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SEBI confirms ban on Keynote Cap in Pyramid Saimira caseMarket regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has confirmed a ban on Keynote Capital in the Pyramid Saimira case till investigation ends. The boards interim order on April 23 had banned Keynote from trading on account of allegedly valuating Pyramid shares exorbitantly.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jul 2010 | 8:48 am Shree Renuka doesn\'t see rates dipping, calls for decontrolNarendra Murkumbi, Managing Director of Shree Renuka Sugars doesn\'t see the prices of sugar weakening any further. In fact he feels the global price fall in FebruaryMarch was overdone. \"There is a lot of pent up demand sugar,\" he says.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jul 2010 | 7:59 am DoCoMo to launch Galaxy S handset in Oct,tablet by MarchNTT DoCoMo Inc, Japan\'s biggest mobile phone operator, said on Wednesday it plans to launch Samsung Electronics Co\'s Galaxy S handset in October this year and a tablettype phone by March 2011 to beef up its smartphone lineup.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jul 2010 | 7:48 am Would like to change strategy of White Mackay: UB GroupIn an exclusive interview with CNBCTV18, Ravi Nedungadi, President Chief Finance Officer, UB Group clarifies that the company would like to change strategy of White and Mackay.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jul 2010 | 6:55 am Indian retailers up on foreign investment discussionShares in Indian retailers rose in subdued market on Wednesday as investors cheered New Delhi\'s tentative step towards opening up the country\'s organised retail sector to foreign companies.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jul 2010 | 6:44 am No land price correction seen in Delhi: Anant RajIn an interview with CNBCTV18, Amit Sarin, CEO Director, Anant Raj Industries, spoke about the latest happenings in his company and sector.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jul 2010 | 6:38 am BSNL seeks franchisees for 3G services: ChairmanStaterun telecoms firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd will shortly seek expressions of interest for franchisees for its thirdgeneration (3G) wireless services, Chairman Kuldeep Goyal said on Wednesday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jul 2010 | 6:21 am FDI cap in retail could cross 49%: Shoppers StopIn an exclusive interview with CNBCTV18, BS Nagesh, Vice Chairman, Shoppers Stop, talks about all DIPP recommendations that were put forth yesterday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jul 2010 | 5:32 am NMDC in talks with Nippon for steel plantTop iron ore miner NMDC Ltd is in talks with Nippon Steel Corp, the world\'s No. 2 steelmaker, to set up a 2milliontonne steel plant in the country, The Economic Times newspaper reported on Wednesday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jul 2010 | 4:47 am ICBC may raise $6.6bn in rights offersICBC, the world\'s most valuable lender, may raise up to 45 billion yuan (USD 6.6 billion) through rights offers, becoming the latest Chinese bank to go to markets to replenish its capital, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jul 2010 | 4:47 am Volkswagen India launches powerful Volkswagen Vento sedan - ZNews24.com
Source: Business - Google News | 7 Jul 2010 | 3:54 am Ford India starts exports of Figo to South Africa - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 7 Jul 2010 | 3:48 am Hunt on for mastermind of fake visa racket - Sify
Source: Business - Google News | 7 Jul 2010 | 3:34 am Gold hits 6-week low on China news; physicals helpSINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold dropped to a six-week low on Wednesday after China said bullion would not become a major investment home for its foreign exchange reserves, but physical buying helped cushion the fall.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Jul 2010 | 3:27 am Sensex down over 100 pts realty metal banks auto dip - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 7 Jul 2010 | 3:25 am Poll points to China slowdown as policy picture blursBEIJING (Reuters) - China's economy is slowing moderately in response to a slew of government curbs on the property market and bank lending, according to a Reuters poll released on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Jul 2010 | 3:21 am New fuel price norms likely next week - sourcesNEW DELHI (Reuters) - State-run refiners hope to work out rules for setting market-driven prices of fuel across the country by mid-July, two sources directly involved in the process said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Jul 2010 | 3:11 am Rupee eases to 1-mth low on choppy stocks - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 7 Jul 2010 | 3:08 am DoCoMo plans Galaxy S, tablet launchTokyo: Japan’s NTT DoCoMo Inc plans to beef up its smartphone line-up with Samsung Electronics Co’s Galaxy S handset and an Android-based tablet phone to attract more users, its chief executive said on Wednesday. DoCoMo, Japan’s biggest mobile phone operator with more than 56.5 million subscribers, is rapidly expanding its smartphone roster to battle rival Softbank Corp, which is surging in popularity as a distributer of Apple Inc’s iPhone and iPad. DoCoMo now aims to offer seven smartphones later this financial year, two more than originally planned, to tap surging demand for phones with computer capabilities. Besides the Galaxy S in October and a tablet phone by March, it also plans to launch a new BlackBerry phone by Research In Motion as one of its winter/spring models. Chief Executive Ryuji Yamada said the tablet device would be different from the popular iPad. “The iPad is of course leading the tablet market right now, but it is a computer and not a phone,” he told Reuters in an interview. “We’ve asked for one with a phone function, and it is being developed right now.” The iPad essentially created the growing tablet market and a slew of such machines, from companies like Dell Inc and Toshiba Corp, are hitting the market this year. Yamada said DoCoMo is discussing future devices with Samsung and the possibilities include a tablet device. But he declined to confirm or deny whether the tablet phone it plans to launch this business year will be manufactured by the South Korean maker. DoCoMo made a bet in the smartphone market with Sony Ericsson’s Xperia phone in April, and Yamada said the company has sold around 300,000 units of the device so far. “I think Xperia and Galaxy S will be the ones that stand out,” he said. Both handsets are based on Google Inc’s Android operating system. The Galaxy S is Samsung’s answer to the iPhone 4, the latest version of the wildly popular iPhone. Samsung, the world’s second-biggest maker of mobile phones, is launching the handset with 100 carriers including the top five US carriers. DoCoMo has been trying to offer iPhones and iPads as well, and Yamada reiterated that the company has not given up on trying to become a distributor of the devices. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Jul 2010 | 3:03 am Calibrated move to open FDI in retail a good start: Sunil Mittal - NDTV.com
