:1 bonus and Rs 13 dividend a share for the shareholders, the shares of the company topped the turnover chart on BSE and NSE in the cash market. But that failed to create any wave of sortsSource: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am Mobile plans must declare hidden charges, riders: TRAINew Delhi, Oct. 8 In a bid to bring in more transparency in mobile tariffs, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India intends to ask the operators to come clean on all hidden charges and be upfront about all riders while announcing a new scheme.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am ECGC caps credit risk cover for US marketsThe Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) has imposed liability cap on credit risk insurance for the US market to contain losses.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am Rupee turns weaker vs dollar after five-day strong rallyThe Indian rupee came under pressure today after a five-day strong rally and fell marginally by five paisa to 46.39 against the greenback on dollar buying by importers.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Oct 2009 | 11:40 pm Sensex rises 120 pts in opening trade on Infosys resultsThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark index Sensex today added nearly 120 points in opening trade, extending yesterday's gains.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Oct 2009 | 11:34 pm Oil prices fall to near $71Oil prices fell to near $71 a barrel today in Asia, giving up part of the previous day's big gains, as the US dollar rebounded.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Oct 2009 | 10:56 pm Slow dredging woe at GoaPort authorities say DCI work behind schedule; ore body says it's hurting exports.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Oct 2009 | 5:13 pm PSUs trail Sensex in first-half returnsPublic sector companies in the listed space have underperformed the Sensex over the first six months of the financial year.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Oct 2009 | 4:57 pm Explain what\'s new about new funds: Sebi to MFsMutual funds need to explain what is new about their new funds. So says KN Vaidyanathan, Executive Director of Sebi.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 8 Oct 2009 | 2:28 pm Land trouble puts mega-steel projects on slippery groundLand, and not mines, has emerged as the biggest stumbling block for steel projects, threatening to derail the governments target to boost the capacity from 55 million tonnes now to 124 million tonnes by next year.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 8 Oct 2009 | 1:24 pm Rupee gains 3.1% in 4 sessions on capital inflow hopesThe rupee has gained 3.1 per cent in the past four sessions on expectations that India's high-yielding currency and improving global risk appetite will attract more foreign flows. The currency closed at 46.34 today.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 8 Oct 2009 | 1:22 pm Fema to apply to reverse overseas M, says RBIClarifies stand to corporate affairs ministry.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 8 Oct 2009 | 1:21 pm New mobile competitors call on tariff cuts to growConsumers can expect 20 to 25 per cent cheaper rates.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 8 Oct 2009 | 1:21 pm Tata Tele: Creating a revolution, one second at a timeTata Teleservices Ltd has, with the persecond billing scheme for its TataDOCOMO GSM service, created a revolution in the telecom sector. With TRAI mulling to make persecond billing mandatory, Tata Teles Anil Sardana talks to CNBCTV18 on the storm he has worked up.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 8 Oct 2009 | 12:24 pm US technology firms’ budgets to rebound in December quarterMumbai: Technology budgets at US firms are set for a rebound from the October-December quarter as the world’s largest economy recovers from the downturn, researcher Forrester Inc. said in a report released on Thursday. The US contributes nearly 60% of the revenue for Indian software companies, but its firms had curbed spending on information technology (IT), among other things, to lower costs and survive the downturn. Their overall technology budgets will likely decline to $526 billion (Rs25 trillion) by the end of 2009, from $580 billion the previous year, but pick up in 2010 to $567 billion, Forrester said in the report. “The US tech market will start to recover from the downturn in Q4 2009, with the global tech market improving in 2010,” Forrester analyst Andrew H. Bartels said in the report. Senior executives at India’s top technology firms such as Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), Infosys Technologies Ltd and Wipro Ltd too have been signalling expected growth in business. Forrester’s prediction is based on data on IT investment and economic growth reported by the US department of commerce, in addition to data it collected from leading technology firms. Technology budgets in Central and Western Europe are also expected to return to growth beginning in the last quarter of 2009, Forrester said. In 2010, IT budgets in these regions will increase by 7.4%, it added. The overall global technology budget is expected to decline to $1.47 trillion in 2009 from $1.66 trillion in 2008 and recover to $1.55 trillion in 2010, Forrester said in its report. At $345 billion, outsourced IT services, IT consulting services and software products have constituted the major chunk of the technology budgets for US firms so far in 2009. The rest of the spending was on communication hardware, computer systems and related peripherals. The services budget, Forrester says, will go up to $376 billion in 2010. “Looking ahead to 2010, we continue to expect a strong recovery in the US IT market, with 7.7% growth, led by IT consulting services (up 11.4%), software (up 9.3%), and computer equipment (up 8.3%),” Bartels said. “Communications equipment will be slower to come back, but will still increase by 3.6%. IT outsourcing will rise by 4.5%.” Firms are also likely to boost spending ahead of the holiday season in the US, when consumers typically buy more technology products. “Despite the deeper-than-expected cuts in tech purchases in the first half of 2009, the stage is set for a revival of the US tech market starting in Q4 2009 and gaining strength in 2010. So, now is the time for tech vendors to step up sales and marketing, and get ready to take advantage of the rebound in tech buying,” Bartels said. India’s second largest IT services exporter, Infosys, will announce its second quarter financial results on Friday. According to a Mint poll of 11 brokerages, the top three Indian IT exporters are expected to report a revenue growth of between 2% and 4% over the first quarter. On Thursday, the Bombay Stock Exchange’s (BSE) sectoral index, BSE IT, fell 1.86% on concerns over the rupee’s strengthening against the dollar. BSE’s sensitive index, or Sensex, rose by 0.22% to 16,843.54 points. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 8 Oct 2009 | 11:36 am Wolfgang ProckSchauer to step down as Jet Airways CEOWolfgang Prock Schauer plans to step down as the Chief Executive Officer on October 15 and Nikos Kardassis would take over as the acting CEO.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 8 Oct 2009 | 11:14 am Glaxo looking at 5% stake in Dr Reddy’sLondon: Western drug makers are stepping up the hunt for emerging market “tigers” in India. UK-based GlaxoSmithKline Plc has emerged as frontrunner for a phased buy-in of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, people familiar with the matter said. A deal could spark a fresh wave of foreign deals in India’s drugs sector after the troubled purchase of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd by Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd last year. While nothing is finalized, one possibility is that Glaxo will take a 20% stake in Dr Reddy’s Holdings, a family vehicle that in turn owns 23.2% of the drug maker. This would give Glaxo a stake of just under 5%, worth around $165 million (around Rs764 crore). But the British firm could also get right of first refusal on the family’s remaining holding, the sources said. Officials at both firms declined to comment. Industry analysts said such a deal would fit well with Glaxo’s strategy of building up its presence in key emerging markets. It would mirror the 16% stake bought in Africa’s biggest generic drug maker, Aspen Pharmacare, in a deal worth some $470 million. While not alone in stalking Dr Reddy’s, Glaxo is thought to have the edge, helped by an existing alliance that gives it access to many of Dr Reddy’s products. Sumeet Chatterjee in Bangalore contributed to this story. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 8 Oct 2009 | 9:57 am
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