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Shoppers Stop QIP announcement likely in 60 daysRetailer Shoppers Stop may make an announcement on its proposed qualified institutional placement in the next 60 days, after declaring its first quarter results, its chief executive told reporters.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Jun 2010 | 7:42 am Govt panel to meet on fuel prices on June 25A panel of ministers will meet on Friday to decide on fuel prices, Oil Minister Murli Deora said on Tuesday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Jun 2010 | 7:40 am LT bags Rs 827cr ordersLarsen Toubros Thermal Power Plant Construction Business Unit has secured two orders aggregating Rs 827 crore from GVK Power for their Gautami Combined Cycle Power Plant Expansion and from SEPCOI for Talwandi Sabo Power Plant in Punjab.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Jun 2010 | 6:47 am Uncertainty persists over Bank of Rajasthan\'s EGM outcomeICICI Bank and Bank of Rajasthan conducted their extraordinary general meetings (EGMs) on Monday to obtain shareholders nod for the proposed merger.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Jun 2010 | 6:28 am Piramal Health to buy Biosyntech for USD 3.9 mnPiramal Healthcare Ltd said on Tuesday it has signed a definite agreement to acquire the assets of Canada\'s BioSyntech Inc for USD 3.9 million.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Jun 2010 | 6:24 am Aqua Logistics eyes Far East region for acquisitionsMumbaibased Aqua Logistics is looking to make an acquisition in Indonesia in power segment.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Jun 2010 | 5:41 am IRDA to regulate ULIPs: How can it reform the products?The government\'s ordinance reestablishes Insurance Regulatory Development Authoritys or IRDAs jurisdiction on unit linked insurance plans or ULIPs. Experts talk about the issue and give their outlook going forward.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Jun 2010 | 5:39 am See aluminium prices moving back to $2,000/tn: NalcoThe big trigger for the global equity and commodity markets yesterday was China\'s plans to make its exchange rate more flexible. The greatest impact could be seen on aluminium prices. China dominates the top half of the industry cost curve for aluminium.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Jun 2010 | 5:14 am In China's Qinghai, prosperity is a long way offChina still had 254 million people consuming less than the international poverty standard of $1.25 per person per day, according to the World Bank.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 4:01 am Spyglass seen as likely candidate to run MGMBoth Spyglass and MGM are pushing to get a deal done before a waiver on MGM's debt expires in mid-July.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 3:56 am China says reform of yuan must be gradualForeign ministry spokesperson Qin Gang did not give a direct answer when asked whether president Hu Jintao would discuss the currency at this weekend's Group of 20 summit in Toronto.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 3:40 am Intel, FTC talk settlement of market abuse suitThe US government accused Intel in December of illegally stifling competition, in a lawsuit the agency said sought to stop the marketing practices that have helped maintain Intel's status as the world's top chip maker for years.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 3:38 am Govt announces steep hike in auto, taxi fares in Delhi - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Jun 2010 | 3:36 am L'Oreal heiress to regularise taxes after media leakSecret recordings made by Bettencourt's ex-butler were leaked last week and have appeared widely across the media.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 3:36 am New strike in China affects supplier to Toyota, HondaHONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - A strike has halted production at a Chinese factory owned by Japan's Denso Corp, a car parts maker affiliated with Toyota Motor Corp, in the latest in a string of work stoppages at foreign operations across the country.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 3:35 am Piramal Healthcare eyes more "late stage" buysEarlier in the day, the company said it will acquire Canadian biotechnology firm BioSyntech Inc, which was unable to raise capital to fund its ongoing operations and repay debt.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 3:34 am Handling China mega-IPO brings prestige ... and painBEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Four years ago, Pan Gongsheng was board secretary at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and steered what is now the world's most valuable bank through its $21.9 billion IPO, the largest ever.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 3:32 am IOC: fire outside Gujarat plant; operations normalNEW DELHI (Reuters) - State-run Indian Oil Corp on Tuesday said operations at its Gujarat refinery are unaffected following a fire outside its refinery complex.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 3:26 am Rabobank sells 11% stake in Yes Bank - NDTV.com
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Jun 2010 | 3:24 am Oil falls below $78 as yuan impact fadesLondon: US crude oil fell below $78 per barrel on Tuesday on expectations that a slow appreciation of the yuan would have a limited impact on Chinese oil imports in the short term. China’s yuan rose on Tuesday after the central bank set the currency’s daily mid-point at its highest against the dollar since a revaluation in July 2005. The move, which followed an announcement by the Chinese authorities that they would allow the currency to rise gradually, spurring hoped that this could stimulate higher imports of commodities and oil. But the yuan slipped later and analysts said the impact of the Chinese changes would be limited, at least for a while. “The knee-jerk positive reaction and euphoria related to the yuan news were definitely overdone. So, it’s logical to see the markets giving up the gains from yesterday,” said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodity research at Commerzbank. “Today the commodity markets again demonstrate that they are under the spell and fate of the financial (equity) markets, which are retreating. Also a weaker euro is contributing to the drop,” Weinberg added. Stock markets slipped in Asia and Europe on Tuesday with traders saying the optimism over China’s move had dissipated and as equity investors took profits from multi-week highs. The July contract for US crude, which expires later on Tuesday, was down 64 cents at $77.18 a barrel by 2:00pm. It had briefly turned positive when the People’s Bank of China strengthened Tuesday’s yuan mid-point. US crude for August, which will become the front month from Wednesday, shed 60 cents to $78.01. ICE Brent for August declined 53 cents to $78.29. The oil market largely shrugged off expectations of a drop in US crude inventories in data due later this week. A Reuters poll of analysts showed an average expectation for a 1.3 million-barrel drawdown in US crude stocks. The analysts issued their forecasts ahead of inventory reports from industry group American Petroleum Institute, due Tuesday at 4:30pm EDT (2030 GMT), and the federal Energy Information Administration on Wednesday at 10:30am EDT. Front-month US crude touched an intraday 6-1/2-week high near $79 a barrel on Monday, but pulled back as charts indicated technical resistance. Although prices have recovered by 20 percent from a trough below $65 on 20 May, they are still about $10 lower than an early-May 19-month high above $87. Crude’s failure to breach strong resistance at $78.40 - the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement on the move from $87.15 to $64.24 - brings a new target of $76.50 into play, according to a Reuters market analyst. Monday’s crude rally came after China’s central bank allowed the yuan to surge by nearly 0.5 percent against the dollar in the spot market, the daily limit, following a pledge at the weekend to make the currency more flexible. That led to a commodities rally on Monday amid prospects for increased buying power from China. A Reuters poll of analysts showed Chinese authorities will only allow up to a 2.4% rise for the yuan against the dollar by the end of 2010, keeping its word that it will keep the currency basically stable. China is the world’s second-biggest oil consumer after the United States, accounting for about 10 percent of global use. But it is also the world’s fifth-largest producer and in May it pumped more oil domestically than it bought from abroad. A tropical wave in the central and eastern Caribbean, spanning from northern Venezuela to Haiti, had a 50% chance of becoming a tropical cyclone in the next two days, the US National Hurricane Centre said on Tuesday on its website. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 22 Jun 2010 | 3:11 am MONEY MARKETS-Dollar funding costs climb as yuan bets fade - Reuters
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Jun 2010 | 3:10 am EGoM Friday meet may hike fuel price, relax controlNew Delhi: An empowered group of ministers will meet here on 25 June to consider possibly freeing petrol prices from government control and marginally hiking diesel prices. Sources said petrol price will go up Rs3.73 a litre if the domestic prices are aligned with international rates. Petrol in Delhi currently costs Rs47.93 per litre. “Friday is the meeting of EGoM,” petroleum minister Murli Deora told reporters, but refused to spell out the agenda. Domestic retail prices of petrol and diesel are benchmarked at close to $60 per barrel crude oil price, while the global rates currently are over $77 a barrel. Deora has already asked states to lower sales tax on petrol and diesel to cushion consumers from the impact of fuel price hike, if any. “A rise in the international oil prices exerts an upward pressure on domestic prices of petroleum products,” he wrote to states. “Ad valorem rates of VAT imposed by the state government further aggravates the impact of international oil prices on the consumers.” Sources said any decision to hike fuel prices would have to have the consent of UPA’s alliance partners, railway minister Mamata Banerjee (TMC), and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar (NCP), given the inflationary impact of the decision. In May, WPI-based inflation was 10.16%. DMK leader and fertiliser minister M.K. Alagiri is on board the decision to raise fuel prices, sources said, adding that the eGoM would try to build consensus. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 22 Jun 2010 | 3:09 am Nifty off lows; BPCL, Ranbaxy, Unitech, HUL gain - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Jun 2010 | 3:07 am Petrol may cost more, Cabinet meets on Friday - NDTV.com