Source: Business - Google News | 7 Jul 2010 | 2:46 am New fuel price norms likely next week: sourcesNew Delhi:State-run refiners hope to work out rules for setting market-driven prices of fuel across the country by mid-July, two sources directly involved in the process said on Wednesday. Last month government granted autonomy to oil firms to fix retail prices of gasoline and raised prices of diesel, kerosene, and cooking gas. It also said that diesel prices would eventually be market-determined but gave no time frame. Officials of state-run refiners will meet on Thursday, followed by a meeting with private-sector firms the following day, one source said. “There are many issues that we will discuss. We will certainly be discussing the periodicity to revise the retail prices and arrangements to buy fuel from other refiners under the new system,” he said. The second source said the norms were expected to be ready by 17 July. “Then we will submit our views to the oil ministry,” he said. On Monday, opposition parties had shut down parts of the country in a nationwide protest against higher fuel prices, but analysts said the government was unlikely to back down on efforts to cut subsidies and trim a budget deficit. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Jul 2010 | 2:31 am Rupee eases to 1-month low on choppy stocksMUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee eased to its lowest in nearly a month on Wednesday afternoon, weighed down by choppy equities and as the dollar inched higher overseas.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Jul 2010 | 2:30 am Sony slashes Reader price in war with Kindle, NookThe Touch Edition was priced at $169.99 from $249.99, and the basic Pocket Edition was discounted to $149.99 from $169.99.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Jul 2010 | 2:26 am Prudential chief expected to give investors apology on AIAPrudential chief executive Tidjane Thiam is expected to apologise directly to shareholders when the insurer holds its annual general meeting on Monday, days after it was humiliatingly forced to pull its $35.5 billion bid for AIG's Asian arm.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Jul 2010 | 2:24 am Economic slowdown worries hit world stocksLONDON (Reuters) - New evidence that the U.S. economic recovery is slowing pushed investors to sell shares on Wednesday following a burst of bargain hunting the previous day.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Jul 2010 | 2:16 am NMDC in talks with Nippon on steel mill: Report'It will be a joint-venture project and likely to cost Rs10,000 crore ($2.12 billion),' the rpeort NMDC chairman and managing director Rana Som as saying.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Jul 2010 | 2:16 am Lavasa Corp to invest 22-23 bln rupees in FY11MUMBAI (Reuters) - Lavasa Corporation, a unit of Hindustan Construction Company Ltd, will spend 22-23 billion rupees as capital expenditure in its city project spread over 20,000 acres near Pune, a senior official said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Jul 2010 | 2:15 am Saudi investors eye 10-15% stake in BP Plc: ReportA delegation of Saudi investors will be heading to London for direct talks with BP, said al-Eqtisadiyah, the main business daily in the top oil exporter.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Jul 2010 | 2:15 am Monsoon covers entire country, deficiency down to 10%: Met - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 7 Jul 2010 | 2:10 am Spectrum sale to ease pressure on RBI to take policy actionChief Statistician T C A Anant today said better than expected receipts by the government from the sale of 3G and Broadband Wireless Access spectrum will lessen pressure on the Reserve Bank to manage liquidity in its fight against rising inflation.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 7 Jul 2010 | 2:02 am Oil falls below $72 on stronger dollarSingapore: Crude prices fell below $72 on Wednesday on a slightly stronger US dollar, reversing earlier gains of as much as 0.6 percent boosted by forecasts of a second weekly fall in US inventories. Prices tracked volatile equities in the past two days, paring gains on Tuesday after a report from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) showed a slowdown in the US service sector. But the expected tightening of US crude and gasoline supplies allowed oil to shrug off falling Asian equities on Wednesday. US crude for August fell 24 cents to $71.74 a barrel by 12:36pm, on Wednesday after advancing as much as 40 cents to $72.38 a barrel earlier. ICE Brent for August fell 25 cents to $71.20. “Yesterday’s non-manufacturing data fell more than expected, so investors have a wait-and-see approach,” said Serene Lim, a Singapore-based oil analyst with ANZ. “The market is pricing in a drop in crude inventories, but if inventories fall less than expected, we might see prices falling.” US crude stockpiles probably fell 2.6 million barrels in the week to 2 July, a Reuters survey showed on Tuesday, as imports may have dropped for a second straight week. Gasoline inventories were forecast down 300,000 barrels on average, following a surprise modest build in the prior week, while supplies of distillates, including heating oil and diesel, probably posted their sixth straight weekly increase, adding 1.5 million barrels. The American Petroleum Institute will publish weekly inventory data on Wednesday at 2;00am, followed by government statistics from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday at 8:30ampm. Both reports come a day later than usual because of the independence day holiday on 5 July. Asian stocks fell on Wednesday as investors worried global growth was faltering, while the euro held near a 7-week high as investors pared long positions in the dollar on doubts about the resilience of the US recovery. “Investors are still very concerned about the economic outlook,” said Lim, adding that prices may test the $68-$70 range before the end of the month. “I don’t think oil could decouple from the stock markets. It’s quite highly correlated these days. Whatever is going to happen in the stock market will have some impact on crude prices.” A weather system over Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula and the eastern Gulf of Mexico had a 30% chance of developing during the next two days into a tropical cyclone, a category that includes tropical storms and hurricanes, the US National Hurricane Center said late on Monday. The system’s course so far has been similar to that of Hurricane Alex, which in late June forced Mexican oil terminals to shut and US producers to curb output. Global oil output will rise faster than first expected in 2010 with a strong rebound in prices from the depths of the crisis ensuring growing demand will not stretch supplies for at least another year, a Reuters poll of 10 top oil-tracking analysts and organisations found on Tuesday. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Jul 2010 | 1:51 am China won't dump U.S. Treasuries or pile into goldBEIJING (Reuters) - China on Wednesday ruled out the "nuclear" option of dumping its vast holdings of U.S. Treasury securities but called on Washington to be a responsible guardian of the dollar.