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INOX in talks to buy into Fame India: SourcesIndustry sources have confirmed that INOX Leisure Ltd is in talks with Fame India for a possible acquisition, reports, CNBCTV18s Ekta Batra.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Jan 2010 | 8:17 am Shilpa Medicare eyes molecules going off patent in oncologyVishnukanth Bhutada of Shilpa Medicare says the company is targeting molecules going off patent in the oncology space till 2017. \"We are working on active pharmaceutical ingredients in the oncology area.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Jan 2010 | 8:05 am CESC forays into 140MW hydel power projectIn an interview with CNBCTV18, Sanjiv Goenka, Vice Chairman of CESC, spoke about the companys growth plans.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Jan 2010 | 8:00 am See FY10 group turnover at Rs 3300cr: Jay Bharat MarutiIn an interview with CNBCTV18, Nishant Arya, Executive Director of Jay Bharat Maruti spoke about the latest happenings in his company and the road ahead.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Jan 2010 | 7:46 am ITC to add 810 hotel properties in 3 to 5 yearsITC Ltd expects to add 810 hotel properties in India in the next 35 years, Dipak Haksar, chief operating officer of ITC\'s hotels division said on Thursday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Jan 2010 | 7:36 am JBF Industries eyes Rs 5,000cr sales in FY10JBF Industries has increased ethylene prices by 9.9% monthonmonth in December. The trigger for the same was higher naphtha and crude prices.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Jan 2010 | 7:29 am POSCO Q4 rises; targets 17% output rise in 2010South Korea\'s POSCO, the world\'s No.4 steelmaker, reported on Thursday a 14 percent rise in fourth quarter operating profit, boosted by recovering demand and cheaper iron ore and coking coal.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Jan 2010 | 6:44 am ACC expects cement prices to riseCement maker ACC Ltd expects cement prices to rise over the next few months, its managing director said on Thursday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Jan 2010 | 6:44 am No decision yet on compensating oil PSUs, price rise: DeoraPetroleum Minister Murli Deora says no decision was taken on compensating oil companies. Deora met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on fuel pricing and oil bonds.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Jan 2010 | 6:36 am US Congress calls for end to payfordelay dealsPayfordelay deals have come under the scanner of the US Federal Trade Commission and Congress. The FTC and Congressmen have called for the end to \'payfordelay\' deals.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Jan 2010 | 6:20 am Deora meets PM on fuel prices, no decision taken !Petroleum Minister Murli Deora met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday evening to discuss raising prices of petroleum products, but no decision was taken.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Jan 2010 | 5:27 am Sensex up 113 points in opening trade!Continuing with its previous day`s gains, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Thursday moved up by over 113 points in opening trade amid strong global cues.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Jan 2010 | 5:27 am Small car from Bajaj to be smaller than Maruti`s Alto: Renault!The small car being developed by Bajaj Auto that will be marketed by Renault-Nissan alliance in India will be smaller than Maruti Suzuki`s Alto, according to the French car maker.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Jan 2010 | 5:27 am Oil prices tumble to lowest levels of 2010!Oil and gas prices plunged to their lowest levels of the year on Thursday after the US government reported that supplies grew more than expected.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Jan 2010 | 5:27 am Wockhardt gets US nod for Levofloxacin!Pharmaceutical major Wockhardt has received tentative approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for marketing Levofloxacin, used for treatment of bacterial infections.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Jan 2010 | 5:27 am Wall Street bankers apologize for actions that led to crisis!Challenged by a skeptical special commission, top Wall Street bankers apologized on Wednesday for risky behaviour that led to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Jan 2010 | 5:27 am GTL Infra to buy Aircel towers for $1.8 bln!Mobile infrastructure firm GTL Infrastructure on Thursday said it would buy the tower assets of Aircel in deal valued at Rs.84 billion ($1.8 billion).Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Jan 2010 | 5:27 am US bank chiefs questioned by Congress over financial crisis!Wall Street`s top bankers Wednesday faced a confrontational congressional panel tasked with getting to the bottom of a financial crisis that plunged the world into a devastating recession.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Jan 2010 | 5:27 am ADB says too early to end stimulus; no China bubble!The head of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) warned it was too early for Asian countries to end stimulus policies started during the financial crisis and said he saw no big risk of price bubbles in China.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Jan 2010 | 5:27 am Sensex ends higher; oil&gas, capital goods up - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 14 Jan 2010 | 3:24 am Tata Comm, Tomizone tie up to offer Wi-Fi internet in IndiaThe partnership would allow Tata Indicom broadband customers to set up Wi-Fi hotspots at their premises instantly.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Jan 2010 | 3:16 am Security experts say Google cyber-attack was routine - BBC News
Source: Business - Google News | 14 Jan 2010 | 3:13 am Adamant Mayawati not to allow processing of imported raw sugar - Hindustan Times
Source: Business - Google News | 14 Jan 2010 | 3:09 am Tata Communications, Tomizone tie up to offer Wi-Fi internet in IndiaTata Communications Internet Services on Thursday said it has tied up with Australia-based Wi-Fi zone solutions provider Tomizone to offer low-cost Internet to subscribers in India.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 14 Jan 2010 | 3:04 am Credit Suisse sees strong private banking upsideZURICH (Reuters) - Credit Suisse, Switzerland's largest bank by market capitalisation, said it saw significant opportunities for its private banking business due to continuing strong asset inflows and stable margins.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Jan 2010 | 2:56 am ITC to add 8-10 hotel properties in 3-5 yearsIt will add two properties in 2010-11 in Chennai and Kolkata, he said, but did not give details of investments to be made for the additions.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Jan 2010 | 2:56 am Wipro shares jump on report of $1 bln sponsored ADRBANGALORE (Reuters) - Shares in Wipro Ltd surged more than 5 percent on Thursday after a television channel reported India's No. 3 software exporter was likely to launch sponsored $1 billion ADR issue.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Jan 2010 | 2:55 am Government taking steps to tame inflation: Kaushik BasuThe wholesale price index rose 7.31% in December from a year earlier, driven by higher food prices, government data showed on Thursday.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Jan 2010 | 2:55 am GTL says to buy Aircel towers for $1.8 bln - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 14 Jan 2010 | 2:53 am WPI inflation may hit 9% by March: Kotak Securities - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 14 Jan 2010 | 2:50 am GLOBAL MARKETS - Earnings in sight as risk rally continuesLONDON (Reuters) - Investors moved past concerns about weakening demand from China on Thursday, upping their exposure to risk in bets on a global upturn that lifted stocks and higher-yielding currencies.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Jan 2010 | 2:49 am Reliance, Pearle Europe plan up to 700 stores of eyewear chainVision Express is an equal joint venture between RRL and Pearle Europe, the biggest optical retail group in Europe.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Jan 2010 | 2:48 am NTPC $2 bln share sale to open Feb 3MUMBAI (Reuters) - NTPC, India's largest utility, said on Thursday its follow-on public offer of 412.27 million shares, or 5 percent in the company, will open on February 3 and close on February 5.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Jan 2010 | 2:40 am China tells foreign IT firms to operate within lawChina has stated its position on the Google row to the US after secretary of state Hilary Clinton said Google's allegations about cyber spying 'raise very serious concerns and questions.'Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Jan 2010 | 2:40 am Wholesale gold demand remains dullMumbai: India’s wholesale gold buying remained dull on Thursday as most of the bank branches, the primary sellers of gold, were closed for Makar Sankranti, which marked the start of an auspicious period, dealers said. “Buying is dull as most of the branches are shut for Makar Sankranti...There was buying in limited quantities yesterday in between $1,130-1,135 (an ounce),” said a dealer with a state-run bank in Mumbai. International spot gold was trading $1,139.45/1,140.45 an ounce as against $1,137.60/1,138.40 in the previous session. However, on the retail counters, especially in Tamil Nadu, buyers trickled in to buy for auspicious reasons, with traders saying demand for coins was more than that for gold ornaments. “Demand is 5-10% higher than last year,” said T.K. Chandiran, managing director, KTM Jewellery, a jewellery chain in Tamil Nadu. “There is a new trend that has developed of buyers interested in coins than jewellery, like a few years back it was a golden ring that was given as a gift to the newly-wed, now it is being replaced by gold coins,” said Chandiran. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Jan 2010 | 2:21 am Ceat opens office in DubaiThe initiative is also driven by the huge demand for Ceat tyres in the Middle East countries, the company said in a statement.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Jan 2010 | 2:11 am Punj Lloyd gets $126 mn Thai orderMumbai: Consturction firm Punj Lloyd said on Thursday it had won a contract worth Rs5.74 billion($126 million) from Thailand’s PTT Public Company. Punj Lloyd will install three compressor units for the Thai oil and gas firm’s offshore platform in the Gulf of Thailand, it said in a statement. . Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Jan 2010 | 2:07 am Maruti Suzuki launches Eeco in MumbaiIndia's largest manufacturer of passenger cars, Maruti Suzuki launched Eeco, a multipurpose vehicle here.