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Jun 2010 | 3:06 am RBI reference rates for US dollar and euro - The Hindu
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Jun 2010 | 2:55 am China insists yuan reform must be gradualBEIJING (Reuters) - China on Tuesday stuck to its guns on the pace of exchange rate reform, reaffirming that change must remain gradual and controllable.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 2:47 am Vikram Pandit chalks out strategy for Citi\'s next challengeCNBC\'s Maria Bartiromo sat down with Pandit to talk about the leaner, fitter Citi Group, and whether it is better prepared to face the changing rules of the game.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Jun 2010 | 2:42 am Rupee trades weak tracking stocks, dollarMUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee continued to trade weaker in afternoon session on Tuesday, hurt by weak domestic shares and mild gains in the dollar against major units.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 2:34 am World stocks break 10-day rallyLONDON (Reuters) - World stocks fell for the first time in two weeks on Tuesday as investors took some profits on a cooler assessment of China's weekend decision to give its currency more flexibility.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 2:34 am Piramal Healthcare eyes more 'late stage' buysMUMBAI (Reuters) - Piramal Healthcare will look at grabbing "late stage" deals in arthiritis, pain, hospital care and critical care segments to enhance its strength in the area, a senior official told Reuters on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 2:31 am UK-India bilateral trade is decling, says top officialBilateral trade between the UK and India is declining since 2009-2010, new Deputy High Commissioner of India to the UK, R N Prasad has said.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 22 Jun 2010 | 2:29 am L&T gets orders worth Rs 827 cr - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Jun 2010 | 2:26 am Rupee trades weak tracking stocks, dollarMumbai: The Indian rupee continued to trade weaker in afternoon session on Tuesday, hurt by weak domestic shares and mild gains in the dollar against major units. At 1:50pm, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs45.96/97 per dollar, weaker than its Monday’s close of Rs45.745/755 when it had climbed as high as Rs45.58 during trade, its strongest since 18 May. Local shares were trading 0.3% lower, as investors took a breather after a 5.5% rally over three weeks. Infosys Technologies and Sterlite Industries led the decline. The euro retreated from a one-month high against the dollar on Tuesday, tracking a pullback in the yuan a day after China pledged to allow its currency to trade more freely. The index of the dollar against six major currencies was largely flat and would be watched for cues, dealers said. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at Rs46.05, weaker than the onshore spot rate. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were both at 46.0125, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $5.1 billion. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 22 Jun 2010 | 2:16 am India may miss power capacity addition target in 11th PlanIndia may yet again miss power capacity addition target for a Plan period as the country is likely to add around 55,000 MW of generation capacity against the targetted 62,000 MW in the 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-12).Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 22 Jun 2010 | 2:13 am Shares of BoR spike as ICICI shareholders approve merger - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Jun 2010 | 2:11 am Govt panel to meet on fuel prices on June 25 - DeoraNEW DELHI (Reuters) - A panel of ministers will meet on Friday to decide on fuel prices, Oil Minister Murli Deora said on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 2:09 am Eurozone crisis poses danger to rapid global recovery: Pranab MukherjeeThe finance minister said although the crisis arising from government debt in Europe is showing signs of waning, it has already left its mark.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 1:57 am Cox and Kings India plans fund raising for acquisitionsThe travel operator is seeking shareholder approval to raise up to Rs20 billion via equity and debt to fuel its growth plans including domestic and overseas acquisitions, a senior official said on Tuesday.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 1:41 am Reliance to pay $1.35 billion for Pioneer field stake: ReportReliance, India's largest listed company, will buy a 45% take in the Eagle Ford shale gas field in south Texas, the people said, according to the Financial Times.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 1:38 am Piramal Health to buy Biosyntech for C$3.9 millionBioSyntech is a medical device company, specialising in the development and manufacturing of regenerative medicines, the Indian healthcare firm said in a statement.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 1:36 am Dow Chemicals deny responsibility for Bhopal tragedyNew Delhi: Dow Chemicals, the US based company that acquired the assets of Union Carbide Corp, has said that it cannot be held responsible for the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, and called attempts to affix responsibility to the company “inappropriate and misdirected.” The response came immediately after reports suggested that a Group of Ministers (GoM) constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to look into all issues relating to the Bhopal gas leak disaster would try to establish the liability of the company. Pointing out that the GoM have not issued any formal public report on their recommendations, Scot Wheeler, spokesperson of Dow Chemicals, in an email response to Mint said, “There are some who continue to try to fix responsibility for the Bhopal tragedy to the Dow Chemical Company, but the fact is that Dow never owned, operated nor inherited the facility in Bhopal.” Wheeler added: “Efforts to attached Dow are inappropriate and misdirected.” According to a top Indian government official who attended the five sessions of the GoM, the government plans to pursue a case to claim financial compensation from Dow Chemicals. Dow acquired the international assets of Union Carbide Corp., the parent of Union Carbide India Ltd, in 1999. Union Carbide Corp. had, in 1994, sold its Indian assets to Eveready Industries India Ltd. An executive at the Indian arm of Dow directed queries to the US parent, representatives of which couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 22 Jun 2010 | 1:30 am Rabobank reduces stake in Yes BankAMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Rabobank NV says:Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 1:20 am Reliance Inds to pay $1.35 bn for Pioneer field stake: reportMumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), building its presence in the US shale gas industry, was close to announcing a deal to pay $1.35 billion for a stake in a field controlled by Pioneer Natural Resources, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Reliance, India’s largest listed company, will buy a 45% stake in the Eagle Ford shale gas field in south Texas, the people said, according to the newspaper. The deal would be the second of its kind in recent months for Reliance, which is controlled by the world’s fourth-richest man, Mukesh Ambani. In April, his energy-based conglomerate agreed to pay $1.7 billion to Atlas Energy to form a joint venture and own a 40% stake in Atlas’ Marcellus Shale operations in the eastern United States. A Reliance official declined to comment when reached by Reuters on Tuesday. Ambani said last week Reliance was looking to build up its presence in the US shale gas business. Reliance is also making a push into the power and telecom sectors now that it is no longer constrained by a pact that forbade it from competing in industries where Ambani’s long-estranged brother, Anil Ambani, is also present. Earlier this month, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Reliance was in talks to buy a stake in Pioneer’s shale gas assets, and was also in talks with several other firms to acquire similar assets. Reliance was represented by Barclays and UBS, while Pioneer was advised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, the Financial Times reported. The newspaper said on its website that the deal would be announced after the close of business in New York on Tuesday. Shares in Reliance, the biggest constituent in the Sensex index, were down about 0.5% as of late morning, roughly in line with the 0.7% drop in the BSE benchmark. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Jun 2010 | 1:16 am Eurozone crisis poses danger to rapid global recovery: India - NDTV.com
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Jun 2010 | 1:04 am Rupee weakens by 13 paise against dollar in early tradeThe rupee lost 13 paise against the dollar to trade at 45.88 in early trade on Tuesday on capital outflows by foreign funds from equity markets.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 22 Jun 2010 | 12:53 am India targets double digit growth in 2012India has set an ambitious target of making 2012 the year of double digit growth even as it grapples with the twin problems of mounting deficit and rising inflation.