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Jul 2010 | 1:32 am India Inc's M&A deal tally hits $25 bn in April-JuneDriven by Reliance Infratel's $10.86 billion merger deal with GTL Infrastructure, the total value of merger and acquisition deals in the country jumped nine-fold to $24.8 billion in the second quarter of 2010.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 7 Jul 2010 | 1:11 am Bigger role seen for emerging financial centres like MumbaiSAO PAULO (Reuters) - London and New York are not about to lose their spots as the world's leading financial centres but they are being challenged by emerging market upstarts in a potentially lucrative area: the management of funds moving between developing economies.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Jul 2010 | 1:02 am Marks and Spencer Q1 sales rise at slower paceLondon: British retailer Marks and Spencer posted a third consecutive rise in underlying quarterly sales, though its rate of improvement slowed a little and it joined rivals in sounding cautious about the consumer outlook. Britain’s biggest clothing retailer, which also sells food and homewares, said on Wednesday sales at British stores open at least a year rose 3.6% in the 13 weeks to 3 July, its first quarter. That was toward the top end of forecasts and boosted by a strong performance in clothing, though it was down from a 5.1% rise in the previous quarter. Britain’s retailers are concerned that higher taxes and public spending cuts aimed at slashing record government borrowing -- as announced in an emergency budget on 22 June -- might hit consumer spending in the months ahead. “We have made a good start to the financial year, but following the recent budget and the actions proposed to reduce the national deficit, including the increase in VAT (sales tax), we are cautious about the outlook,” M&S chief executive Marc Bolland said. M&S, which serves 21 million Britons a week from over 650 stores and also has about 300 shops abroad, was hit hard in the recession, particularly in its upmarket food business. It has fought back with lower-priced “Wise Buys” in food, new clothing ranges like “Indigo”, and a revamped online offer. Like-for-like general merchandise sales, which include clothing and homewares, were up 6% in the first quarter, while food sales were up 1.5% on the same basis. That was excluding a benefit from the timing of Easter, which would add about 0.4% and 1.4% to the figures respectively, M&S said. International sales were up 0.9%, while sales at the M&S direct Internet business leapt 49%. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Jul 2010 | 1:02 am Army deployed in Srinagar, takes out flag marchSrinagar: Army on Wednesday moved into curfew-bound Srinagar to assist the civil authorities in maintaining law and order and staged a flag march on airport road after violence had left three people dead. The flag march was conducted on the Srinagar Airport Road from 10:30 am, a defence spokesman said. The state government had sought the help of the army in the wake of spiralling protests in the city. Curfew imposed on Tuesday after three persons were killed allegedly in firing by security forces is being strictly enforced in the city. Curfew was also in force in Anantnag, Pampore, Pulwama and Kulgam in South Kashmir and Kupwara and Bandipore in North Kashmir. Restrictions were in force at Sopore and Baramulla where Army also staged a flag march. The army was called out on the streets of Srinagar late last night to enforce the curfew keeping in view the non-availability of adequate number of police personnel, many of whom have been deployed for Amarnath Yatra and counter-insurgency operations, official sources said. Protesters had on Tuesday clashed with security forces in various places including Khanyar, Nowhatta, Rajouri Kadal, Barzulla, Fateh Kadal, Braripora, Tatoo Ground, Hyderpora, Baghat, Rambagh, Jehangir Chowk, Maisuma, and Habbakadal, leaving many people injured. On the deployment of the army in Srinagar, state minister and Congress leader Taj Mohiuddin said, “We requested the army to help us in maintaining peace. Peace is our first priority. They will be the supportive force we need for keeping peace. “The district administration thinks that the army is needed to keep calm in the valley. The anger is there,” he said. State law minister Ali Mohammad Sagar asked the people to respect the curfew restrictions. “We will strictly implement the curfew restrictions. Government will try its best to restore normalcy. We are trying our best to normalise the situation,” he said. Referring to stone-pelting protestors, he said, “Some elements, some agencies were getting the youths on the roads for implementing their political agenda. So we are trying our best to control the situation. It is just the question of saving the people from this situation”. The state government has advised deputy commissioners throughout the valley to enforce prohibitory orders in their respective jurisdiction. They have also been instructed to impose curfew wherever necessary, an official spokesman said. Police vans fitted with public address system announced imposition of curfew this morning and also advised people to remain indoors. Curfew passes issues to journalists were cancelled. Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah had appealed to the people to maintain calm and not to violate curfew restrictions. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Jul 2010 | 1:02 am BSNL seeks franchisees for 3G servicesBharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd will shortly seek expressions of interest for franchisees for its third-generation (3G) wireless services, Chairman Kuldeep Goyal said on Wednesday.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 7 Jul 2010 | 12:55 am Africa prospects lure investors, but is it ready?SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Africa offers among the world's best investment prospects as emerging markets grow ever more important, although its economies risk being destabilized by the slew of capital they stand to attract in coming years.