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 14 Jan 2010 | 2:01 am Govt may give cash subsidy to oil firms - oil secyNEW DELHI (Reuters) - State oil companies may get cash instead of oil bonds as compensation from the government for selling fuel at below market prices, the oil secretary said on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Jan 2010 | 1:59 am Holcim to spend $1 bln in India, no bid for CimporNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Swiss cement major Holcim aims to spend $1.1 billion to expand capacity in India and has no plans to bid for Cimpor, Portugal's largest cement producer at the centre of two rival bids by Brazilian firms, a senior Holcim official said on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Jan 2010 | 1:37 am Maruti Suzuki launches Eeco in MumbaiMaruti Suzuki Eeco is a five-door, C-segment vehicle with a 1200-cc engine.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Jan 2010 | 1:34 am Maruti Suzuki launches Eeco in Mumbai - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 14 Jan 2010 | 1:30 am Century’s longest annular solar eclipse on FridayNew Delhi: Astronomy lovers are in for a rare celestial treat as they will be able to witness the century’s longest annular solar eclipse tomorrow. “The solar eclipse on 15 January is the longest annular solar eclipse that will occur in the 21st century,” Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) C B Devgun said. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partially obscuring the Earth’s view of the Sun, while an annular eclipse occurs when the Moon is farther from the Earth than normal, and hence its apparent size is not quite sufficient to cover the Sun completely, he said. In annular solar eclipse, the Sun appears as a very bright annulus, which in Latin means ‘ring’, surrounding the outline of the Moon, giving the appearance of a ‘Ring of Fire’, Devgun said. The photosphere of the sun shall be covered by the moon thereby forming a ring of fire in the sky for more than 10 minutes in some parts of India. The path of the annularity in India will pass over the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Mizoram while the partial phase of eclipse will be visible all over the country, he said. “Apart from India, the annular eclipse will be visible across Africa, the Indian Ocean, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and south-east Asia. The annular phase will begin at 05:13:54 UT (Universal Time) in the Central African Republic and ends on the Chinese Yellow Sea coast at 08:59:01 UT,“ Indian Institute Of Astrophysics Professor R C Kapoor said. The time of maximum eclipse is 07:06:31 UT and the annular phase will lasts over 11 min 08 sec, much longer than a total. This point lies in the Indian Ocean at 1.26N longitude, 68.64E latitude. The duration decreases as we move on the central line east or west of this point. Over Maldives, the full annularity will be for 10.8 min, Kapoor said. In Delhi, the annular eclipse will start at 11.53am and end at 3:11pm, with a maximum at 1.53pm. The north tip of the path of annularity will touch India first at 8.801 N longitude, 76.656 E latitude, about 10 km south of Kollam and about 2 km south west of a nearby place Paravur in Kerala. Vedaranyam in Tamil Nadu will witness the last touch of the annular solar eclipse. Only properly designed and certified solar filters or goggles should be used to view the annular solar eclipses, Nehru Planetarium Director Rathnasree said. The safest way to view the Sun’s disk is by indirect projection using pinhole cameras, created by projecting an image of the disk onto a white piece of paper or card using a pair of binoculars (with one of the lenses covered), a telescope, or another piece of cardboard with a small hole in it (about 1 mm diameter), he said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Jan 2010 | 1:30 am FinMin offers to pay less than half of what OilMin seeks - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 14 Jan 2010 | 1:27 am POSCO chases acquisitions to shore up growthSEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's POSCO, the world's No.4 steelmaker, is chasing acquisitions around the Asia-Pacific at a record pace after reporting its strongest operating profit in five quarters.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Jan 2010 | 1:19 am Decision on freeing oil prices put on holdThe government deferred a decision on freeing petrol prices even as oil minister Murli Deora will go into a huddle with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to decide on a subsidy sharing formula.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 14 Jan 2010 | 1:12 am Top regulators to face U.S. financial crisis panelWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior U.S. regulators, including outspoken Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Chairman Sheila Bair, will tell their side of the story on Thursday to a commission examining the origins of the 2008 financial crisis.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Jan 2010 | 1:01 am Inflation jumps to 7.31% in DecemberIf this trend in food inflation continues in the weeks ahead, then overall inflation may also fall.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Jan 2010 | 12:55 am Wholesale price index rose 7.31% year-on-year in DecIn its October policy review, the central bank raised its WPI inflation projection for end-March 2010 to 6.5%, with an upside bias, from 5% earlier.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Jan 2010 | 12:48 am Banks see modest-to-low Q3 profit on slow loan riseIndian bank loans in the third quarter rose in single digits at 9.7%, the lowest in more than a decade, from an average 30% rise in 2008, RBI data showed.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Jan 2010 | 12:46 am TSMC to recruit over 3,000, mostly engineersTaipei: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, said it will recruit more than 3,000 employees, or about 13% of its total workforce, in 2010 as it expands capacity to meet future demand. TSMC said on Thursday that it would start the recruitment drive this month, seeking mostly engineers to strengthen its technological competitiveness. On Tuesday, chip designer Mediatek Inc told Reuters it planned to increase its global headcount by more than 10% this year as it rolled out new chips for smartphones. TSMC, with about 23,000 employees worldwide, wrapped up 2009 with strong December sales, a trend that may continue into 2010 as new technology products boost chip demand. TSMC and smaller crosstown rival UMC are planning to raise capital spending in 2010 when chipmakers in the United States and Europe will step up outsourcing to chip foundries in order to cut costs. TSMC announced the news after the Taipei stock market closed on Thursday. TSMC shares were up 0.64% and UMC shares were up 0.56%, lagging the main TAIEX’s 1.14% gain. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Jan 2010 | 12:44 am TSMC to recruit over 3,000, mostly engineersTaipei: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, said it will recruit more than 3,000 employees, or about 13% of its total workforce, in 2010 as it expands capacity to meet future demand. TSMC said on Thursday that it would start the recruitment drive this month, seeking mostly engineers to strengthen its technological competitiveness. On Tuesday, chip designer Mediatek Inc told Reuters it planned to increase its global headcount by more than 10% this year as it rolled out new chips for smartphones. TSMC, with about 23,000 employees worldwide, wrapped up 2009 with strong December sales, a trend that may continue into 2010 as new technology products boost chip demand. TSMC and smaller crosstown rival UMC are planning to raise capital spending in 2010 when chipmakers in the United States and Europe will step up outsourcing to chip foundries in order to cut costs. TSMC announced the news after the Taipei stock market closed on Thursday. TSMC shares were up 0.64% and UMC shares were up 0.56%, lagging the main TAIEX’s 1.14% gain. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 14 Jan 2010 | 12:44 am Inflation jumps to 7.31% in DecemberWholesale prices-based inflation leaped to 7.31% in December, shooting past RBI's forecast of 6.5%-level by this fiscal end, as food items such as sugar, potatoes and pulses turned costlier.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 14 Jan 2010 | 12:38 am Dec WPI inflation at 7.31 pct y/y - govtNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's wholesale price index rose 7.31 percent in December from a year earlier, strengthening the case for the Reserve Bank to tighten policy later this month to temper inflation expectations.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Jan 2010 | 12:31 am December inflation rises to 7.31% y-o-yNew Delhi: India’s wholesale price index rose 7.31% in December from a year earlier, strengthening the case for the Reserve Bank of India to tighten policy later this month to temper inflation expectations. The index was pushed up by food prices, which jumped 19.17% in December, impacted by supply constraints after the driest spell in nearly four decades and later floods in some regions that hit crops. The manufacturing products index in the WPI rose an annual 5.17% in December. “It appears that inflationary pressures are spreading to manufactured products other than food products too,” said Gaurav Kapur, senior economist at ABN AMRO Bank in Mumbai. “With expectations of maybe high and rising inflation now entrenched, the RBI would start to counter them with tighter monetary policy, starting with a CRR hike in January review and gradual rate hikes post that,” he added. The overall WPI figure matched a median forecast of a 7.31% rise in a Reuters poll. The fuel index rose 4.29% year-on-year in December. The index has risen about 7.54% since the end of March 2009, following an upswing in world crude prices amid signs of a global recovery. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which reviews its quarterly policy on 29 January, is expected raise banks’ cash reserve ratio, the level of deposits that banks must keep in cash. Analysts are divided over when the RBI will start raising policy rates, and one of the deputy governors of the RBI said on Wednesday that food prices are plateauing. Some central banks in Asia have started to drain liquidity from the market as the economic recovery gathers pace. China on Tuesday raised the reserve requirement ratio, the proportion of deposits that banks must hold in reserve, by 0.5 percentage point. The measure will take effect on 18 January. India’s economy grew an annual 7.9% in the quarter through September, its fastest in 18 months, prompting the finance minister to raise the growth forecast for the current fiscal year to end-March to around 8 percent from 7%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Jan 2010 | 12:15 am US shrimp body dubs Indian seafood ‘sub-standard'The Southern Shrimp Alliance, an association of eight southern US States engaged in warm water shrimp fishery, has alleged that the Indian seafood exports are sub-standard and sought the intervention of the US Food and Drug Administration toSource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am Banks need to look at other sources of income: SBI officialBanks will need to tap other sources of income such as advisory services, trade finance, structured finance, cash management and treasury operations to maintain and grow their profitability. This is because funded business is coming down in theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am GTL Infra to buy Aircel tower bizThe year has begun with a bang in the telecom space with GTL Infrastructure going in for a buyout of Aircel's 17,500 cellular transmissionSource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am Infosys results power IT stocks to new highsEven as the Sensex ended the day only marginally up by 0.5 per cent, all 13 stocks in the IT index advanced onSource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am Citi offloads blue chips worth Rs 484 crCitigroup today sold stocks of 35 leading Indian companies worth Rs 483.94 crore through its Mauritius arm, according to block deal data available with the Bombay StockSource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am Bharti sets up global biz unit with Kohli as headA day after Bharti Airtel announced a deal to acquire majority stake in Bangladesh-based Warid Telecom, it has made organisational changes to enhance its focus on expanding operations to international markets beyond India and SouthSource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am Bank credit soars by Rs 79,514 crBank credit has seen a significant pick-up in the fortnight ended JanuarySource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideNote: In a buy recommendation, the resistances would be the targets and the nearest support would be the stop loss; In a sell recommendation, the supports would be the targets and the nearest resistance would be the stop loss; The recommendationSource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am Bartronics (Rs 166.1): BuyWe recommend a buy in Bartronics India from a short-term perspective. It is apparent from the charts of the stock that following medium-term corrective downtrend from July 2009 high to October 2009 low (from Rs 193 to Rs 130), the stock foundSource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am Centre extends duty-free white sugar imports till DecIn a desperate effort to rein in spiralling prices, the Centre has allowed duty-free import of white sugar without any quantitative cap up to December 31,Source: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am Posco Q4 rises, targets 17% output rise in 2010Seoul: Posco, the world’s No.4 steelmaker, plans to continue cutting costs sharply and make record-high investments to cope with a potentially long recession, it said after reporting its strongest operating profit in five quarters. Analysts said iron ore and coking coal costs were likely to rise later this year, which they said may force Posco to raise steel product prices in the second quarter after a shock 20% cut last May. Posco is yet to negotiate raw material purchase deals with its suppliers for the new fiscal year in around April. Analysts have also warned that the unwinding of stimulus policies by governments around the world and a potentially disappointing pace of economic recovery could limit Posco’s earnings growth this year. Posco plans to nearly double its investment spending this year to 9.3 trillion won ($8.29 billion). It also aims to increase crude steel production by 17% to 34.4 million tonnes. “We will pursue survival management to swiftly cope with a possible extended recession in a changing business environment and aggressive management to grab opportunities after the crisis,” Posco chief executive Chung Joon-yang said in a statement. The first major Asian steelmaker to report results for the October-December quarter, Posco posted a quarterly operating profit of 1.6 trillion won, meeting its own and analysts’ forecasts, up from 1.4 trillion won a year earlier. It benefited from a drop in iron ore and coking coal contract prices, set to continue through the second quarter of this year. Posco had forecast a full year operating profit of 3.2 trillion won, implying a 1.6 trillion won fourth quarter operating profit. Fourth-quarter revenue at Posco, which ranks behind ArcelorMittal, Japan’s Nippon Steel and China’s Baosteel in world steel production, fell 12% to 7.3 trillion won from a year earlier. Analysts said Posco was expected to post firm earnings growth this quarter, helped by strong demand from the auto and electronics industries on the back of a continued global economic recovery. They forecast Posco would post a first quarter operating profit between 1.6 trillion won and 1.8 trillion won, which would be the highest since the nearly 2 trillion won it earned in the third quarter of 2008. Quarterly net profit rose 77% to 1.3 trillion won from a year earlier. Shares in Posco fell 0.7% on Thursday, lagging a 0.9% rise in the Seoul benchmark index ahead of the result. The stock has risen 58% over the past 12 months, outperforming a 41% rise in the benchmark Kospi. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 11:50 pm Small car from Bajaj to be smaller than Maruti's Alto:RenaultThe small car being developed by Bajaj Auto that will be marketed by Renault-Nissan alliance in India will be smaller than Maruti Suzuki's Alto, according to the French car maker.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Jan 2010 | 11:28 pm World scrambles to help quake-hit HaitiWashington: Rescuers, sniffer dogs, equipment and supplies headed to Haiti by air and sea Thursday in a global response to a horror earthquake feared to have killed more than 100,000 people. US President Barack Obama, spearheading international efforts, ordered a sweeping military and civilian operation, as governments and aid groups unlocked funds and appeals were launched on an array of Internet sites. Much of the capital of the destitute Caribbean nation was reduced to rubble by Tuesday’s 7.0-magnitude quake but the airport was operational, allowing international relief by air as well as sea. “I have directed my administration to respond with a swift, coordinated and aggressive effort to save lives,” Obama said as US civilian and military experts began landing in Haiti and US aircraft searched for survivors. “The people of Haiti will have the full support of the United States in the urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble and to deliver the humanitarian relief, food, water and medicine that Haitians will need.” After Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said the death toll could reach “well over 100,000”, the initial effort was focused on saving as many lives as possible. “The priority is to find survivors,” Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said as the UN mobilised search and rescue teams. “We are working against the clock,” she said. General Douglas Fraser, head of the US Southern Command, told reporters that an initial survey of the earthquake’s aftermath from the air indicated the damage was mainly concentrated around the capital but the number of casualties and the scale of the disaster was still unknown. “We don’t have a clear assessment right now of what the situation on the ground is,” he said. The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier was en route and set to arrive Thursday, while destroyers and more Coast Guard ships were on the way, Former US president Bill Clinton, now the UN special envoy in Haiti, launched a quake fund saying even a dollar or two would help, while Pope Benedict XVI urged a generous response to the “tragic situation”. The World Bank said it would provide an extra $100 million in aid to Haiti, which has long suffered unrest, crime, political tumult and natural disasters. “This is a shocking event and it is crucial that the international community supports the Haitian people at this critical time,” said Robert Zoellick, president of the 186-nation development lender. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it was gearing up to help a “maximum of three million people”, based on numbers on the ground, and was drawing on emergency stocks in Haiti. The Red Cross launched a 10-million-dollar appeal for donations and the World Food Programme said it could quickly provide 15,000 tonnes of food. The World Health Organization deployed specialists to help handle mass casualties and corpses, warning of the danger of communicable diseases such as diarrhea. Latin American nations, many with experience of earthquakes and with UN peacekeepers in Haiti, scrambled to help. Cuba, which felt the quake, sent 30 doctors to add to its medical staff already in Haiti. Brazil said it was sending 10 million dollars in immediate aid, while Peru, Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, Guatamala and Chile also promised help. Canada readied two warships, helicopters and planes with supplies, as well as a large relief and rescue force. From the Asia-Pacific, Australia pledged nine million dollars. Taiwan, whose ambassador to Haiti was hurt in the quake, South Korea and New Zealand also offered aid. In Europe, the European Commission released three million euros in emergency assistance, while Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain all volunteered help. A plane carrying search and rescue teams left from Moscow and Russia pledged to send a field hospital. Aid organizations, impromptu groups and individuals used the Internet and Twitter to make rally donations, bolstering their messages with harrowing footage from Haiti’s ruins. Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, whose country was at the center of the 2004 Asian tsunami which killed more than 220,000 people, appealed for the world to help Haiti at a meeting of Asian ministers. “As a country that has been itself devastated by similar situations we are absolutely saddened... We call on the international community, including ourself, to do what it can to assist them,” he said. Japan pledged to help Haiti but said it was still studying how much financial and technical assistance to give, a government spokesman said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 11:28 pm Sweet talks from Riteish Deshmukh - Times of India
Source: Business - Google News | 13 Jan 2010 | 11:16 pm Watch/Listen: Mint in Multimedia 14 JanuaryVideo: India to help African countries with national savings schemes India’s trade with Africa is worth nearly $39 bn, while that of China is around $100 bn Video: Mint Report for 13 January 2010 Government says food prices will be contained soon; airlines see growth in passenger numbers in 2009; oil refiners ask for extension of clean fuel deadline Slideshow: Browsing Before Buying Your consumers use the internet when it comes to deciding which car to buy. What are you going to do about it? Click here (Then click on Also Read: Full Data and Analysis) Slideshow: Fly Cheap Watch a slideshow of five travel websites that offer cheap domestic airfares Podcast: The Playcast Waging wiki wars, the tech behind a golf ball and more tweeple Podcast: Just to Clarify Prices up, but inflation down: here’s why Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 10:55 pm Era Infra wins 16.6-bln-rupee order from NHAI - Sify