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 22 Jun 2010 | 12:52 am India cuts carbon stockpile, no rush to sell restSingapore/New Delhi: Developers of Indian clean-energy projects have winnowed down a stockpile of UN-backed carbon offsets, but are in no rush to sell the remainder as they hold out for higher prices. Industry sources put the outstanding stockpile at up to 10 million tonnes, equivalent to about a month’s issuance under a UN scheme that rewards firms for cutting greenhouse gas output by allowing them to sell the saved emissions. India is the second largest source of these certified emissions reductions (CERs), internationally tradeable offsets under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism that can be used by governments or companies in rich nations to meet emissions reduction targets. Europe is a major CER buyer because the offsets can be used in the EU’s emissions trading scheme. The CDM was worth $2.7 billion in 2009, less than half the $6.5 billion value the previous year as the global economic downturn slowed demand for the offsets and knocked prices. Selling accelerated “Selling has accelerated but there are still a lot of CERs floating in the market,” said Pamposh Bhat, country director, India, for consultancy Perenia Carbon, which helps clean-energy project developers to create and sell CDM carbon credits. “Indian sellers are willing to sell on the spot market, but the asking price is very high,” she said. India has 513 CDM projects registered by the United Nations, with total CER issuance for the country at nearly 80 million, well behind China’s more than 200 million, U.N. data shows. “I think the number has come down drastically,” said Ashutosh Pandey, CEO of the carbon advisory business for project developer Emergent Ventures India, referring to the number of unsold CERs. “Companies which were waiting to sell their CERs have seen the price performance of the past two to three years. And over the past year or so prices have stabilized,” he said, adding that sales would continue. CER futures traded on the European Climate Exchange hit a high of just over €24 in July 2008, plunged to €7.35 in early 2009 but have stabilized at around €12 to €13 over the past year. Pandey said the number unsold had been between 40 to 50% of the total issued because of reluctance from small project owners to sell. But it was now 10-20%. “Our estimate of issued, but not sold CERs in India, will be about 10 million,” said P. Ram Babu, CEO of General Carbon Advisory Services in Mumbai, told Reuters in an email interview. Indian sellers are holding because they expect rising demand to lift prices. A Reuters poll published last week found the average forecast price of EU emissions allowances in 2010, which typically trade two to three euros above CERs, is €16. For 2011, it was €19.5 and €23.5 for 2012. In a separate poll this month, analysts cut their CER supply forecasts to 2012 with the average 2012 price set at €18.7. “For the issued CERs market, the seller has the upper hand. So they are pretty OK. They are pretty confident saying that, ‘look even if we don’t sell today, we don’t stand to lose, as this revenue isn’t going to change our fortunes’,” said Yuvaraj Dinesh Babu, CEO of the Carbon Rating Agency in Singapore. Pandey said more buyers were opting for the spot market, even though many large buyers had entered into forward contracts. But he said the actual volume delivered to date had been small because of delays in registering projects or verification of CERs by the CDM’s governing board. “So they are facing problems. They don’t have enough volume to meet their own demand,” he said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Jun 2010 | 12:50 am Reliance to pay $1.35 bln for Pioneer field stake - FTMUMBAI (Reuters) - Reliance Industries, building its presence in the U.S. shale gas industry, was close to announcing a deal to pay $1.35 billion for a stake in a field controlled by Pioneer Natural Resources, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Jun 2010 | 12:49 am Sanofi signs up to $750 mn drug deal with RegulusParis: French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis has struck a strategic alliance potentially worth up to $750 million with Regulus Therapeutics, taking it into the emerging field of microRNA. The alliance will initially focus on developing new treatments for fibrosis, an excessive growth of fibrous tissue that can cause various disorders, Sanofi said on Tuesday. MicroRNAs are small scraps of genetic material which are being explored as a new class of therapies for a range of diseases, given their ability to regulate gene expression. Sanofi and Regulus will collaborate on microRNA drug discovery and preclinical development for an initial four targets, including the lead fibrosis programme. Sanofi also has an option to develop and commercialise other compounds, beyond the first four targets. Regulus, which is jointly owned by Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Isis Pharmaceuticals, will receive a $25 million upfront fee and a future $10 million equity investment. In total, the alliance could be valued at over $750 million when taking into account upfront payments, equity investment, research funding, and potential preclinical, clinical and commercial milestone payments for multiple products. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 22 Jun 2010 | 12:34 am Reliance to pay $1.35 bln for Pioneer field stake-FT - Reuters
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Jun 2010 | 12:11 am High drama marks Bank of Rajasthan EGMThe extraordinary general meeting of Bank of Rajasthan convened to seek shareholders' approval for its merger with ICICI Bank on Monday witnessed high drama with a Kolkata court staying the meeting that was subsequently overruled by the HighSource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Provogue India (Rs 53.3): BuyInvestors with a short-term trading perspective can buy the stock of Provogue India. This stock is in a strong uptrend since the low of Rs 41.4 recorded on May 26. It has recorded only three negative daily closes since thisSource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Rise in input cost, fall in price may hit steel cos' Q1 profitsSteel companies' profits in the first quarter of this fiscal may be hit by the steep rise in input cost coupled with a sharp fall in product prices. This has resulted from a slowdown in demand and large-scaleSource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Yuan impact: Govt adopts wait and watch policyThe Government would like to wait and watch before coming to any conclusion on how China's move to de-peg the yuan could impact India and its currency policy, the Finance Secretary, Mr Ashok Chawla, said here onSource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Base rate: Deregulation or re-regulation?Banks shall switch over to a “base rate” system of loan pricing with effect from July 1, 2010, the Reserve Bank of India has announced. The RBI has pointed out that this is an extremely significant development in the Indian financialSource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideNegating our prior view the stock advances almost four per cent in the last trading session. The volume was above average. Make use of dips to buy the stock while maintain stiff stop-loss at Rs 890Source: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Sensex vaults 306 points on China's move to free yuanBuoyed by China's decision to allow a more flexible yuan, the Sensex gained 305.73 points on Monday to close at 17,876.55, while the Nifty gained 90.7 points, toSource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am States told to cut tax on auto fuelsThe Union Petroleum Minister, Mr Murli Deora, has called upon the State Governments to reduce and rationalise sales tax/VAT on auto fuels – petrol andSource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Reliance Ind dials up risk with telecom move: Moody'sRating agency Moody's Investors Service has said that Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL) acquisition of Infotel has business risk and negative implications. However, it affirmed Reliance Industries' stable outlook, post the announcement of theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Now, SMS a shoe!Bigshoebazaar.com is looking to revolutionise the way shoes are sold. The company's just-launched SMS catalogue shopping format allows consumers to order products featured in a newspaper or magazine merely bySource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Piramal Health to buy BiosyntechMumbai: Piramal Healthcare Ltd said on Tuesday it has signed a definite agreement to acquire the assets of Canada’s BioSyntech Inc for C$3.9 million. BioSyntech is a medical device company, specialising in the development and manufacturing of regenerative medicines, the Indian healthcare firm said in a statement. “We had invested in the company in 2005 because we thought it was a good technology and now we have bought the whole company,” Swati Pirmal, director, strategic alliances and communications, told a news channel. “Now we have invested C$3.9 million, but we had earlier invested 22 crores in 2005 and we will need money to finish this up, we estimate that to be another Rs35 crores... It will be funded through internal accruals”. Piramal had subscribed to common shares of BioSyntech in FY06, constituting 17% of the latter’s equity, the statement said. BioSyntech was unable to raise further capital to fund its ongoing operations and to repay maturing debts. The company had sought court protection under insolvency proceedings. BioSyntech’s platform technology is a family of hyfrogels called BST-gel, that can be injected or applied to repair damaged tissue like cartilage, bone and chronic wounds. At 11.05 a.m., shares of Piramal was up 1.17% at Rs495.10 a share in a weak Mumbai market. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Jun 2010 | 11:57 pm Aviation stocks see improved returns post Spicejet dealMumbai: Aviation stocks have given returns of up to 7% post Spicejet stake sale, reflecting investors’ increased confidence in the sector which had been treated as outcast for long. According to analysts, the Indian aviation industry has come out of blues and this is the right time to enter the sector as it may see a complete turnaround on account of consolidation in the industry and the increased demand due to pick-up in the business activity. Since media baron Kalanithi Maran picked up majority stake in budget carrier Spicejet, all the three listed aviation stocks have seen a good run-up on the bourses. Shares of Spicejet have climbed almost 6% from 10 June, when reports of stake sale by the company surfaced, till date. During the period under review, the BSE index Sensex has given a return of nearly 6% to settle at 17,876.55 points yesterday. The scrip of Jet Airways has witnessed an upsurge of nearly 7% and Kingfisher Airlines has gone up by about 4% during the same period. “The aviation sector will see a complete turnaround in the next two years. The economy is showing signs of recovery and the per capita income is improving, and the domestic usage of airlines is going up. “So, slowly and gradually, the sector is picking up, therefore one should take a long-term investment view on the sector for good returns,” CNI Research CMD Kishore P Otswal said. Earlier this month, Sun TV’s CEO Kalanithi Maran picked up nearly 38% stake in Spicejet for Rs740 crore and also launched an open offer at a price of Rs57.76 a share to acquire an additional 20% in the no-frills carrier. The open offer would involve an outgo of around Rs 480 crore, taking the overall deal size to 1,220 crore. The aviation stocks have remained under pressure for long with Kingfisher Airlines touching its year low of Rs39.20 on 26 May, down 15% from yesterday’s closing level of Rs46.15. “I am quite optimistic on the sector as the air turbine fuel (ATF) prices have fallen sharply which will be reflected in the companies’ profits, the demand in the sector has also risen, and specially after the Spicejet-Maran deal, we can see that a lot of consolidation is taking place in the sector. “So, an investor can put his money in the sector but must keep a close watch on the crude prices,” Ashika Stock Brokers Research Head Paras Bothra said. Spicejet has moved from Rs 16.10 to Rs 60.35, a return of whopping 73% in last one year. Similarly Jet Airways, which was trading at its 52-week low of Rs 210 on 23 June, 2009, has risen to Rs 532.55 on June 21, 2010. After having suffered losses for two consecutive years, investors have started looking at the aviation industry after International Air Transport Association (IATA) released its revised financial forecast for 2010. According to IATA estimates, the global industry is expected to report net profit of $2.5 billion in calendar year 2010. It had earlier forecast net loss of $2.8 billion for 2010 for the industry. But at the same time market experts also feel that crude prices need to be watched very closely before putting money in the airline industry. Because if crude prices will increase, cost of air turbine fuel will go up which in turn may hurt the margins of the aviation companies. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Jun 2010 | 11:52 pm Mumbai taxis, auto-rickshaws on strike over hike in faresMumbai: Over 80,000 taxis and a lakh auto-rickshaws in Mumbai went off the roads on Tuesday after a strike by drivers demanding hike in fares. The recent increase in the prices of CNG has prompted auto and taxi drivers to demand hike in fares. Auto unions are demanding that the minimum fare for rickshaws be increased by Rs6 to Rs15 and Rs8 for every subsequent kilometre. Rickshaws currently charge Rs9 as minimum fare. The taxi union is asking for a hike in the minimum fare of black and yellow taxis from Rs14 to Rs16. Auto and taxi union leaders would meet transport department officials later in the day. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Jun 2010 | 11:22 pm Russian billionaire bids for Le MondeMoscow: A Russian billionaire banker has entered a bid to take over debt-ridden French broadsheet Le Monde, a Russian newspaper reported on Tuesday. Gleb Fetisov, the owner of Moi Bank banking group, told Kommersant daily that he had made a bid for a controlling stake in Le Monde. “For me, this deal is first of all a business project. I intend to develop the newspaper and remain the owner of a controlling share,” Fetisov told Kommersant. Fetisov came number 42 in Forbes magazine’s list of Russia’s richest in 2010, with a fortune of $1.6 billion. Le Monde, which is currently owned by its journalists, announced plans to sell earlier this month, amid debts of 100 million euros ($120 million). On Monday it announced two takeover offers from France Telecom subsidiary Orange and a consortium led by Pierre Berge, ex-partner of late fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent. French daily France Soir was bought last year by Alexander Pugachev, the son of Russian billionaire and senator Sergei Pugachev. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Jun 2010 | 11:14 pm Cox and Kings India plans fund raising for acquisitionsMumbai: Travel operator Cox and Kings India is seeking shareholder approval to raise up to Rs20 billion via equity and debt to fuel its growth plans including domestic and overseas acquisitions, a senior official said on Tuesday. “The primary objective for us is to fund our acquisition plans. We are currently looking at acquisitions both domestically and internationally,” chief financial officer Anil Khandelwal told Reuters. The firm had not yet finalised an acquistion target but was hoping to close a deal by the end of the current fiscal, he said. Cox and Kings India will raise upto Rs10 billion in equity and an equal amount as debt, he said. The equity portion can be raised “by way of domestic or international offerings,” Khandelwal said. The firm is looking mainly at developed English-speaking countries to buy travel firms, he said. “We are looking at Europe, we are looking at Australia and U.S....specifically our preference would be where there is an English-speaking country,” he added. The company, the parent of UK-based unlisted Cox and Kings, completed a Rs6.1 billion initial public offering of shares in December last year. In December, its unit had acquired Australia-based MyPlanet Australia Pty Ltd & Bentours International Pty Ltd from a unit of TUI Travel Plc. Its consolidated net profit for Jan-March rose 35% to Rs449.9 million. At 10:31am Cox and Kings shares were up 2.44% at Rs507.4 in a weak Mumbai market. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Jun 2010 | 10:51 pm Markets drop 0.4%; Infosys, Sterlite downMumbai: Indian shares eased 0.4% on Tuesday as investors took a breather after a 5.5% rally over three weeks. Infosys Technologies and Sterlite Industries led the decline. “Investors are booking profits after the recent rally,” said Kunal Sukhani, manager of institutional equities at brokerage Asian Markets Securities. “The trend should continue ahead of expiry on Thursday,” he said, referring to the monthly derivative contracts on the National Stock Exchange. By 10:28am, the 30-share BSE index was trading down 0.42% at 17,801.47 points, after rising to a 2-month closing high in the previous session. The 50-share NSE index was down 0.4% at 5,332.85. Two-third of its components were trading in the red. Traders said the market was following the trend in other Asian bourses that retreated as investors took profits from a rally spurred by China’s weekend decision to give its currency more flexibility. Foreign funds have bought shares worth $1 billion so far in June, after withdrawing $2 billion last month. Infosys, the country’s No. 2 software services firm, was down 0.9% after rising 2.4% over previous four sessions. Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro were down 1.1% and 1.3% respectively. Metals stocks pulled back after the bounce on Monday. Non-ferrous metals producer Sterlite Industries and aluminium maker Hindalco dropped 2.5% and 2.5% respectively. Tata Steel the world’s eighth largest steelmaker, was down 1.4%. The BSE metal index shed 1.6% after jumping 5.2% on Monday. In the broader market, gainers and losers were almost equal in number on volume of 130 million shares. STOCKS Yes Bank was down 3.1% at Rs273.10, after a source told Reuters Dutch lender Rabobank sold about 11% in the private sector bank. MTNL was up 2.8% at Rs65.50 after the Financial Express said Reliance Industries was in initial talks with the state-run telecom firm to market its 3G services as a franchisee. Cox and Kings India rose 2.7% to Rs508.60 after a senior official said the travel operator was seeking shareholder approval to raise up to Rs2000 crore via equity and debt to fuel its growth plans including domestic and overseas acquisitions. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Jun 2010 | 10:43 pm Asia stocks fall as yuan euphoria fadesHong Kong: Asian stocks retreated on Tuesday as investors booked profits a day after China’s weekend decision to give its currency more flexibility triggered a risk rally. China’s move on the yuan had set off optimism that a stronger yuan would lift its purchasing power for foreign goods such as commodities, a boon to the global economy given the nation’s vast appetite for raw materials. But that euphoria was checked as investors took a more considered view on the impact the move would have on economic fundamentals. “The potential boost that might be given to consumption is likely to be subtracted from what will happen to exports,” said Emil Wolter, head of regional strategy at Royal Bank of Scotland. “But the bottom line is that the market is making a huge deal of an insubstantial occurrence,” he said, adding that the yuan move had triggered a rally because it came after stocks registered their worst May in 12 years and at a time when there were large short positions. “Sell in May and go away” is an old stock market adage which refers to the seasonal weakness in shares. Beijing set the mid-point for the yuan’s daily trading range at a 5-year high on Tuesday, which gave the markets a brief respite from the selling but kept most indexes in the red. On Tuesday, the MSCI index of Asia Pacific ex-Japan stocks was down 0.7%, hovering around the day’s lows. Losses in technology and resources provided the main drag. China’s central bank set the yuan’s daily mid-point at 6.7980 against the dollar on Tuesday, the highest level since the yuan’s revaluation in July 2005, signalling it could allow the yuan to rise further. Spot yuan rose to as high as 6.7900 in early trade, up 0.11% from the close on Monday, when it jumped 0.42%. But by mid-day it was down 0.17%. Tuesday’s fixing initially reignited demand for riskier currency trades, with the Australian dollar and the euro jumping to the day’s high against the dollar. But that rise was short-lived and by noon the euro dipped 0.1% to $1.2298. The Australian dollar rose as high as $0.8834, up from around $0.8765 just before the mid-point was announced. The Australian dollar then dipped to $0.8782, up 0.23% on the day. Financial markets have also turned cautious ahead of Britain’s budget which will be announced later on Tuesday. As the sovereign debt crisis spreads through Europe, rating agencies have warned even Britain’s triple-A status could be at risk if the finance minister’s plans to cut the record deficit are found wanting. “Investors are growing more cautious on the view that the magnitude of the yuan’s new flexibility may not be as big as the market had earlier hoped,” said Lee Sun-yeb, a market analyst at Shinhan Investment Corporation in Seoul. “It seems the market is taking a bit of breather following its recent sharp gains, as it nears the earlier high. Foreign buying has also halted.” Japan’s Nikkei share average was down 1%. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell half a% as foreigners dumped shares amid growing risk aversion. Foreign investors turned sellers on Tuesday snapping their seven-session buying streak. Oil prices fell 0.8% toward $77 on speculation that a gradual appreciation of the yuan would have a limited impact on China’s petroleum imports in the short term. China’s stock market, one of the world’s worst performers this year, managed to cling on to gains after the previous day’s surge. The Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.3%, after rising 2.9% on Monday to its highest close in 3 weeks. And analysts expect more volatility ahead as the central bank’s move comes a day after it kept the mid-point unchanged. “The authorities want to say they are showing a more hands off approach and more flexibility in the markets but the reality is they are introducing more intraday volatility in the market,” said Craig Chan, senior FX strategist at Nomura International. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Jun 2010 | 10:29 pm Sensex opens 90 points lowerThe 30-share index, which had gained 305.73 points in the previous sessions, fell by 90.47 points, or 0.50 per cent, to 17,786.08 points in the first five minutes of trading.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 21 Jun 2010 | 10:22 pm New York car bomb suspect pleads guiltyNew York: Calling himself a Muslim soldier, a defiant Pakistan-born US citizen pleaded guilty Monday to carrying out the failed Times Square car bombing and left a sinister warning that unless the US leaves Muslim lands alone, “we will be attacking US.” Faisal Shahzad entered the plea in US district court in Manhattan just days after a federal grand jury indicted him on 10 terrorism and weapons counts, some of which carry mandatory life sentences. He pleaded guilty to them all. Widely circulated snapshots of Shahzad -- a US-trained financial analyst and married father of two -- show him with a neatly trimmed beard, all smiles and looking carefree behind sunglasses or with his American wife. When led into court Monday, he had on a white skull cap and prisoner’s uniform, his beard shaggy and his demeanor serious. US district judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum challenged Shahzad repeatedly with questions such as whether he looked at the people in Times Square, especially the children, to see who they were or whether he really built the bomb by himself. He repeatedly insisted he acted without help from others in the US and built the bomb “all by myself.” “One has to understand where I’m coming from,” Shahzad said calmly. “I consider myself ... a Muslim soldier.” The 30-year-old described his effort to set off a bomb in an SUV he parked in Times Square on 1 May, saying he chose the warm Saturday night because it would be crowded with people he could injure or kill. He said he conspired with the Pakistan Taliban, which provided more than $15,000 to fund his operation and five days of explosives training late last year and early this year, just months after he became a US citizen. He explained that he packed his vehicle with three separate bomb components, hoping to set off a fertilizer-fueled bomb packed in a gun cabinet, a set of propane tanks and gas canisters rigged with fireworks to explode into a fireball. He also revealed he was carrying a folding assault rifle for “self-defense.” Shahzad said he lit a fuse and waited to five minutes for the bomb to erupt. “I was waiting to hear a sound but I didn’t hear a sound. ... So I walked to Grand Central and went home,” he said. The judge repeatedly interrupted Shahzad, including when he said his plot was to retaliate against the US and the forces of up to 50 other countries that had “attacked the Muslim lands.” Cedarbaum said: “But not the people who were walking in Times Square that night. Did you look around to see who they were?” “Well, the people select the government,” Shahzad said. “We consider them all the same. The drones, when they hit ...” Cedarbaum interrupted again: “Including the children?” Shahzad answered: “Well, the drone hits in Afghanistan and Iraq, they don’t see children, they don’t see anybody. They kill women, children, they kill everybody. It’s a war, and in war, they kill people. They’re killing all Muslims.” Later, he added: “I am part of the answer to the US terrorizing the Muslim nations and the Muslim people. And, on behalf of that, I’m avenging the attack. Living in the United States, Americans only care about their own people, but they don’t care about the people elsewhere in the world when they die.” Cedarbaum asked him if he understood some charges carried mandatory life sentences and that he might spend the rest of his life in prison. He said he did. At one point, she asked him if he was sure he wanted to plead guilty. He said he wanted “to plead guilty and 100 times more” to let the US know that if it did not get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, halt drone attacks and stop meddling in Muslim lands, “we will be attacking US.” Sentencing was scheduled for 5 Oct. The Connecticut resident was arrested trying to leave the country 3 May, two days after the bomb failed to ignite near a Broadway theater. Authorities said Shahzad immediately cooperated, delaying his initial court appearance for two weeks as he spilled details of a plot meant to sow terror in the world-famous Times Square when it was packed with thousands of potential victims. The bomb apparently sputtered, emitting smoke that attracted the attention of an alert street vendor, who notified police, setting in motion a rapid evacuation of blocks of a city still healing from the shock of the 11 September 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. According to the indictment issued last week, Shahzad received a total of $12,000 prior to the attack from the Pakistani Taliban through cash drop-offs in Massachusetts and Long Island. Attorney general Eric Holder said after the plea: “Faisal Shahzad plotted and launched an attack that could have led to serious loss of life, and today the American criminal justice system ensured that he will pay the price for his actions.” FBI New York acting assistant director-in-charge George Venizelos called the plea “right on the mark” and praised the work of “ordinary citizens who alerted law enforcement of suspicious activity.” Shahzad was accused in the indictment of receiving explosives training in Waziristan, Pakistan, during a five-week trip to that country. He returned to the United States in February. The indictment said he received $5,000 in cash on 25 Feb from a co-conspirator in Pakistan and $7,000 more on 10 April, allegedly sent at the co-conspirator’s direction. Shahzad confirmed the payments in court Monday and said the Pakistan Taliban also gave him more than $4,000 when he left training camp, where he spent 40 days. Shahzad, born in Pakistan, moved to the United States when he was 18. Pakistan has arrested at least 11 people since the attempted attack. An intelligence official has alleged two of them played a role in the plot. No one has been charged. Three men in Massachusetts and Maine suspected of supplying money to Shahzad have been detained on immigration charges; one was recently transferred to New York. Federal authorities have said they believe money was channeled through an underground money transfer network known as “hawala,” but they have said they doubt anyone in the US who provided money knew what it was for. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Jun 2010 | 9:52 pm US probes Google Street View data grabsSan Francisco: The attorney general of the US state of Connecticut is looking into whether Google broke the law by capturing people’s personal data from wireless networks while Street View bicycles and cars mapped streets. Attorney general Richard Blumenthal announced Monday that his office will lead a multistate probe of “Google’s deeply disturbing invasion of personal privacy,” which has drawn ire and scrutiny in several countries. “Street View cannot mean Complete View -- invading home and business computer networks and vacuuming up personal information and communications,” Blumenthal said. People have a right to know what information Google gleaned, how it was done and why, according to Blumenthal. He also wanted the Internet giant to detail what safeguards are in place to fix the situation. “While we hope Google will continue to cooperate, its response so far raises as many questions as it answers,” Blumenthal said. “Our investigation will consider whether laws may have been broken and whether changes to state and federal statutes may be necessary.” Blumenthal has asked Google to explain how and wed wireless networks and why they recorded the quality of wireless networks they passed. “It was a mistake for us to include code in our software that collected payload data, but we believe we didn’t break any US laws,” a Google spokesman said in response to an AFP inquiry. “We’re working with the relevant authorities to answer their questions and concerns.” France last week joined the list of countries to focus investigations on Google for gathering personal data as its Street View bikes and cars photographed cities across the world for its free online mapping service. The French data protection agency CNIL said it was examining private data collected for Street View, including emails and possibly banking details, to decide if the firm should face criminal charges or other sanctions. Google said it had also handed data to privacy authorities in Spain and Germany for analysis. Canada’s privacy commissioner is probing the collection of data by Street View vehicles, while police in both New Zealand and Australia said this month they would investigate the Internet giant over alleged privacy breaches. In Europe, Germany, Austria, Italy and France were among the countries investigating whether their citizens’ privacy had been breached by the California-based company. Street View lets users view panoramic street scenes on Google Maps and take a virtual “walk” through cities such as New York, Paris or Hong Kong. The service, which began in 2006, first came in for criticism for threatening the privacy of people caught -- sometimes in embarrassing situations -- in the photos taken by cars cruising cities in over 30 countries. But when it emerged that Google’s cars and bikes had also been gathering fragments of personal data sent over unsecured WiFi systems, legal action and official probes were quickly announced around the world. Google has gone on record saying it was cooperating with authorities in France and elsewhere and would delete data if legally obliged. “Our ultimate objective is to delete the data consistent with our legal obligations and in consultation with the appropriate authorities,” Google told AFP last week. Google said last month it was halting the collection of WiFi network information after saying it had mistakenly gathered personal data. On 1 June, it said it had deleted private wireless data mistakenly collected in Austria, Denmark and Ireland. It had insisted previously that it was only collecting WiFi network names and addresses with the Street View cars. The company said it has had experts examine its data-gathering software and shared its findings with data protection authorities. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Jun 2010 | 9:19 pm Airlines to compensate fliers for flight delayThere\'s good news for air passengers. They compensating fliers may be compensated for cancellation or delays in flights which have not been caused by situations beyond the control of the airlines.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 21 Jun 2010 | 4:36 pm DGCA invites opinions on draft rulesThe Directorate General of Civil Aviation has invited public opinion on the draft Civil Aviation Rule (CAR) about facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines due to denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delays in flights. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 21 Jun 2010 | 1:38 pm Volvo recalls nearly 30,000 cars over gear shift problemVolvo said today it would recall 29,299 of its cars worldwide due to a problem with the gear shift that could make it difficult for drivers to change gears.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 21 Jun 2010 | 1:09 pm Kraft plans India foray with confectioneryThe Kraft-Cadbury combine is likely to herald its presence in India with confectionery products. The reasons are evident.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 21 Jun 2010 | 12:53 pm Yuan move spurs global stocks, commoditiesEquity markets across the world made handsome gains today after China announced plans to make its currency, the yuan, more flexible against the dollar. Most of the Asian and European indices posted impressive gains and the US markets also opened on a high.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 21 Jun 2010 | 12:51 pm Drama at BoR merger ballotIt was a day of drama for Bank of Rajasthan (BoR). The bank first cancelled an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) in Mumbai, following a stay order by a court in Kolkata. After which, shareholders themselves decided to convene and vote on the merger proposal with ICICI Bank; the outcome is not known. Minutes after the voting was done, ICICI Bank got the stay vacated by the Kolkata high court.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 21 Jun 2010 | 12:49 pm Bhopal GoM doles out Rs 1,500 cr moreReport with PM; Cabinet decides on Friday.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 21 Jun 2010 | 12:46 pm Phone software makes you type words, not lettersBack in the 1990s, typing out “hello” on most cellphones required an exhausting 13 taps on the number keys, like so: 44-33-555-555-666.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 21 Jun 2010 | 12:30 pm ADAG’s proposed power plants face ‘just-in-time’ gas allocationThe government may allocate natural gas to the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group’s proposed power plants, such as its Dadri project, only six months prior to commissioning, as reservation of gas is not allowed under the present policy.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 21 Jun 2010 | 12:27 pm A flatter and fatter worldAfter verbal sparring and name-calling throughout the working week, in typical fashion, the People’s Bank of China announced on Saturday that it would proceed with further reform of the renminbi (RMB) exchange rate and that it would enhance RMB’s exchange rate flexibility. What it means for the dollar/RMB exchange rate in coming months is unclear. Probably, that is how China wanted it. Greater flexibility for the exchange rate, strictly speaking, goes both ways. If the euro/dollar weakens further, China might depreciate its currency against the dollar. This clever ambiguity and the brazenness with which Xinhua, the official news agency, labelled the Congressmen calling for renminbi revaluation baby- kissing (incompetent) politicians, conveys the picture of a nation that is confident and knows what it is after. In contrast, recent data and other signs from the US are not encouraging. Retail sales in May declined and jobless claims remain high. Housing starts and building permits declined significantly in May and home builders’ confidence took a nosedive. The Federal Reserve, in its meeting during the week, is set to lower its economic growth forecasts for 2010. The Philadelphia “district” of the Federal Reserve saw manufacturing strength tumble in May. It is possible that the recent revival of the euro/dollar and record gains for gold in dollar terms last week were due to investors’ anticipation of revival of quantitative easing in the US as a counter to fresh economic weakness. These developments confirm the conclusions reached at the annual forum of the world’s largest bond manager in Pimco in May. Some of them are relevant for investors having to choose between the developed and developing world: •It is a world that calls for a broader investment universe and guidelines and, for those who use them, revamped benchmarks that better capture the world of today and tomorrow rather than that of yesterday •It is a world where the currencies of the emerging (as opposed to submerging) economies will continue to warrant a greater allocation over time •The distribution of global outcomes is going through a transformation, in terms of both overall shape (flatter) and tails (fatter) What does this mean for investment decisions in the next few years? Besides picking emerging economies for a steadily rising allocation to their assets—equities, fixed income and currencies—what does this hold for allocation to commodities or natural resources? The answer to that question depends on the growth and inflation outcomes in developed and developing economies. A combination of high growth in the developing world and pursuit of high growth in the developed world (it is only a pursuit) in the face of structural growth constraints might produce a combination of high growth in the developing world and high inflation elsewhere. High inflation would likely result from a combination of both high nominal growth in the developing world leading to demand for resources and monetary growth in the developed world as they pursue growth in vain, without allowing deleveraging to be played out fully. This is not an immediate prospect, however. For the next year or year and half, deflation risks dominate more than inflation risks as policymakers in the developed world wait before they deploy their ultimate weapon—fiat-money debasement. When that happens, it would call for a higher allocation to natural resources, logically. There is one catch: natural resources have been “financialized” in the last several years. Hence, they are influenced by speculative and “noisy” investors rather than by long-term investors. They have moved in tandem with equities. The scenario described above might not be good for equities since sovereign risk would rise in the face of active and deliberate fiat-money debasement. That would offset any short-term and possible improvement in nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth, arising out of another round of attempted reflation. In such a scenario, the million-dollar question is whether natural resources would move in tandem with equities and thus decline or rise because of the combined force of higher nominal GDP growth in the developing world and fiat-money debasement in the developed world? Bare Talk guesses that they would eventually rise but the operative word is “eventually”. In the final analysis, investment strategists have to keep in mind that we are in a transition from one phase of the world (greater financialization, falling interest rates, inflation, commodity prices, peace dividend, etc.) to another. What economic, political and ecological landscape would emerge is not easy to fathom. We need to recognize that in our allocations. The search for genuine diversification in portfolios is on but only few would succeed in finding it. Institutions that develop the right incentives for their portfolio committees stand a better chance of succeeding in this difficult mission. Committees that work only to create consensus and compromises rather than being led by managers with conviction would deliver unsatisfactory investment returns for their clients. V. Anantha Nageswaran is chief investment officer for an international wealth manager. These are his personal views. Your comments are welcome at baretalk@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Jun 2010 | 12:26 pm Cadbury kin plans; firm to rival KraftAn heiress to the fortune of Cadbury, the famous British chocolatiers, is selling her £27-million family estate to launch a chocolate company to rival American giant Kraft, which took over Cadbury earlier this year.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 21 Jun 2010 | 12:21 pm Blackstone seeks to meet $2-3 bn targetMumbai: Akhil Gupta, chairman and managing director of Blackstone Advisors India Pvt. Ltd, said in an interview that the private equity (PE) fund is working on several deals that it expects to close soon and that it’s the first choice for a great many companies. Edited excerpts:  Optimistic approach: Blackstone Advisors’ chairman and managing director Akhil Gupta says India can attract any amount of capital. India Today It is about five years now since you started in India? Are you preparing for any exits? Actually, it’s only just over three years since we made our first investment. In the US generally, the normal hold period is five-six years, but we expect the hold period in India to be higher because India is a growth economy. We expect continued growth. Hence, we would like the value of our investments to keep growing. We have made the investment and all the hard work is done. It is now a question of benefiting from continued growth of the Indian economy. Having said that, we are always working on mergers and acquisition activities. Also, there could be a special reason why we may think of exiting, if such opportunities arise. However, at this juncture, there is no plan to exit any company. You have invested strategically in a few chosen sectors such as BPOs, infrastructure etc. Do you plan to merge these businesses? There are three themes we have pursued in India. Domestic demand, infrastructure and lastly the labour and talent arbitrage. If you take Gokaldas and Intelenet, they are investments in the space of labour and talent arbitrage. If you look at Nagarjuna Constructions, AllCargo Global Logistics Ltd, Machine Tools Aids & Reconditioning Technologies Ltd, Gateway Rail Freight Ltd, they are all infrastructure and others such as Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd and Jagran Media Network are a play on domestic demand. We don’t see any business logic of combining any of our existing portfolio companies. Blackstone appears bullish on media businesses? What attracts you to this sector? We have tried investing in several media assets before and for various reason it didn’t work out. We believe that media is the best way to play the personal consumption theme. Media is a much diversified platform. It also has a huge operating leverage, much more than any of the consumer businesses we have seen and significant barriers to entry. What is an average period of holding? Most PE (private equity) funds have an investing period of five to six years. We try and get out of all our investments in 10 years. This results in an average holding period of five to six years. This is a great strategic advantage for PE players vs. hedge funds as we can time our exit. When