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Jul 2010 | 12:54 am Indian firms M&A deal tally hits $25 bn in April-JuneNew Delhi: Driven by Reliance Infratel’s $10.86 billion merger deal with GTL Infrastructure, the total value of merger and acquisition deals in the country jumped nine-fold to $24.8 billion in the second quarter of 2010. According to a monthly report of VCCEdge, the financial research platform of VCCircle.com, the M&A deal value during the April-June period touched $24.8 billion, taking the total M&A kitty so far this year to $48 billion. In comparison, it was $2.8 billion in the second quarter of 2009. The deal count also witnessed an upward trend and surged to 182 in Q2 of the 2010 calendar year, compared to 98 in the year-ago period. The period saw as many as 91 domestic deals worth $14 billion, compared to 50 deals worth $1.7 billion in the year-ago period, the report said. While the number of outbound deals tripled from 22 in Q2 of 2009 to 66 in the same quarter of this year, the number of inbound deals decreased to 23 in the second quarter of 2010 as against 24 deals last year during the same period. Big tickets dominated the M&A space this quarter as larger deals (worth $100 million and above) accounted for as much as 96 per cent of the total capital invested in the second quarter this year. “Q2, 2010, saw some big tickets deals, which sent the total M&A deal value soaring. This signalled the return of investor confidence and liquidity to the market,” the report noted. The top transaction in the April-June period was Reliance Communication subsidiary Reliance Infratel’s $10.86 billion deal to merge its telecom tower business with GTL Infra. The combined entity would be the world’s largest independent telecom infrastructure company, with 80,000 towers. Other major M&A transactions during Q2 include Abbott’s $3.72 billion buyout of Piramal Healthcare’s solutions business and Hinduja Group’s acquisition of Luxembourg-based KBL European Private Bankers for $1.67 billion. Meanwhile, a sector-wise analysis shows that telecom, healthcare and financial services were the most targeted sectors, attracting deals worth $12 billion, $3.8 billion and $3.4 billion, respectively, in the latest quarter. In terms of deal volume, the most active sector was information technology, which cornered 38 deals, followed by Consumer Discretionary and Industrials, with 30 and 23 deals respectively. The five major deals in the second quarter of this year accounted for over 75% of the total M&A deals, the report added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Jul 2010 | 12:54 am Rupee at 1-month low as shares dropMumbai: The Indian rupee fell to its lowest in nearly a month on Wednesday, weighed down by a wobbly stock market and the dollar’s strength overseas. Traders said there were hardly any inflows and the market was adjusting to moves in other currencies such as the euro. At 10:07am, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs47.05/06 per dollar, its worst since 10 June, and weaker than Tuesday’s close of Rs46.89/90. “Looking at the euro and indices, it seems the rupee should touch 47.10 on the downside today,” said a senior dealer at a private bank. The euro dipped on Wednesday but was still hovering near a recent seven-week high, with traders saying it could rise further in the near term due to doubts about a recovery in the U.S. economy and positive technical signals. “There is no (dollar) inflow as of now. The next big trigger will be the monetary policy,” a dealer at a state-run bank said. Foreign fund flows into and out of the stock market set the rupee’s trend. So far in 2010, foreigners have bought a net around $6.8 billion worth of shares, after investing a record $17.5 billion last year. The central bank is expected to hike rates again in its quarterly review on 27 July after a surprise increase last Friday, a Reuters poll showed. Asian currencies were mixed versus the dollar. The index of the dollar against six majors was up 0.21%. Indian shares were trading down 0.5% taking cues from Asian markets. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at Rs47.29, 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 47.21, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $1.02 billion. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Jul 2010 | 12:48 am ADAG increases stake in Fame India to 15.77 pcAnil Ambani group company Reliance MediaWorks today said it along with two other group firms has further purchased 0.05 per cent stake in Fame India, hiking their combined stake in the multiplex chain to 15.77 per cent.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 7 Jul 2010 | 12:40 am BSNL seeks franchisees for 3G services: ChairmanState-run telecoms firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd will shortly seek expressions of interest for franchisees for its third-generation wireless services, chairman Kuldeep Goyal said on Wednesday.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Jul 2010 | 12:26 am Bigger role seen for emerging financial centersSao Paulo: London and New York are not about to lose their spots as the world’s leading financial centers but they are being challenged by emerging market upstarts in a potentially lucrative area: the management of funds moving between developing economies. With developed economies struggling and emerging markets thriving, more and more financial deals are being cut well away from the traditional centers. Rising trade between emerging economies, cross-border mergers, acquisitions by Indian and Chinese companies and moves by developing world businesses to raise capital in each other’s markets will spur growth of financial centers in the fastest growing economies, according to industry experts who addressed the Reuters Emerging Markets Summit in Sao Paulo last week. For the bankers clustering in cities like Sao Paulo and Mumbai, the intra-emerging markets movement of funds represents an alluring chance to make money. “We see flows between Africa and India, India and China, India and Korea being much bigger,” said Neeraj Swaroop, CEO of Standard Chartered’s India business. “Not just big companies but also small- and medium-sized companies are making outbound investments. For banks like Standard Chartered, these are immense opportunities to pursue.” Stephen Jennings, CEO of Renaissance Capital, a Moscow-based investment bank focused on developing economies, said he is already seeing a rapid integration of capital flows in emerging markets. “In our M&A practice, 80% of our deals don’t have a Western face. And the same thing will happen with financial flows,” he told the Reuters summit. “London cannot possibly retain its role as a primary capital markets center for emerging markets ... I think it will be displaced totally over the next two to three years,” he said, adding that high taxes, intensifying regulation and unfavorable immigration policies all work against the City. While other industry experts expect New York and London to remain dominant for years to come, examples of the world’s changing investment flows abound. Chinese investment is surging in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Russian and central Asian resources companies are lining up to list shares in Hong Kong. Jennings says UC Rusal’s $2.2 billion IPO in Hong Kong in January was “the tip of a massive iceberg”. Chinese banks are also making big loans across the developing world, such as $1 billion in financing South Africa’s Standard Bank obtained from a consortium of Chinese lenders in 2009. And Brazilian companies will soon tap debt markets in South Africa and Russia, said Eduardo Centola, CEO of Standard Bank’s Latin American operations. “There is interest in issuing bonds for Brazilian companies in rand, and there’s a huge appetite for rand bonds in Africa,” said Centola. “We also find there is an appetite for Brazilian companies to issue in rubles.” Niche markets Both New York and London have a long list of advantages over emerging market rivals, ranging from loose capital controls and the strong rule of law to sound infrastructure and high quality schools and universities. Jim O’Neill, Goldman Sachs’ head of global economic