Source: Business - Google News | 13 Jan 2010 | 10:36 pm Rupee stronger as shares, Asian currencies gainMumbai: The Indian rupee rose on Thursday, supported by gains in shares and the dollar’s weakness against a range of currencies, with traders waiting for inflation data due around 12:00pm for cues on the policy outlook. At 11:18am, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs45.46/47 per dollar, stronger than Wednesday’s close of Rs45.6050/6150. It had risen to Rs45.2850 on Monday, its strongest since 22 Septemebr, 2008. “Dollar weakness against majors, equities up, commodities stronger are the first-level drivers,” said R.K. Gurumurthy, head of treasury at ING Vysya Bank. “Some amount of speculation on a higher inflation number today is also a driver,” he added. The wholesale price index for December is expected to rise 7.31% from a year earlier, sharply above an annual rise of 4.78% in November. India’s central bank is scheduled to review its policy on 29 January, and signs of strengthening growth and inflation pressures have the market factoring in tighter policy, including possible increases in interest rates. “I think with sentiment being positive rupee, market would expect a rate hike to favour rupee than an equity sell-off to affect rupee; it’s more a short-term perception,” Gurumurthy added. Indian shares were trading 0.5% higher on Thursday, tracking gains elsewhere in Asia, with Reliance Industries and banks leading the gainers. The index of the dollar against six major currencies was down 0.13% and most Asian currencies were stronger against the US dollar. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at Rs45.450/485, around the onshore spot rate. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were both quoting at Rs45.4975 each, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $1.96 billion. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 10:34 pm Sensex up 113 points in opening tradeContinuing with its previous day's gains, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Thursday moved up by over 113 points in opening trade amid strong global cues.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 13 Jan 2010 | 10:30 pm Hershey still working on Cadbury bidPhiladelphia: US chocolate maker Hershey Co is still working on a bid for Cadbury Plc that would top Kraft’s hostile $17 billion takeover offer, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Hershey authorized drawing up a bid for Cadbury and a formal offer could be made within two weeks, the Financial Times said, citing a person familiar with the matter. Hershey has until 23 January to make a bid under UK Takeover Panel rules. But a source said that Hershey has not decided whether it will make a formal offer. Hershey officials declined comment. The revived talk of a Hershey bid came as Kraft chief executive Irene Rosenfeld tried to woo Cadbury shareholders in London, paying visits to their offices. Rosenfeld found some of those doors closed as a number of Cadbury shareholders declined to meet while Kraft sticks to an offer they think is too low. “It is highly possible that we will have some dialogue with Kraft if they come up with a higher offer next week,” said one top 20 Cadbury investor who declined to meet with Rosenfeld. The investor was referring to expectations that Kraft would raise its bid by a 19 January deadline. But the investor did not believe Kraft, or Cadbury, could divulge new information that was not already public. “Arguably we are still in the phony war phase now,” the investor said. “I think with all the time and money invested so far, Kraft is unlikely to walk away. There is scope to improve the offer.” Kraft declined to give details on Rosenfeld’s itinerary. Kraft has offered cash and stock worth £10.51 billion ($17.12 billion), or 769.1p per Cadbury share. That is 2.6% below Cadbury’s price on Wednesday. Kraft shares closed down 0.2% following the reports on Hershey. Hershey shares fell 3%. A white chocolate knight? Hershey has struggled to come up with financing for a deal to take on a company more than twice its size. Nestle and Ferrero, potential partners for a Hershey bid, also dropped out of the running in the last week. According to the FT report, Hershey was discussing a plan to authorize banker Byron Trott to bring private equity investors into the deal and limit the amount of debt the company would take on. Trott is a favorite adviser of Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway is the largest single shareholder in Kraft. Cadbury investors have until 2 February to respond to Kraft’s offer. On Tuesday, the company offered its final defense against Kraft, delivering higher margins and promising a raised dividend. Cadbury chairman Roger Carr said on Tuesday he was amazed that Rosenfeld had taken so long to make a direct appeal to investors. He portrayed the Kraft offer as a choice between the excellent track record of Cadbury management and the unfulfilled promises of Rosenfeld’s leadership. Meanwhile, British secretary of state for business Peter Mandelson was expected to add his weight to union calls for Cadbury shareholders to resist Kraft. Mandelson called a group of institutional investors to discuss their role in foreign takeovers of British businesses on Thursday, and Kraft’s offer for Cadbury was expected to be at the top of his agenda. Institutional investors will be led by Keith Skeoch, chief executive of Standard Life Investments, one of Cadbury’s biggest investors. The Unite trade union said nearly 30,000 jobs were at risk if the debt-laden Kraft wins, and urged Cadbury investors to put the wider public interest ahead of price. A Kraft spokeswoman said the assertions of potential massive layoffs were “utterly unfounded.” ($1.63-1 GBP) Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 10:29 pm Hershey still working on Cadbury bidPhiladelphia: US chocolate maker Hershey Co is still working on a bid for Cadbury Plc that would top Kraft’s hostile $17 billion takeover offer, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Hershey authorized drawing up a bid for Cadbury and a formal offer could be made within two weeks, the Financial Times said, citing a person familiar with the matter. Hershey has until 23 January to make a bid under UK Takeover Panel rules. But a source said that Hershey has not decided whether it will make a formal offer. Hershey officials declined comment. The revived talk of a Hershey bid came as Kraft chief executive Irene Rosenfeld tried to woo Cadbury shareholders in London, paying visits to their offices. Rosenfeld found some of those doors closed as a number of Cadbury shareholders declined to meet while Kraft sticks to an offer they think is too low. “It is highly possible that we will have some dialogue with Kraft if they come up with a higher offer next week,” said one top 20 Cadbury investor who declined to meet with Rosenfeld. The investor was referring to expectations that Kraft would raise its bid by a 19 January deadline. But the investor did not believe Kraft, or Cadbury, could divulge new information that was not already public. “Arguably we are still in the phony war phase now,” the investor said. “I think with all the time and money invested so far, Kraft is unlikely to walk away. There is scope to improve the offer.” Kraft declined to give details on Rosenfeld’s itinerary. Kraft has offered cash and stock worth £10.51 billion ($17.12 billion), or 769.1p per Cadbury share. That is 2.6% below Cadbury’s price on Wednesday. Kraft shares closed down 0.2% following the reports on Hershey. Hershey shares fell 3%. A white chocolate knight? Hershey has struggled to come up with financing for a deal to take on a company more than twice its size. Nestle and Ferrero, potential partners for a Hershey bid, also dropped out of the running in the last week. According to the FT report, Hershey was discussing a plan to authorize banker Byron Trott to bring private equity investors into the deal and limit the amount of debt the company would take on. Trott is a favorite adviser of Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway is the largest single shareholder in Kraft. Cadbury investors have until 2 February to respond to Kraft’s offer. On Tuesday, the company offered its final defense against Kraft, delivering higher margins and promising a raised dividend. Cadbury chairman Roger Carr said on Tuesday he was amazed that Rosenfeld had taken so long to make a direct appeal to investors. He portrayed the Kraft offer as a choice between the excellent track record of Cadbury management and the unfulfilled promises of Rosenfeld’s leadership. Meanwhile, British secretary of state for business Peter Mandelson was expected to add his weight to union calls for Cadbury shareholders to resist Kraft. Mandelson called a group of institutional investors to discuss their role in foreign takeovers of British businesses on Thursday, and Kraft’s offer for Cadbury was expected to be at the top of his agenda. Institutional investors will be led by Keith Skeoch, chief executive of Standard Life Investments, one of Cadbury’s biggest investors. The Unite trade union said nearly 30,000 jobs were at risk if the debt-laden Kraft wins, and urged Cadbury investors to put the wider public interest ahead of price. A Kraft spokeswoman said the assertions of potential massive layoffs were “utterly unfounded.” ($1.63-1 GBP) Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 10:29 pm Oil recovers from 2010 lows towards $80Singapore: Oil edged up towards $80 a barrel on Thursday as traders moved to cover short positions, taking advantage of a drop to 2010 lows the previous day on a surprise rise in US distillates and crude stocks. Crude inventories in the United States climbed by a larger-than-expected 3.7 million barrels last week, while distillate stocks posted an increase of 1.4 million barrels, against expectations for a decline, the US government Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday. US crude for February rose 23 cents to $79.88 a barrel at 9:06am, after trading as low as $78.37 on Wednesday, the lowest intraday price this year, after the EIA released the stockpile data. Prices had reached a 15-month intraday high of $83.95 a barrel on Monday. London Brent crude for February, which expires later on Thursday, gained 18 cents to $78.49 a barrel. “I could not find any bullish news from a fundamental point of view, but I suppose a lot of short covers came in,” said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity derivatives manager at brokerage Newedge in Japan. “Prices are moving in a $75-$85 range. It was very good timing to buy back the market,” he added, referring to the price fall after the inventory figures were published. US oil stockpiles have bulged over the past 18 months as the economic crisis has cut energy demand. Recent icy weather over much of the world’s largest energy consuming nation drained heating oil stocks by 1.1 million barrels in the week ended 8 January, the EIA reported. But that was insufficient to trigger a drop for the whole distillates category which groups heating oil with diesel and jet fuel. Overall US distillates stocks had dropped in the previous four weeks. Forecasts now show higher-than-normal temperatures in the US Northeast over the coming week, signalling heating fuel demand will remain lower than normal. US distillates demand even failed to show a significant pick-up from year-earlier levels over the past four weeks, posting a drop of 4%. However, unseasonably cold weather conditions across Europe will hold heating demand “well above average” levels, forecaster DTN said, adding that an unusual cold pattern was set to prevail throughout Western Europe this week. Gas oil futures on the ICE exchange rose more than $6 a tonne to surpass $642 on Thursday. Prices had tumbled to below $631 a day earlier, their lowest intraday price since 28 December. Investors have looked to wider economic data in recent months for signs of recovery and a potential rebound in energy demand. Two top Federal Reserve policy-makers said on Wednesday the US central bank will need to be certain the economic recovery is firmly in place before tightening its monetary policy stance. The US economy cut 85,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate stayed high at 10 percent, but one Fed official expected jobs growth within a few months. “We need to see a strong recovery of the economy in order to surpass $85,” Hasegawa said. “We will probably see the market trading quietly and it will not be moved outside the current range until after April.