Nagarjuna went from Rs360 to Rs40 it didn’t bother us. However, for the hedge funds it meant a disaster as they were forced to liquidate due to redemption by their investors. NCC is back to 190 now, more than five times in a year. We are not surprised at all. This is because we monitor two factors very closely. One is the investment thesis and the other is operating performance. As long as the reasons we invested are still intact and the company’s operating performance is tracking the plan, we remain unconcerned and continue to focus on adding value and improving the company’s competitive position. A good comparison is a T20 versus a Test match. In a Test match, even after receiving a follow-on you can still go on and win. We play the Test match, not T20. How much have you invested in India and what are your future plans? We are very happy with the portfolio we have in India. The last time our chairman came down he said that we are very optimistic about India and would plan to invest $2 - $3 billion in India in the next five years. We are working on a few deals and will hopefully close most of them. That would take our investment to $1.4 billion in the first five years. Also we have doubled the team as compared to when we made our first investment over three years ago. We have 16 people in the team now. We believe we are the most sought after PE firm and first choice for a great many companies. They recognize the benefits of working with Blackstone. We have have an operating team led by eminent senior professionals including Richard Saldanha, Gautam Chakravarti and Amit Dalmia, who actively work with and mentor managements of investee companies to add value to their strategies and operations and enable them to scale up to the next level. Another key differentiator is that we bring global linkages and synergies for our investee companies through the Blackstone portfolio globally. It’s only when we turn them down that many companies go to others. It’s only 10% of the deals that don’t come to us because these companies have better relationships with the other PE firms. But almost 90% of the deals come to us. What about buyouts? You were one of the first global buyout firms to come into India. I would just say that’s pure luck. I doubt there are many buyout opportunities now. We have done three buyouts in 10 deals we have invested/committed so far but I doubt if we will do three buyouts in the next 10 deals we do. Entrepreneurs see what we see. They see that the value of the company will grow 2-3 times in five years. So why should they sell now? There are certain exceptions like Gokaldas where the promoters wanted to take the company to the next level and believed they could do that only with our (PE) help. Intelenet was a corporate deal where Barclays wanted to cash out for regulatory reasons. CMS was an interesting buyout. This is where the entrepreneur was saying, look I have built a great company and I want to take it to the next level, so I need professional management but I can’t attract them on my own. So, he said, Blackstone I trust you. I will sell you a controlling interest. Bring in the right talent and then on the half that I have not sold, you will give me three times the money so I am better off giving the control to you (the PE). This is an interesting deal where the entrepreneur has kept one half and has given us the other half and is looking to grow it with us. So though it’s a small deal it’s very important to us. We take it very seriously and there was one of our people dedicated to only working with them for a year. The success of the deal will pave the way for many more control deals in the future. There is a talk about Gateway Distriparks, the promoters wanting to sell out. So would you buy it or let AllCargo acquire it? For us it would be a conflict of interest because we are invested in Allcargo and we generally do not invest in the competitor of our portfolio company. Especially in this case they are direct competitors for the same business of Container Freight Stations. It doesn’t leave the right kind of relationship and relationship is very important to us. We want to leave a legacy. They should feel that the best decision they ever took was to partner with us. When GDL’s stock price went down it was a steal, but we didn’t want to buy for reasons mentioned above. So we suggested Allcargo to buy. They bought some (equity) and they made a handsome profit on that. Do you think you can facilitate an acquisition between them? I don’t think the companies are waiting for that. We have relations with both of them and we have to be fair to both. GDL will take about two years before it realises its full value as it has to make its subsidiary GRFL profitable. We are working with GRFL management very closely. You have had a background in telecom, so do you think telecom companies are a steal at the valuation they are today? You know sometimes when you know a sector so well you don’t invest in it. We have actually looked at every deal that has been done in India in the telecom space. We avoided all those deals as we were worried about the impact of competition and regulation over a five-year period. For some time it seemed as if we have missed the opportunity to invest in telecom. Today it looks like we did the right thing. Telecom was one of the sectors which India could showcase to the world – one of the best regulatory regimes and the fastest-growing mobile market in the world. The regulators have completely destroyed the profitability of the mobile sector by allowing hyper competition -- 12-14 players in every circle is not a healthy market structure. As such, currently it is not an attractive sector for any private equity investor. Our investment in telecom assets results in huge mis-allocation of economic resources which our country can ill afford. What about tower companies? Tower companies are much more attractive. They are worth re-looking at. Their valuations have come down. The problem with the sector was that some of the investments were made assuming that four more mobile players will come and undertake national roll-out needing space on towers. None of these players have been able to make any significant roll-out because it doesn’t make any economic sense. We have looked at tower assets before and we declined to invest. We had the advantage of a 360-degree view on the sector and so if we look at all these business plans and believe in them there will be two times as many towers as is required. So in our view obviously all the business plans are wrong. I must admit we could be wrong about this view but that has been our view. Now the government has auctioned spectrum for broadband wireless and 3G. The roll-out of these networks will create significant opportunity for tower assets, so we are looking at these again. What about power? Are you gearing up for investments? It is an important sector for us. We are very closely looking at it. From the pipeline and the quality of deals we are seeing, we could be a big investor in the power sector. We want to invest in the sectors that are important to the Indian economy because that’s where we can make good returns also. We believe it’s the right time for us to be in the power sector. The window is there for the next 2-3 years. After that it will become like telecom. We are working on several power deals. We won’t hesitate putting in $1 to 1.5 billion in the power sector. Of all infra sectors we find power most attractive. Would you look at roads and airports? No. Airports are more of a real estate play not truly a PE investment. The way we are playing roads is through our investment in Nagarjuna Constructions. We are encouraging them and advising them to go aggressively in the road sector now after Kamal Nath has taken over the surface transport ministry. He understands the issues faced by the industry and is a dynamic leader and an amazing administrator. NCC had actually withdrawn from the road sector for the last two years. We lost a good amount of road contracts and almost 20% of the revenues. We diversified in the power sector and metals and mining space. Today one of NCC’s greatest strengths is that it’s one of the most diversified construction companies. Now we have gone again into roads and recently NCC won a Rs1,000 crore road contract and there may be another one in the making. There is a feeling that smart money from India is exiting or going abroad. There’s the Bharti Zain deal and Indian promoters such as Ajay Piramal are selling out, whereas Mukesh Ambani is very bullish on India and telecoms? These are smart deals. I would expect that Piramals will invest most of the funds in other sectors in India itself, because there is a lot of action here. You are right, even Mukesh Ambani appears to be very bullish and he’s supposedly lining up huge investments in India in new sectors. He is very bullish on the power, consumer and pharma sectors. So are we. Mukesh is going where his strength is. He can really build a nationwide broadband infrastructure faster and cheaper than anyone else in the country. Not many people may remember it now but, it was Dhirubhai’s vision “to make a phone call cheaper than a postcard” enabled by Mukesh Ambani that made the telecom sector what it is today. Had we (government) not made the mistake last time of adding four more players I think we would have been (one of) the most dynamic telecom sectors in the world. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s estimates for broadband are very modest—20 million subscribers in five years. Yes they are modest. My view is that he (Mukesh) will be the catalyst to enable India to surpass that. At an analyst meet, RIL said they hope to get 100 million… Yes it’s a good aspiration to have. Nobody would have imagined India would have so many mobile subscribers today. The Indian market is very price sensitive and that’s why someone like Mukesh Ambani can really make a difference to the market because he will bring the costs down dramatically and then people will follow him and the market will expand dramatically. Do you sense that the 2007 euphoria has returned? India can attract any amount of capital. No country has the fundamentals that we have—8-10% growth for the next 10-15 years, great free market and democratic institutions, good stock markets, a good judiciary system. But the problem is also that India is one of the (most) difficult places to invest in. The famous joke is that it is much easier to invest in China than in India but it’s much easier to take money out of India than out of China. satish.j@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Jun 2010 | 12:15 pm The Mint Report for 21 June 2010Justice could be a step closer for victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy. On Monday a Group of Ministers approved a new set of proposals that could deflect some of the criticism of the government. The proposals include ramping up compensation for victims by nearly 50%, a new petition against the Supreme Court’s decision to reduce the charges against the accused, and a plan to finally clean up the site of the deadly gas leak. Monday’s proposals are now with the Prime Minister. And the union cabinet is expected to meet on Friday to discuss it. After winning the battle with Sebi, insurance regulator IRDA is all set to revamp Ulips. On Monday the regulator said it would create new guidelines to make Ulips more attractive. The new rules will cover surrender charges, risk cover, top-up benefits and most significantly the front-loading of commissions. Currently, life insurance companies pay agents commissions of up to 35% in the first year. IRDA’s proposed change will bring that number down to 10-15%. On Friday night the government issued an ordinance that declared Ulips part of the life insurance business. IRDA and market regulator Sebi were fighting over which of them would regulate Ulips. China’s promise on letting the Yuan appreciate sent markets soaring. The Sensex shot up 306 points to close at 17,877. And the Nifty jumped 91 points to close at 5,353. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Jun 2010 | 12:10 pm Gauging the impact of yuan’s appreciationMarkets across the world staged a smart rallyon Monday, reacting to the Chinese government’s signal that it was going to be more flexible on the yuan. There are several reasons why China’s decision to allow its currency to appreciate is good for the markets. One, it reduces trade tensions between the US and China. Two, the hope is that a stronger yuan will increase commodity demand, because the Chinese will consume more as a result of their higher purchasing power. But this conclusion sits uncomfortably with another one that China’s competitors, such as India, will gain as the yuan’s appreciation takes some of the edge away from Chinese exports. To the extent that commodity imports are used for exports, the yuan’s appreciation may not be such a good thing. A Deutsche Bank AG research note by Jun Ma and Wenjie Lu draws attention to this effect. They point out that “although the substitution effect on the RMB (renminbi, or Chinese yuan) appreciation is positive for China’s demand for imported commodities (as they become cheaper in RMB terms), the currency appreciation itself serves as a tool for policy tightening that reduces overall demand for commodities. The net impact is likely to be very small.” Also Read Sterlite gains on commodity outlook Jun and Wenjie predict that any knee-jerk gains in commodities and in commodity-related currencies such as the Australian dollar will be reversed soon. Nevertheless, China’s move will certainly impact some sectors. The Deutsche Bank paper says: “A 10% RMB appreciation...will cut volume exports of apparel by 3.7%, electric machinery by 2.2% and electronic components by 1.4%…will boost imports of sugar by 6.7%, coal by 2.7%, but nearly zero impact on crude oil, iron ore and non-ferrous metals.” Third, and this is also important from India’s point of view, it will diminish some of the concerns that the central bank has about the impact of currency appreciation. In other words, the flexible yuan will provide some comfort to central banks of countries that compete with Chinese exports, allowing their currencies, too, to appreciate, thereby, making them less concerned about inflows of funds and also acting as a dampener to inflation. Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at CARE Ratings, says that “for the three-year period between June 2005 and June 2008, the coefficient of correlation (between the movement of the two currencies) was 0.69 (and significant), meaning thereby that further appreciation of the yuan would be associated with the rupee also strengthening under ceteris paribus conditions.” The yuan was allowed to gradually appreciate against the US dollar between 2005 and 2008. Fourth, a stronger yuan should boost consumption in China, while reducing its dependence on exports, thus helping the process of “global rebalancing”. Although this is likely to be a slow process, it does signal a move in the right direction. Almost all analysts urge caution, though, pointing out that any moves in the yuan are likely to be slow and controlled. We welcome your comments at marktomarket@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Jun 2010 | 11:57 am Toshiba takes on Amazon, Apple with dual-screen PCTokyo: Toshiba on Monday launched a dual-screened mini notebook PC that can be used as an e-book reader, adding to competition for the likes of Apple Corp’s iPad and Amazon.com’s Kindle. The new gadget, which can be used like a conventional clam-style notebook PC with a software keyboard, or turned 90 degrees for use as an e-book reader, will go on sale in Japan in late August and later in Europe, the United States and other markets. Toshiba unveiled the Libretto W100 at a lavish event in Tokyo that also marked a quarter century since it launched the world’s first laptop in 1985, though its personal computer division made an ¥8.8 billion ($97 million) loss in the year to March 2010. The company expects its PC division to break even in the year to March 2011. The new touch-screen gadget, which also faces potential competition from Sony Corp will not shake up the e-book reader market at this point, because the company has yet to draw up any agreements with content providers. But executives were keen to emphasise that the Libretto, which they expect to retail for about ¥120,000 ($1,320) in Japan, compared with $489 for the larger of Amazon’s Kindle devices, or $499 for the cheapest iPad, offers more than a passive “consumption” experience. “Apple’s iPad is probably creating a new market in terms of consuming information, browsing and reading books,” Masahiko Fukakushi, president and CEO of Toshiba’s digital products and network unit, told reporters. “But when it comes to creation or production ... what we have been doing still has a lot of value. We want to continue to do both.” Toshiba is the world’s fourth biggest notebook PC vendor after HP, Acer and Dell. Industry-wide shipments of notebook computers jumped 43% in the January-March quarter, their highest year-on-year growth in eight years, according to industry tracker Gartner. Toshiba is targeting global PC shipments of 25 million units in in the year to March 2011. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 21 Jun 2010 | 4:20 am Dell in talks with Google over Chrome OSShanghai: Dell Inc is in talks with Google Inc over the use of the Chrome operating system on its laptops, a top company executive said on Monday. Google said this month it expects to release its Chrome computer operating system in the “late fall” as it aims a competitive strike at rival Microsoft’s Windows. Google is working with PC giants Hewlett-Packard Co, Lenovo Group, Acer Inc and Asustek Computer Inc in designing and developing devices for the operating system. The Chrome operating system will be centred around the web browser, with all software including high-end applications such as those used in photo and video editing housed in external servers known as a cloud. Dell, the world’s third-largest PC maker, was in talks with the Mountain View firm about the Chrome system on its laptops, but had no announcements to make as yet, Amit Midha, Dell’s president of Greater China and South Asia told Reuters. “We have to have a point of view on the industry and technology direction two years, three years down the road, so we continuously work with Google on this,” Midha said. “There are going to be unique innovations coming up in the marketplace in two, three years, with a new form of computing. We want to be on that forefront ... So with Chrome or Android or anything like that, we want to be one of the leaders,” he said. Streak into China Dell, which is releasing its 5-inch tablet device called “Streak” in the United States in July, hopes the device will be released in China this year but has no firm release date, Midha said. Dell’s growth in China will also outpace the market growth of 15 to 16% in the coming few years. Dell’s chief executive said in March that the firm’s China revenue will near $5 billion this year. “We are continuing to gain share as we are growing much faster than the market,” said Midha. According to him, Dell’s current market share is around 12%. Dell which entered the smartphone market late last year with release of Mini 3 in China, will release another new smartphone in the coming few months. The phone will have an in-built television tuner and will be a full-featured smartphone to run on the TD-SCDMA network, China’s homegrown third-generation mobile network. The new smartphone would be released with China Mobile, Midha said. “(This) is really going to open up the potential (of the smartphone market in China) because there is not a lot of choices or availability of handsets on the TD side,” he said. China Mobile is the world’s largest mobile carrier by subscribers. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 21 Jun 2010 | 4:11 am RBS India, Chile units seen for saleLondon: Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is close to selling its Indian business to HSBC and may shortly sell its investment bank arm in Chile as an overseas retreat accelerates, a person familiar with the matter said. RBS, 83% owned by the UK government, could fetch over $8 billion from a trio of big asset sales in the coming months and is also selling a number of smaller non-core business to refocus on its core strengths. The Edinburgh-based bank is in talks to sell its global banking and markets business in Chile, the source said. The business offers equities, corporate finance and advisory, cash management and trade finance. RBS is also near to selling its Indian unit to HSBC after over a year of talks. The business is one of the biggest foreign owned operations in the hard-to-enter Indian market, with 1.3 million customers, 28 branches and 1,800 staff. HSBC has about 2 million customers and 50 branches across 29 cities in India. RBS chief executive Stephen Hester is reversing a decade-long international expansion drive and has raised over $2.5 billion from exiting or selling over 20 businesses in the last 14 months. It last week announced the sale of businesses in Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Argentina. The bank is also being forced to sell some major assets by European authorities as a cost of taking stake aid, including a network of 318 UK branches, its payment processing business and its stake in RBS Sempra’s North American commodities business. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 21 Jun 2010 | 3:57 am
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