research and the man who coined the term Brics, says it will take many years before the traditional financial powerhouses are overtaken by emerging market rivals. “For any of these emerging markets to truly be an international financial center, they have to do something about the basic ingredients, including the use of English and adopting very credible and acceptable rules of business law,” he said. “Without those two basic things, these countries have no chance.” Nevertheless, some of the new centers may soon dominate lucrative niches. Singapore is challenging Switzerland for the world’s wealth management business, Hong Kong — which led the world in IPOs last year — is becoming an equity hub for Asia’s growing resources companies and Shanghai, not New York, is coordinating the financial resources driving China’s private sector. To Jennings, these are the seeds of a new model: one in which the savings of emerging markets no longer flow to the United States and Europe, but rather to the areas with the highest growth rates. “In the last 10 years, emerging markets savings have, through the dollar as the reserve currency, been intermediated through the West,” he said. “But that capital is much more efficiently deployed in emerging markets because returns are higher and in some cases risk is lower. So those connections, the new financial plumbing, are being built now.” Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Jul 2010 | 12:26 am Bharat Oman shut crude unit at Bina refineryState-controlled Bharat Petroleum Corp holds the majority of BORL, and Oman Oil Co owns 26%.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Jul 2010 | 12:25 am AstraZeneca Pharma shares fall on buyback offer - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 7 Jul 2010 | 12:05 am Eveready Industries India (Rs 66.1): BuyWe recommend a buy in the stock of Eveready Industries India from a short-term perspective. It is apparent from the charts of the stock that it has been consolidating sideways in a broad range between Rs 55 and Rs 75 since September 2009. From aSource: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Net direct tax collections up 15.5% in Q1Buoyed by strong show on industrial growth front, the Centre's net direct tax collections grew 15.49 per cent in the first quarter this fiscal to Rs 68,675 crore (Rs 59,465 crore). This growth is substantially higher than the 3.65 per centSource: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am India Inc may see fall in June quarter profitsFor the quarter ended June 2010, corporate profits may slow down relative to the March quarter but will expand at a healthy rate over lastSource: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Transfer pricing: Maruti allowed tax deduction on ad spendThe Delhi High Court has sent back to the tax authority a transfer pricing matter relating to Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), noting that the approach adopted by the transfer pricing officer (TPO) was erroneous andSource: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Trade data suggest China's metal sector is slowingChina, the widely acknowledged mover and shaker of the world commodities market, has always been watched closely by all stakeholders, especially suppliers of bulk commodities, including metals and energy products. In many cases, the Asian giantSource: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Rupee under pressureAnother bout of volatility shook financial markets over the past week on concerns over economic slowdown in the US and China. Consequent turbulence in the domestic equity market pulled the rupee lower to 46.8 against the dollar. Net selling bySource: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Govt opens debate on FDI in multi-brand retailBraving all political odds, the Government, on Tuesday, took the first step towards opening up foreign direct investment in multi-brandSource: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Telecom operators may see dip in Q1 net profitTelecommunication operators may report a dip in net profit for the first quarter ended June 30 largely due to lower operational profitability and higher interest costs incurred on debt taken to acquire spectrum for third generation and broadbandSource: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideWe re-affirm our sell recommendation in DLF with stop-loss at Rs 288Source: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Centre expands list of fortified fertilisersAs a follow-up to its instituting a nutrient-based subsidy (NBS) regime, the Centre has widened the list of micronutrient-fortified fertilisers marketable bySource: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am 1,347 Lexus cars to be recalled in UAEAs many as 1,347 Lexus LS460s will be recalled in the UAE amid fears of faulty valve springs that could lead the engine to stall, the vehicle's distributor in the UAE has confirmed.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 6 Jul 2010 | 11:53 pm Bharti Airtel to invest $600 mn in Nigerian operationsAbuja: India’s largest cellular service company Bharti Airtel will invest $600 million in Nigeria’s mobile market following its take over of Zain Telecom’s African business for around SUD 10.7 billion. Manoj Kohli, the CEO international and joint managing director, told reporters in the country’s commercial capital, Lagos, on Tuesday that Bharti will also invest in rural telephony and introduce a corporate social responsibility programme that includes setting up of schools that would offer free quality education to underprivileged children in rural communities. “We are very delighted to be in Nigeria and at the outset like to express our deep gratitude and than the government of Nigeria for their overwhelming support. We want to be a partner in Nigeria’s growth and will work with the government to take the telecom network deep into all corners of the country to touch the common man,” Kohli said. The company will also bring its ecosystem of global partners to Nigeria and this will increase employment opportunity in the country with teeming number of unemployed school leavers. Kohli said Bharti will embark on an aggressive expansion in Nigeria in order to boost the profile of the country with a population of 150 million people as an emerging market powerhouse. He noted that mobile phone customers in Nigeria use only 50 minutes of airtime a month whereas 450 minutes is obtainable in India and promised to make an improvement. He sounded optimistic about the future of Africa stating: “If a company hopes to grow, they have to be in Africa and the jewel of Africa is Nigeria.” Zain’s Nigeria CEO Rajan Swaroop said: “In Nigeria we will continue to build on the momentum ...introduce innovative products and services for our customers in Nigeria.” Mobile telephony was introduced in Nigeria in the early 2000 and South African-based MTN controls half of the market despite the presence of some other companies like Globacom and Etisalat. However, lowering of call tariff may give Bharti an edge as most Nigerians complain of high cost of making calls. Bharti Airtel embarked on the largest ever telecom takeover by an Indian firm on 8 June, 2010, when it completed a transaction to buy Kuwait-based Zain Telecom’s businesses in 15 African countries for $10.7 billion. The Africa holdings include Burkina Faso, Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Chad and Zambia. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jul 2010 | 11:52 pm Toyota to extend development time to ensure qualityToyota City: Toyota Motor Corp. will extend the time it takes to develop its vehicles by an average of four weeks in a bid to ensure quality following a string of high-profile recalls, a top executive said. “The fast growth of the past decade has been too much in some areas for the company to keep up with,” executive vice president Takeshi Uchiyamada told a small group of US-based reporters at Toyota headquarters on Wednesday. Uchiyamada, in charge of research and development, said Toyota had assigned about 1,000 engineers to deal specifically with quality issues, out of the 14,000-strong R&D staff. The quality of Toyota’s cars -- once a benchmark for the industry -- has come under scrutiny after the world’s top automaker recalled more than 10 million vehicles globally since late last year, mostly for problems of unintended acceleration. Criticised by regulators for being too slow to act and out of touch with consumers’ needs, Toyota has also set up a new team of 100 engineers independent of development to audit vehicle quality from the perspective of drivers, Uchiyamada said. “It’s important for our engineers to look at a vehicle and see how customers might use it in ways that haven’t been reflected in our testing,” he said, adding that doing so could help identify problems like the issue of stacked or loose floormats before they hit the market. “We want them to be a little mean.” Toyota announced a number of steps earlier this year to reverse a quality slide and win back consumer confidence, including setting up a 50-member committee, chaired by president Akio Toyoda, aimed at giving more autonomy to regional operations to speed up decisions on quality issues. The various initiatives to boost vehicle quality would likely result in a slight rise in development costs per vehicle in the short term, Uchiyamada said. The average lead time for vehicle development in Japan has so far been about 24 months, he said. “Our personnel costs are fixed. We’re not hiring new engineers, so over the long term if our quality stabilises, I expect our costs should fall,” he said. “But in the short term -- over the next year or so -- our costs per vehicle may rise a bit.” Uchiyamada said Toyota had added a new layer of management in engineering, appointing assistant managers to create smaller work teams and focus more on developing skills among workers and driving home the “customer first” philosophy. Still, in a sign that such efforts could take time to bear fruit, recalls have not let up at Toyota, leaving consumers wondering whether quality fixes are working. This week, Toyota recalled 270,000 cars -- mostly in the United States under the high-end Lexus brand -- to fix a potential problem of engines stalling. That came less than two weeks after a separate recall of a hybrid Lexus sedan to repair a potential fuel leak. Uchiyamada said Toyota needed to do more to address consumers’ concerns about safety in North America and develop “more attractive products” to win back consumers. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jul 2010 | 11:51 pm Bharat Oman shut crude unit at Bina refineryNew Delhi: Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd (BORL) has shut the only crude unit at its new plant in central India, within few days of its startup, as the firm plans to link it with a vacuum distillation unit (VDU), a company official said on Wednesday. State-controlled Bharat Petroleum Corp. holds the majority of BORL, and Oman Oil Co. owns 26%. The crude unit at the 120,000 barrels per day Bina refinery was started on 29 June. The last refinery commissioned in India was 17 months ago, when Reliance Industries began production at its 580,000 bpd refinery at Jamnagar in western India. “We had planned to shut the crude unit after 4-5 days of operations as we don’t have enough intermediate tanks to store products. We will restart the CDU very soon in synchronisation with VDU,” said U.N. Joshi, managing director of Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd, which runs the plant. BORL will again shut the two units after a few days of operations and process the intermediate products at gasoline production units that are expected to be commissioned later this month, Joshi said. The Bina refinery has a one-million-tonne-a-year naphtha hydrotreater and a half-a-million-tonne continuous catalytic reformer to produce gasoline. Joshi said gasoline units would also be shut after a few days of operations. “All units will then be commissioned along with the hydrocracker, which should be commissioned in July-August, provided we get boilers on time,” he said. BORL aims for full scale commissioning of the plant by end-September, he said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jul 2010 | 11:51 pm Expert cheat sheet: All you need to know about double dip recessionWelcome to the second installment of our expert cheat sheet series - which condenses nuanced, complicated subjects into ten easy-to-read bullet points. In Internet speak, we give you the tl;dr proof version. (Too long didn’t read)These are essentially a quick, easy way for you to sound knowledgable on topics in the news, or that are bound to come up in conversation. This week we give you ten key points about double dip recession, which will ensure that you can hold your own in any conversation about it - even if you have no idea about economics in general: 1.If your boss wants an opinion about the double dip and you think that it has something to do with the number of times a tea bag is dunked into a cup of hot water, then it is you who are in hot water. 2.The double dip is the return of recession later this year as the fragile global economic recovery we have seen in the past 12 months shatters. 3.Economic recoveries come in various shapes. Just run your eye along the following alphabets from left to right. There is the V-shaped rebound that countries such as India and China have experienced. Then there is the L that Japan has lived with over the past two decades: a collapse in output and then long stagnation. The double dip is described as a W-shaped recovery, when a fall in output is followed by a quick recovery and then another fall, all in quick succession. 4.In short, the double dip is more likely in the US and Europe rather than in our part of the world. 5.The main problem is as follows. The Western financial crisis was followed by the worst economic recession since the Great Depression. Banks teetered on the edge, companies stopped investing and consumers were more wary of spending. So private demand collapsed. Governments had to step in. They bailed out banks, gave consumers incentives to spend and also increased their own expenditure. These governments built up the biggest peacetime pile of debt and deficits because of all this fire fighting, which has shaken investor confidence. Think Greece. 