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 10:13 pm Tech, financials lift Wall StreetNew York: US stocks rose on Wednesday as investors bet on recently weakened technology and financial shares ahead of earnings from bellwethers Intel Corp and JPMorgan Chase & Co, taking the Dow industrials to a fresh 15-month high. A brokerage upgrade of drugmaker Merck & Co and an upbeat outlook from Kraft Foods Inc gave an extra boost to the healthcare and consumer sectors. After a rough start to earnings season with Alcoa Inc’s disappointing results, investors are looking for companies to meet or beat expectations to fuel a stocks rally that has lifted the S&P 500 almost 70% from its March lows. Chipmaker Intel is scheduled to post quarterly results on Thursday and bank JPMorgan on Friday. JPMorgan shares, up 1.8% to $44.25, led gains in the KBW bank index, while chipmaker Advance Micro Devices jumped 5.8% to $9.15 after falling nine of the last 11 sessions. Intel shares rose 1.7% to $20.96 and a semiconductor index gained 1.6%. “Heading into Intel and JPMorgan earnings, I think there was a sense things have sold off enough and buyers have felt more comfortable buying into semiconductors and financials,” said Michael James, senior trader at Wedbush Morgan in Los Angeles. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 53.51 points, or 0.50%, to 10,680.77. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 9.46 points, or 0.83%, to 1,145.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 25.59 points, or 1.12%, to 2,307.90. The Federal Reserve said in its periodic report, the Beige Book, that while economic activity was at a low level, “conditions have improved modestly further, and those improvements are broader geographically than in the last report.” Wall Street, which had its worst session so far this year on Tuesday, fell at the open weighed down by resource shares, but the Dow got its biggest boost from Merck shares, up 3.7% to $38.93 after Credit Suisse upgraded the stock. Kraft raised its 2009 earnings outlook and rose for most of the trading day but finished down at 0.2% to $29.23. Chocolate maker Hershey Co was preparing a bid for Cadbury Plc that would top Kraft’s hostile $17 billion takeover offer, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. Hershey shares fell 3% to $36.61. Google Inc’s shares fell 0.6% to $587.09 after the Internet search giant said it may shut its China operations over censorship and hacking. Shares of rival Chinese search engine Baidu Inc jumped 13.7% to $439.48 and led percentage gains on the Nasdaq 100. Crude oil prices settled 1.4% lower below $80 per barrel and Chevron Corp was the biggest drag on the Dow, falling 0.8% to $79.80. The heads of Wall Street’s biggest banks defended the lucrative pay practices and size of their businesses before a commission investigating the 2008 financial crisis. “I think the rally (in financial shares) is more a function of gaining back yesterday’s losses than what was going on in Washington,” Wedbush Morgan’s James said. Less than 1 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, far below last year’s estimated daily average of 2.18 billion. On the Nasdaq, about 2.32 billion shares traded, more than last year’s daily average of 1.63 billion. Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a ratio of about 14 to 5, while on the Nasdaq nearly 2 stocks rose for every one that fell. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 10:06 pm Google could find new road in ChinaSan Francisco: Google Inc says it may be forced to leave China, but the search giant has room to compromise in its battle with Beijing, and both sides have reason to do so. The company’s surprise statement on Tuesday that it was no longer ready to censor search results in China and might pull out of the world’s biggest Internet market by users has put it squarely at odds with the Chinese government. But analysts and business experts on Wednesday said Google’s past clashes with powerful companies and industries, and the importance of the Chinese market to Google’s future, suggest that self-imposed exile from China may not be Google’s end-game. Hard lines in previous battles have been negotiating tactics and could be this time, too, they said. “I’m sure they will be pragmatic, Google is a very dynamic company,” said Christopher Tang, a professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. “I doubt they will walk away like that. The presence in China is very crucial because that’s the next wave.” China has roughly 360 million users, and its search market topped $1 billion last year. While Google has struggled to compete with local powerhouse Baidu Inc, China represents a major growth opportunity. “As Google grows they’re breaking into new markets, and they’re challenging the status quo on a lot of things,” said Canaccord Adams analyst Jeff Rath. In China, where the government places tight limits on citizens’ Web access, Google’s search engine represents a threat to the state’s control. But many businesses and industries have been threatened in other ways by Google’s expansion, and the company has compromised in some of those clashes. Past battles point to China plans? Google’s business of offering free products and services has helped it steamroll into many new markets in recent years, from books to wireless phones. While Google has insisted it had the right to scan thousands of library books and put them online, the company chose to settle a class action suit in 2008 bought by authors and publishers’ groups. It agreed to a $125 million settlement that would create a books rights registry, where authors and publishers register works and are paid for books that Google puts online. Google attempted to crack open the wireless phone market, which has traditionally been controlled by communications companies. But after an initial clash, it has opted to partner some incumbent wireless firms rather than continue its unilateral assault. Some say that pragmatic approach could work in China as well, even though Google has taken a stand on free Internet speech. Possible compromises UCLA’s Tang said Google could reach an agreement with Beijing in which it dropped its search efforts but offered other products such as the Google Voice Internet calling service or Google’s archive of digital books. The Chinese government censors much of the Web that is viewable to Chinese surfers and potentially could allow Google to operate an unfiltered Chinese language version of the Web site from that content, said Stanford University Graduate School of Business Professor Haim Mendelson. The government then would censor, but Google would not. While Mendelson said he thought it was more likely Google would leave China, he said a compromise could give both sides something they want. China wants to maintain its image at home and abroad, and being rebuffed by Google doesn’t help. “Google has some interest in maintaining a presence in China, and the Chinese government has an interest as well,” said Mendelson. “The Chinese government wants to project an image of the country where they do want US companies to be present.” Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 10:05 pm Google could find new road in ChinaSan Francisco: Google Inc says it may be forced to leave China, but the search giant has room to compromise in its battle with Beijing, and both sides have reason to do so. The company’s surprise statement on Tuesday that it was no longer ready to censor search results in China and might pull out of the world’s biggest Internet market by users has put it squarely at odds with the Chinese government. But analysts and business experts on Wednesday said Google’s past clashes with powerful companies and industries, and the importance of the Chinese market to Google’s future, suggest that self-imposed exile from China may not be Google’s end-game. Hard lines in previous battles have been negotiating tactics and could be this time, too, they said. “I’m sure they will be pragmatic, Google is a very dynamic company,” said Christopher Tang, a professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. “I doubt they will walk away like that. The presence in China is very crucial because that’s the next wave.” China has roughly 360 million users, and its search market topped $1 billion last year. While Google has struggled to compete with local powerhouse Baidu Inc, China represents a major growth opportunity. “As Google grows they’re breaking into new markets, and they’re challenging the status quo on a lot of things,” said Canaccord Adams analyst Jeff Rath. In China, where the government places tight limits on citizens’ Web access, Google’s search engine represents a threat to the state’s control. But many businesses and industries have been threatened in other ways by Google’s expansion, and the company has compromised in some of those clashes. Past battles point to China plans? Google’s business of offering free products and services has helped it steamroll into many new markets in recent years, from books to wireless phones. While Google has insisted it had the right to scan thousands of library books and put them online, the company chose to settle a class action suit in 2008 bought by authors and publishers’ groups. It agreed to a $125 million settlement that would create a books rights registry, where authors and publishers register works and are paid for books that Google puts online. Google attempted to crack open the wireless phone market, which has traditionally been controlled by communications companies. But after an initial clash, it has opted to partner some incumbent wireless firms rather than continue its unilateral assault. Some say that pragmatic approach could work in China as well, even though Google has taken a stand on free Internet speech. Possible compromises UCLA’s Tang said Google could reach an agreement with Beijing in which it dropped its search efforts but offered other products such as the Google Voice Internet calling service or Google’s archive of digital books. The Chinese government censors much of the Web that is viewable to Chinese surfers and potentially could allow Google to operate an unfiltered Chinese language version of the Web site from that content, said Stanford University Graduate School of Business Professor Haim Mendelson. The government then would censor, but Google would not. While Mendelson said he thought it was more likely Google would leave China, he said a compromise could give both sides something they want. China wants to maintain its image at home and abroad, and being rebuffed by Google doesn’t help. “Google has some interest in maintaining a presence in China, and the Chinese government has an interest as well,” said Mendelson. “The Chinese government wants to project an image of the country where they do want US companies to be present.” Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 10:05 pm Asian shares bounce, rate view lifts AussieTokyo: Share markets in Asia rebounded on Thursday as worries that China’s policy tightening would slow its demand receded, while strong Australian jobs data raised the chances of a February interest rate hike and boosted the Aussie dollar. Helped by an upbeat day on Wall Street, Asia stocks recouped 1% having tumbled on Wednesday after Beijing’s surprise increase of bank reserve requirements - China’s strongest step yet to rein in asset inflation. In Australia, shares rose nearly 1% as miners gained, while jobs data for December beat forecasts and the market priced in a 75% chance of a rate rise at the next policy meeting, sending the Aussie dollar up and the low-yielding yen down. Shanghai’s key stock index, which fell 3.1% on the monetary tightening, struggled to hold gains but Tokyo’s Nikkei index neared a 15-month high and the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1%, heading back towards a recent 17-month high. Tech and materials stocks led the rebound, gaining ground after being hit a day earlier by concern that China’s purchases of imports could suffer if policy tightening cooled its rapid economic growth. “The market is recovering as investors are relieved to see US shares recover fairly quickly after news of China’s monetary tightening moves,” said Lee Kyoung-su, a market analyst at Taurus Investment & Securities. “Technology issues in particular are going strong amid strengthening earnings expectations. Positive hopes are brewing ahead of key US technology company earnings, including Intel and IBM,” Lee said. A rebound had already begun in some markets by late Wednesday as investors took the view that China’s step confirmed a broad economic recovery and threatened neither growth nor corporate profits. The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 0.50% while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.83% and the Nasdaq Composite Index 1.12%. Seoul shares rose 0.9%, helped by rebound in shipbuilders and technology issues including LG Display and Hyundai Heavy Industries, while Posco edged up before its quarterly results. In China, banks and property stocks initially gained but top lender Industrial and Commercial Bank of China later fell 0.8% and the main index was flat. In Japan, Mizuho Financial Group, the country’s second-largest bank by assets, is considering a rights offering as a way to boost its capital, Bloomberg reported. The bank shed more than a third of its market value in 2009 on concerns it would need a massive capital raising to meet stricter global rules. But its shares rose 5.1 percent on Thursday, with analysts saying a rights issue eased worries about share dilution. The Australian dollar advanced 0.6% to $0.9295, with traders looking for a move beyond its 2009 peak of $0.9407. It climbed 0.9% to ¥85.16. A net 35,200 new jobs were created in Australia in December and the jobless rate dropped to 5.5%, the lowest since April. The Australian dollar gained last year as the market anticipated the central bank would lead other developed nations in tightening policy. It has already lifted its key cash rate by 75 basis points to 3.75% in contrast to the likes of the United States and Japan where rates are close to zero. “The positive news from Australia has cheered investors, prompting them to seek more risks,” said Hideki Amikura, deputy general manager at Nomura Trust and Banking in Tokyo. The yen also lost ground against the dollar, euro and New Zealand dollar. The dollar index a measure of its performance against six other major currencies, eased 0.1% The euro rose 0.2% to $1.4540 as market players waited for a European Central Bank meeting at which it is expected to flag that it will keep rates at a record low of 1% for some time. US crude futures were steady after falling for three days in a row on builds in US inventories despite colder weather. NYMEX crude for February delivery stood at $79.86 a barrel aftera settling at $79.65 on Wednesday. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 10:01 pm JAL failure would hit about 1,500 small firmsTokyo: A Japan Airlines Corp bankruptcy will have a wide-spread impact on small businesses that account for half of the nearly 3,000 Japanese companies that do business directly with the carrier, a research firm said. JAL, Asia’s biggest carrier, will likely file for bankruptcy protection next week as part of a state-backed rescue package, sources said. Tokyo Shoko Research said small firms with less than ¥1 billion ($10 million) in sales make up half of JAL’s major business partners, supplying goods to or buying from JAL’s 91 group firms. “It’s highly likely these small companies will feel the pinch because they depend heavily on business with JAL,” said Kazufumi Masuda, a researcher at Tokyo Shoko, which tracks bankruptcy data. “They could be forced to withdraw from certain business lines or shrink their businesses due to a gradual decline in sales.” But companies are unlikely to face an immediate credit crunch, he said, because JAL’s debts will be secured under a court-led restructuring plan currently being hammered out. The Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp of Japan, a state-backed fund, said on Wednesday JAL will continue to make payments to its fuel suppliers and meet other business debts under the restructuring plan. Tokyo Shoko Research said intra-group transactions account for 76% of the business at JAL’s 91 group firms. The strong group ties could have led to higher costs, it said. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 9:51 pm JAL failure would hit about 1,500 small firmsTokyo: A Japan Airlines Corp bankruptcy will have a wide-spread impact on small businesses that account for half of the nearly 3,000 Japanese companies that do business directly with the carrier, a research firm said. JAL, Asia’s biggest carrier, will likely file for bankruptcy protection next week as part of a state-backed rescue package, sources said. Tokyo Shoko Research said small firms with less than ¥1 billion ($10 million) in sales make up half of JAL’s major business partners, supplying goods to or buying from JAL’s 91 group firms. “It’s highly likely these small companies will feel the pinch because they depend heavily on business with JAL,” said Kazufumi Masuda, a researcher at Tokyo Shoko, which tracks bankruptcy data. “They could be forced to withdraw from certain business lines or shrink their businesses due to a gradual decline in sales.” But companies are unlikely to face an immediate credit crunch, he said, because JAL’s debts will be secured under a court-led restructuring plan currently being hammered out. The Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp of Japan, a state-backed fund, said on Wednesday JAL will continue to make payments to its fuel suppliers and meet other business debts under the restructuring plan. Tokyo Shoko Research said intra-group transactions account for 76% of the business at JAL’s 91 group firms. The strong group ties could have led to higher costs, it said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 9:51 pm Markets up 0.5%; Reliance, banks gainMumbai: Indian shares were trading 0.5% higher on Thursday, tracking gains elsewhere in Asia, with Reliance Industries and banks leading the gainers. Asian shares rebounded as worries that China’s policy tightening would slow its demand receded. Energy giant Reliance Industries, which has the highest weight in the main index, rose 1.7% to Rs1,107, with investors awaiting more clarity over its plan to acquire bankrupt LyondellBasell. The stock was also catching up with the gains in the broader market, having risen just 0.5% since end-September, while the main index gained 2.7%. By 09:56am, the 30-share BSE Index was trading up 0.49% at 17,596.41, with 11 of its components gaining. The 50-share NSE index was up 0.6% at 5,264.35. “Positive Asian markets helped us open up today,” said R. Ganesh, director of Systematix Shares, a Mumbai-based brokerage firm. “There are some issues on valuation right now. But as more earnings pour in, these should get re-adjusted,” he said, adding that he expected a minor correction in the market before the federal budget on 26 February. Investors awaited wholesale price inflation data for December, which is due by mid-day (0630 GMT), for further direction. Wholesale prices are expected to have risen 7.31% in December from a year earlier, the median forecast in a Reuters poll of 22 economists showed, up from a rise of 4.78% in November. Leading lenders such as State Bank of India and ICICI Bank gained 0.5% and 1.5%, ahead of the inflation data. “Going by the China experience, it looks like their move was just a soft tightening of stimulus package and looks like investors overreacted,” said Ganesh. “Also, Indian banks are relatively stronger and better placed than other Asian banks, which make them attractive,” he added. In the broader market, gainers were four times the number of losers, while 158 million shares changed hands on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 9:48 pm Rupee gains 15 paise against dollar in early tradeThe rupee today rose by 15 paise to 45.46 a dollar in early trade on continued foreign capital inflows into local equity market amid weakness in the US currency.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Jan 2010 | 9:24 pm ADB says too early to end stimulus; no China bubbleMANILA (Reuters) - The head of the Asian Development Bank warned it was too early for Asian countries to end stimulus policies started during the financial crisis and said he saw no big risk of price bubbles in China.Source: Reuters: Money News | 13 Jan 2010 | 9:21 pm Sensex up 113 points in opening tradeContinuing with its previous day's gains, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today moved up by over 113 points in opening trade amid strong global cues.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Jan 2010 | 9:16 pm US bank chiefs questioned by Congress over financial crisisWall Street's top bankers on Wednesday faced a confrontational congressional panel tasked with getting to the bottom of a financial crisis that plunged the world into a devastating recession.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 13 Jan 2010 | 8:03 pm FM, Deora to address losses of PSU oil cosOil minister Murli Deora and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee will sit down on Thursday to work out a way to compensate state-run oil companies for their losses on fuel sales.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Jan 2010 | 12:48 pm Ask Mint | If bank doesn’t act, go to ombudsmanI have a loan against a credit card. Due to the bank’s fault, my electronic clearing service (ECS) was rejected. Now, the bank has pre-closed the loan and added it to my credit card dues and is charging interest on both. How do I resolve this issue? —Chetan Nanda First file an official complaint on the grievance section of the bank’s website. If you do not get an answer in three-four weeks, then you should take your complaint to the banking ombudsman. My brother and I want to take a joint home loan in a 60:40 ratio. Will both of us get tax benefit? We would like to pay the equated monthly instalment (EMI) individually in the same ratio. Will both of us get tax benefits and in what proportion? —Sandeep Mishra  I am planning to buy a property under construction, which will be delivered three years later. I need to make full payment upfront. I am getting an overdraft facility against my father’s fixed deposit (FD). Will an overdraft product be considered a loan for claiming interest exemption? —Manoj Mehta Yes, the overdraft product will be considered as loan for claiming deduction on the interest part of the loan as the utilization of the same is clearly for acquisition or construction of a property. Incidentally, it is not very prudent to make full payment in advance for a property that will be delivered to you only after three years. I want to make an FD. Do I need to open a saving account with the same bank before doing so? —Saira It is not compulsory to open a savings account in a bank if you want to make a fixed deposit with it. But it is administratively convenient to have a savings account in the same bank. Harsh Roongta is CEO, ApnaPaisa.com Queries and views at feedback@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 12:45 pm Choice Hotels buys out India bizAs India is emerging as a business hub in the global market, the hospitality chains are focusing on the country and are investing more to increase their footprints.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Jan 2010 | 12:41 pm Zero-duty sugar imports a breather for food cosCompanies, which use sugar as a key input for their food products, are relieved by the government's decision to relax sugar import norms.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Jan 2010 | 12:34 pm GMAT model finds favour with banksCentralised recruitment process soon.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 13 Jan 2010 | 12:28 pm GTL set to buy Aircel towersGTL Infrastructure is poised to buy all 17,500 towers owned by mobile phone service provider Aircel in a deal valued at $1.8 billion (Rs 8,400 crore). With this, GTL will take its tally to 31,500 towers, and breathe down Tata Quippos neck, which, with more than 33,000 towers is the countrys largest independent tower company.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 13 Jan 2010 | 12:24 pm New arms purchase policy soonCII-KPMG report plugs private sector role.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 13 Jan 2010 | 12:23 pm Indian peacekeepers safe in HaitiUnited Nations/New Delhi: Eleven UN peacekeepers were killed on Wednesday as the strongest earthquake in more than 200 years jolted Haiti as officials said the 141-strong Indian contingent in the Caribbean nation is safe. Eight Chinese and three Jordanian peacekeepers have been killed and hundreds others are unaccounted for including the Tunisian force chief as a 7.3 magnitude trembler shook the country, flattening almost all buildings in the capital Port-Au-Prince. All the 141 Indian police peacekeepers from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), who are based in the capital which was worst hit are safe, according to the CISF spokesperson Rohit Katiyar at the force headquarters in New Delhi. He said a part of the outer perimeter wall of the building in which Indian contingent is housed fell down, but the main structure remain intact. India is still awaiting information about 50 other Consular level officers. “Since we got the first information, we have been trying to establish contact with our Consulate there..... There are about 50 Consular level officers. We are awaiting information about them,” external affairs minister SM Krishna said in New Delhi. Headquarters of the United Nations at Port-Au-Prince collapsed in the quake and Tunisian head of the peacekeepers is missing. “The peacekeeping force building collapsed. For the moment we have no news from the 200 to 250 people in the building. We don’t know how many were still there at 5 am local time when the quake occurred,” Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman of an UN agency said in Geneva. She said the buildings housing the UNICEF and World Food Programme (WFP) had survived the quake and aftershocks. According to the UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy large number of UN personnel are unaccounted for. The UN has 9,000 peacekeepers in the country which include over 7,000 soldiers and 2,000 policemen. Besides the eleven dead, 21 Jordanian soldiers were reported wounded and 10 Chinese peacekeepers were missing. The Indian contingent was inducted in the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) in October 2008 to help with international efforts to ensure a safe environment in Haiti. The Indian peacekeepers are involved in managing public disturbances, establishing checkpoints, tracking criminals and anti-crime operations. The UN Security Council extended MINUSTAH through mid-October 2009, recognizing the impact that the civil disturbances in April 2008 and the devastating hurricane season have had on the country’s stability. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 12:11 pm Prices up but inflation down? Here’s whyWelcome to the first Just to Clarify of the new year, after a hiatus over the holiday season. We’re looking forward to explaining much, much more of the news to you over 2010, and today we begin with a topic that’s pretty much always in the news: inflation. It has been puzzling many people that, even as India endured a period of deflation in the last few months of 2009, the prices of food continued to rise. Isn’t that counterintuitive? How will an upcoming measure - of changing the base year - help measure inflation more accurately? Our guest on the show today is Mint’s own Sanjiv Sankaran, Mint’s deputy chief of bureau economy. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 12:10 pm Does lower VIX signal correction?Mumbai: Investor fears have receded to their lowest level in at least 21 months going by the India VIX, the volatility index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) that was launched in April 2008. Is this a sign of stability after the storm or a fresh bout of investor complacency ahead of a decline in equity prices?  Volatility indices are based on option prices and reflect investor perceptions about the risk of sharp swings. Abhijit Bhatlekar / Mint The India VIX fell to 21.99 on Wednesday, its lowest level ever. Volatility indices are based on option prices and reflect investor perceptions about the risk of dramatic price swings. Typically, volatility indices such as VIX and the prices of underlying financial assets move in opposite directions. The lower prices that investors pay to buy protection against volatility using NSE’s Nifty index options gets reflected in lower VIX levels, which at times could suggest that investors are getting complacent and the markets might be set for a correction. However, experts said that it’s a bit premature to jump to that conclusion because of the relatively short history of the India VIX. Besides, the fundamentals are good, being reflected in a surge in quarterly earnings and robust factory output growth. “Sure, it means that people are pricing in very low risk,” said Apurva Shah, vice-president of research at Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. Ltd, a local brokerage. “But what is that point (of markets correcting), it’s very difficult to say. The VIX started at a time when volatility was high.” VIX was officially launched by India’s largest stock exchange by trading turnover in April 2008, when the markets had come off the peak of the bull run in January. It was a time of high volatility with the forced takeover of Bear Stearns Companies Inc. by JPMorgan Chase and Co., the subprime crisis, high inflation and high interest rates in India.  Graphic: Ahmed Raza Khan ./ Mint The financial crisis that followed only worsened volatility and the India VIX closed at a high of 85.13 on 17 November 2008. Since the beginning of 2010, it has been hovering between 22-23 levels. “Very rarely have we seen the markets trade in such a narrow range for such a long time,” said Siddharth Bhamre, head of derivatives at Angel Broking Ltd. “People are getting complacent, but are not carrying their positions for a long time.” The Nifty index of 50 stocks has traded between 5,083.40 and 5,233.95 since October after gaining 103.41% since the lows of March 2009. It closed at 5,233.95, up 0.45%, on Wednesday. Some analysts such as Yogesh Radke, the quant analyst at Edelweiss Securities Ltd, are a bit puzzled at the consistent low levels of the index. “There are upcoming events such as the Reserve Bank of India’s quarterly review of monetary policy in January and (Union) budget in February, and the VIX is not reacting to them,” said Radke. The earnings season has also started and this usually drives up volatility. To be sure, India’s VIX is not the only volatility index to be trading at such low levels. The more famous Chicago Board Option Exchange’s VIX (CBOE VIX), which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, fell to 16.93 on Monday, a 19-month low. Closer home, China’s volatility index fell to a 31-month low in December, but inched up this week after that country’s monetary authority tightened money supply. However, unlike the CBOE VIX, the Indian VIX is not as correlated to the Nifty index that it’s linked to. Vinod Sharma, head of private broking and wealth management at HDFC Securities Ltd, reckons that the negative correlation between the Indian volatility index and the Nifty is 0.17, compared with 0.70 for CBOE. He is not willing to buy into the theory of investor complacency and an incipient market correction. Moreover, economic and company-level fundamentals indicate that growth is on track, which is a large positive for market and will bring in more investor money. For instance, the Index of Industrial Production rose 11.7% in November, the fastest pace in 25 months. At least nine brokerages Mint spoke to predicted double-digit revenue and profit growth for the three months ended December. Bajaj Auto Ltd, India’s second largest bike maker, posted a 189% growth in third quarter profits. IT bellwether Infosys Technologies Ltd’s December quarter earnings signalled a strong revival in the Indian IT services business and the company has also raised its forecast for this fiscal. Ashwin Ramarathinam and Reuters contributed to this story. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 12:04 pm Collaborative effort must to tackle food inflation: FM - The Hindu