6.There is pressure on governments to cut spending and increase taxes. Policy makers call it an exit policy. Many European governments have started doing this. New British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne did it in a recent emergency budget. Barack Obama’s budget director has quit. Some say that he put in his papers because the Obama administration has not been moving quickly enough to cut its deficit. 7.There is now a raging battle in the US between those who are calling for austerity and those who want another stimulus package for economies --- the Austerians and the Stimulants. The former say that it is time Western governments start tightening their belts as the recovery in private demand is on track. The latter say it is too early since unemployment is still almost in the double digits and consumer confidence is fragile. 8.The Austerians fear a resurgence of inflation if central banks keep interest rates low while the Stimulants say that deflation is the main threat. 9.The Austerians point to Japan in the 1990s, when a burst asset bubble brought a dynamic economy to a grinding halt despite large government deficits and zero interest rates. The Stimulants point to the US in the late 1930s, when a premature tightening by the government sent a recovering economy back into recession. 10.India has reason to worry because we live in a global world. Another painful recession later this year could hit companies and markets here. It’s not a certainty, but there is enough reason to fear a global double dip. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jul 2010 | 11:50 pm US co bribed several Indian firms to bag lucrative contracts - Hindustan Times
Source: Business - Google News | 6 Jul 2010 | 11:24 pm Bharat Oman shut crude unit at Bina refineryBharat Oman Refineries Ltd has shut the only crude unit at its new plant in Central India, within few days of its startup, as the firm plans to link it with a vacuum distillation unit, a company official said today.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 6 Jul 2010 | 11:11 pm Sensex slips further, energy, banking scrips under presssureA benchmark index for Indian equities today was ruling 106 points lower in noon trade, slipping further from its morning lows, with energy, banking and metal stocks coming under selling pressure.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 6 Jul 2010 | 11:02 pm Rupee at 1-month low as shares dropThe Indian rupee fell to its lowest in nearly a month on Wednesday, weighed down by a wobbly stock market and the dollar's strength overseas.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 6 Jul 2010 | 10:59 pm Monsoon covers all India, brightens crop outlookNew Delhi: India’s annual monsoon, crucial for a rebound in farm output after last year’s drought, has rapidly advanced to cover the entire country, boosting crop sowing and likely tempering food price inflation. The weather office has forecast widespread rains in the cane- and rice-growing regions in the north and in the oilseed-growing areas in the central and western parts of India. Rainfall was 16% below normal in June, when the monsoon did not advance beyond central India for two weeks, but heavy showers in the past week have narrowed the deficit to 13%. “The monsoon has covered the entire country by about nine days ahead of schedule,” said B.P. Yadav, director at the India Meteorological Department. The revival of monsoon rains, the main source of water for 60% Indian farms, will lift soybean and groundnut crops in the world’s top vegetable oils importer and help the cane crop in the Uttar Pradesh state, which produces half the cane in the world’s top sugar consumer. The weather office expects total June-September rainfall to be normal despite the June deficit. But forecasters and analysts said the rapid progress of rains in recent days was not too significant, because last year the monsoon had covered the entire country by 3 July and India still face the worst drought in 37 years. “It’s too early to say that the entire season will have a normal monsoon,” said D.K. Joshi, principal economist at CRISIL, a rating agency. “The development is positive and it will at least curb inflationary expectations on food,” he said. INFLATION Last year’s draught has led to a surge in food prices, with the headline inflation rate hitting above 10% in May and prompting the central bank to raise interest rates by 25 basis points in a inter-meeting move on Friday. High inflation has also triggered a series of protests including a successful national strike against high prices that has rejuvenated India’s opposition. The shortfall in monsoon rains since June 1 had narrowed to 13% after five days of heavy rainfall, data from the weather office showed on Monday. The weather office expects rainfall to improve. “We expect progressively higher rains this season. Even rains in October could be higher this year,” said L.S. Rathore, head of the agricultural meteorology division of the India Meteorological Department. Monsoon rains, which deliver 75-90% of the country’s rainfall, are forecast to be at 102% of the long-term average. “Good rains now will speed up sowing of summer crops. Monsoon revival over central India will expedite sowing of soybean,” he said. Forecasters expect heavier rains towards the end of the monsoon season due to developing La Nina conditions. “We feel La Nina conditions are developing and the monsoon is shaping up well,” said D. Sivananda Pai, director at the western city Pune-based National Climate Center, said. The government is watching the progress of monsoon before taking key decisions such as easing export curbs on rice and wheat, lifting the ban on sugar futures and imposing a tax on sugar imports. “Monsoon distribution holds the key to everything,” said Veeresh Hiremath, a senior analyst with the Hyderabad-based brokerage Karvy Comtrade. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jul 2010 | 10:55 pm Rupee at one-month low, weakens by 11 paise against dollarThe Indian rupee weakened by 11 paise to a touch one-month low of 47.01 against the US dollar in early trade today on account of foreign fund capital outflows from equities and increased demand from importers.