Source: Business - Google News | 13 Jan 2010 | 11:00 am No hike in Auto fuel prices yetWith inflation being its prime concern, the government has postponed any immediate decision on freeing the auto fuel prices. So, there won’t be an immediate hike in the prices of petrol and diesel.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 13 Jan 2010 | 10:27 am Browsing before buying | AutoWith Google Inc., a fortnightly analysis of how prospective buyers for goods and services use the Web to research their purchases. The data looks at what information buyers seek, and where they look for it. We start with a look at prospective buyers of new and used cars. According to a survey of Indian car buyers, conducted for Google by Netpops Research Llc, potential buyers compare 3.7 brands of cars, on average, during the purchase process and while inputs from friends and family are important, they consider the Internet to be the most influential channel for aiding the “discovery of new vehicle makes”, “help(ing) inform their decision” and a number of other pivotal points. Also See Surfing Before Driving (Graphic) Along with information about brands and model specifications, the Net also helps Indian auto buyers with logistical information associated with “locating a showroom”, “contacting a dealer” and other means to evaluate the specific car in person. After all, a car is a high-consideration, high-value purchase. Consumers may refine their consideration set online, but the final decision still requires them to sit in the driver’s seat, turn the knobs on the radio and get a good feel of the car. Also Read Full Data and Analysis Graphics by Rahul Awasthi / Mint Knowledge Partner: Google Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 9:52 am 7 75 growth likely but inflation a worry FMJust two days after industry chamber ASSOCHAM discounted the government’s predictions of 7.5 per cent economic growth this fiscal, the government on Wednesday pegged growth for the current year even higher at 7.75 per cent. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 13 Jan 2010 | 9:32 am Pharmas Govt join for 80 bn off patent marketPfizer’s Viagra will be among 61 drugs worth over US $ 80 billion that will go off patent at the US Patent and Trademark Office between 2011 and 2013, and the Indian pharmaceutical industry is gearing to make the most of it. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 13 Jan 2010 | 9:31 am Carlson chain eyes No 2 slot in IndiaCarlson Hotels Worldwide, which was named the ‘fastest growing hotel chain in South Asia’ last November, is gunning for the second slot in India, behind the Taj group. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 13 Jan 2010 | 9:29 am Maruti set to raise prices of all modelsPassenger car maker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd is set to raise the prices of all its existing models, a year after its last hike. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 13 Jan 2010 | 9:26 am Bangladesh eases the way for hybrid electric carsIt has no domestic car industry worth the name, but next-door neighbour Bangladesh has taken the lead in promoting eco-friendly cars. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 13 Jan 2010 | 9:24 am Shake up at Bharti Airtel Kapoor is CEODespite unsuccessful attempts to merge with South Africa-based MTN twice in the last two years, Bharti Airtel is giving greater focus on international business.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 13 Jan 2010 | 9:22 am FDI move to stop security overkillThe Commerce and Industry Ministry has cautioned the National Security Council headed by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that any tweaking of the current foreign investment policy regime may adversely affect the flow of FDI into India.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 13 Jan 2010 | 9:19 am SocGen profit warning rekindles toxic asset fearsParis: Societe Generale issued a profit warning on Wednesday following a new 1.4 billion-euro ($2 billion) hit from risky assets, highlighting concerns that the worst of the financial crisis may not be over. SocGen, France’s second-biggest bank by market capitalisation, said it was only expecting to report a “slight profit” for the fourth quarter of 2009. This would be well below analysts’ expectations of a net profit of around €960 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S estimates, and SocGen shares fell sharply. The profit warning served as a reminder that toxic assets are still a problem for the international banking industry although some analysts said SocGen has been lagging others in facing up to the issue. “We have consistently said that SocGen was the only bank left that still had a significant loss to take in structured credit,” said Arturo de Frias of Evolution Securities. Evolution has a “sell” rating on SocGen. SocGen said the impact from risky assets comprised writedowns on collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) linked to residential mortgage-backed securities, changes in the mark-to-market valuation of credit default swaps (CDS) and the revaluation of financial liabilities. While domestic and international retail banking operations performed well during the fourth quarter, the bank had lower corporate and investment banking division revenue, SocGen added. SocGen shares were down 3.8% at €49.71 by 1113 GMT, making SocGen the biggest loser on France’s blue-chip CAC 40 index. The DJ Stoxx European banking sector index was down 0.8% amidst some concerns that other banks may also announce new writedowns, although rival banking stocks did not fall as much as SocGen. BNP Paribas, France’s biggest bank by market value, was down 1.5% at €57.60 while Credit Agricole was down 0.1% at €12.91. Financial Sector Worries In December the European Central Bank raised its estimate of writedowns from banks in the eurozone, while analysts expect that America’s top banks may suffer a fall in profits due to lower debt trading volumes. “The banking sector is not the best sector for investors to be in at the moment,” said GSD Gestion fund manager Christophe Gautier, whose firm is “underweight” on financials. However, Societe Generale was upbeat about its prospects for 2010. SocGen plans to centralise around €37 billion worth of toxic assets into one single legal entity which could help it reduce losses from this area. “Thanks to strong customer franchises, with significant growth potential, a robust financial structure and a new management team, Societe Generale is in a favourable position to go into 2010 with confidence,” it said. The bank added that its fourth-quarter results would include a €0.6 billion capital gain from the merger of its SGAM asset management division with the fund management arm of rival Credit Agricole to form a new firm called Amundi. SocGen has been battling back since it announced a €4.9 billion trading loss in January 2008, which it blamed on unauthorised deals made by former junior trader Jerome Kerviel. The Kerviel losses briefly reignited speculation that SocGen could face a new bid from BNP Paribas, although SocGen has vowed to stay independent. BNP has a current market capitalisation of around €68 billion, while SocGen’s stands at €37 billion. SocGen is also embroiled in a legal suit with the former chief investment officer at its U.S. asset management unit TCW and, along with other banks around the world, faces a clampdown on its bonus payments. SocGen shares have risen around 2% so far this year, slightly underperforming a 4 percent gain in the European banking index. The stock rose 44% last year, well below BNP Paribas’s 90% gain. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 4:12 am LG aims to boost phone sales 20%, bets on AndroidSeoul: LG Electronics Inc, the world’s No. 3 mobile phone maker, aims to increase handset sales by 20% this year and is pinning its hopes on Google’s Android operating system to beef up its smartphone range. The South Korean company faces stiff competition in 2010 due to its relatively weak footing in the booming smartphones business against Apple Inc, Research In Motion and Nokia. LG said on Wednesday it aimed to sell 140 million mobile phones this year. It sold 117 million handsets last year, to claim about 10% of the global market. “LG should be able to post some growth in unit sales, but margins could come under pressure if the growth comes from the low-end,” said Han Eun-mee, an analyst at HI Investment & Securities in Seoul. LG has based its mobile phone business on feature-heavy phones covering low- to high-end customers, but has lagged in the smartphone market, where operating systems and software matter. “A device alone won’t help us to sustain business,” Skott Ahn, LG’s president and CEO of mobile communications, told a news conference. “We need to build a system where consumers, service operators and software providers can work together effectively.” He added that LG has no plans to develop its own mobile phone operating system. Going With Android, And Microsoft LG, which trails Nokia of Finland and South Korean rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd in mobile phones, will unveil about 20 smartphones this year, with more than half based on Google’s Android operating system. “The challenge is that any manufacturer that needs a compelling story right now is pretty reliant on Android, as Symbian and Windows Mobile are in a phase of redevelopment,” said Ben Wood, research director at consultancy CCS Insight. Google’s Android has gained traction in the mobile industry, and it is supported by all top handset vendors except Nokia. Google introduced its first cellphone model last week, the Nexus One — something analysts said was likely raising worries amongst some handset vendors using Android. “Google’s decision to do the Nexus One will certainly have meant that some licensees that were considering abandoning Microsoft may be thinking again so they can keep their options open,” Wood said. LG said its 2010 offerings would also include phones running on Microsoft Corp’s Windows Mobile and LiMo’s Linux-based software. LG executives declined to say how many Windows phones it was planning to release. In February last year, LG signed a deal with Microsoft, then saying Windows Mobile would become the primary operating system for its smartphones. “The fact that we’ll have a bit more Android phones this year doesn’t mean our ties with Microsoft are weakening,” Ahn said. “Windows Mobile still has legacy issues that makes it challenging to compete in mobiles: we know it and Microsoft knows it,” he said. Microsoft said the company was very pleased with its relationship with LG and is looking forward to bringing a number of new phones to market in 2010. By 2012, LG wants to achieve a double-digit share of the global smartphone market. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 13 Jan 2010 | 3:16 am
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