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 6 Jul 2010 | 10:52 pm Samsung forecasts record Q2 operating profitSeoul: Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest seller of flat-screen televisions, forecast on Wednesday that operating profit rose to a record high in the second quarter this year as sales increased. The Suwon, South Korea-based company said it expects consolidated operating profit of between 4.8 trillion won and 5.2 trillion won ($4.2 billion) for the three months ended 30 June, according to a statement. That would beat the company’s previous all-time high of 4.41 trillion won set in the first quarter. Samsung, a major force in the global electronics industry, is also the world’s biggest seller of computer memory chips and liquid crystal displays. It ranks No. 2 in mobile phone handsets after Finland’s Nokia Corp. The company gave no reason for the quarterly performance and will formally announce second-quarter earnings at the end of this month, according to spokesman Jason Kim. Samsung does not release net profit forecasts. The company recorded net profit of 2.25 trillion won in the second quarter of 2009, a figure based on South Korean accounting standards, according to spokesman James Chung. Samsung adopted international financial reporting standards, or IFRS, from the first quarter of this year. Operating profit is seen as a direct indicator of business performance before taxes, dividends, asset sales and other items that are figured into net profit or loss. Samsung began issuing earnings estimates, or guidance, last year in hopes increased transparency would help minimize market speculation over its performance. The estimates include the performance of its overseas and domestic subsidiaries. Samsung estimated consolidated sales of between 36 trillion won and 38 trillion won for the second quarter. That compares with sales of 32.51 trillion won a year earlier, a figure Samsung recalculated to conform with IFRS. The company said in May it would invest a record 26 trillion won this year in capital spending and research and development as it bets on future growth, despite questions about the global economic outlook. Samsung said investment in new production facilities meant it expects to hire 10,000 new workers this year. Shares in Samsung fell 1% to 767,000 won after about one hour of trading Wednesday. The company’s stock price surged 77% in 2009. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jul 2010 | 10:45 pm Asia stocks fall; euro nears 7-week highSingapore: Asian stocks fell on Wednesday as investors worried global growth was faltering, while the euro held near a 7-week high as investors pared long positions in the dollar on doubts about the resiliency of the US recovery. A rebound in world stock markets on Tuesday, mainly propelled by bargain-hunting, turned out to be short-lived as data showed growth in the US service sector was slowing, the latest evidence that its expansion was cooling. Wall Street managed modest gains despite the data, but strong buying interest disappeared by afternoon as bearish sentiment reasserted itself. “Investors are not wholly confident about the global economic outlook. Recent weaker-than-expected US data is weighing on sentiment,” said Y.S. Rhoo, a market analyst at Hyundai Securities in South Korea. The MSCI index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan shed almost 0.8%, resuming its decline after the previous day’s rally, which had been largely spurred by gains in the beaten-down Shanghai market and an upbeat assessment of the region’s economic outlook from Australia’s central bank. The MSCI index has lost nearly 9% so far this year. Shanghai stocks fell 0.6 percent, a day after gaining nearly 2% on hopes that money will move back into the oversold market after the completion of Agricultural Bank of China’s mammoth $22.2 billion initial public offering, which will be the world’s largest. The Shanghai market, the world’s second-worst performer after Greece, has lost 27% since the start of the year after Beijing took a range of steps to cool surging property prices. Japan’s Nikkei average fell 0.9% as shares of exporters which had gained the day before gave back some of the gains, but the index remained above a seven-month low hit on Tuesday. “There’s little short-covering left today because investors already moved to cover short positions yesterday after the Nikkei managed to avoid breaking below the 9,000 level,” said Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities. “The verdict has yet to be reached, but a sense of relief could spread if the Nikkei were to be able to keep above that level, despite confusion in Europe, a slowdown in America and volatile currency moves.” The euro hovered near $1.2600, with near-term resistance around the 21 May high of $1.2670 and support forming at the 2 July low of $1.2480. The single currency rose to as high as $1.2662 on Tuesday, gaining nearly 0.7%. The dollar index edged up 0.1% to 84.151, staying near a two-month low of 83.825 hit this week. The dollar was steady against the yen at yen87.49, not far from a seven-month low of yen86.96 hit on EBS last week. The yen has made solid gains against the greenback in recent sessions on growing worries about an economic slowdown in the United States and falling stock markets. The Australian dollar was firm above 85 US cents, having jumped over 1% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, spot gold rose as much as $3.60 to $1,195.85 an ounce, regaining strength after falling to a six-week low in the previous day. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jul 2010 | 10:40 pm Sensex opens lower by 55 points on profit-bookingThe 30-share index, which had gained 173.04 points in the previous session, shed 55.84 points, or 0.32%, to 17,558.64 points.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 6 Jul 2010 | 10:35 pm Markets drop 0.2% on weak Asian stocksMumbai: Indian shares were trading 0.3% lower in early trade on Wednesday, with ICICI Bank and Infosys Technologies leading the decline, taking cues from weak Asian markets. At 9:01am, the 30-share BSE index was down 0.26% at 17,567.90 points, with 22 components declining, after opening a tad higher. The 50-share NSE index was down 0.3% at 5,275.80. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jul 2010 | 10:19 pm SAB to invest up to Rs100 crore in its music channel MastiiSAB, the first production house to be listed on the BSE, launched its new music and comedy channel Mastii today.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 6 Jul 2010 | 10:06 pm Sony slashes Reader price in war with Kindle, NookLos Angeles: Sony Corp. has cut the price of its Reader devices, joining an electronic-reader price war between Amazon.com Inc and Barnes & Noble Inc. On Sony’s website, the Daily Edition version of the Reader was listed at $299.99, down from $349.99. The Touch Edition was priced at $169.99 from $249.99, and the basic Pocket Edition was discounted to $149.99 from $169.99. Last week, Amazon cut the price on its most expensive Kindle electronic reader, the Kindle DX, to $379 from $489. A week before, it had reduced the price of its cheaper version of the Kindle to $189, just hours after bookstore chain Barnes & Noble lowered the price of its Nook to $199. The price war comes as makers of e-readers anticipate competition from Apple Inc’s iPad tablet computer, which can also function as an e-reader. It has a starting price of $499, sports a color screen and has the ability to play video and browse the Web. Sony could not be reached for comment. Shares of the Japanese company were down less than one percent to 2,342 yen on the Tokyo stock exchange. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jul 2010 | 9:43 pm Sony slashes Reader price in war with Kindle, NookLos Angeles: Sony Corp. has cut the price of its Reader devices, joining an electronic-reader price war between Amazon.com Inc and Barnes & Noble Inc. On Sony’s website, the Daily Edition version of the Reader was listed at $299.99, down from $349.99. The Touch Edition was priced at $169.99 from $249.99, and the basic Pocket Edition was discounted to $149.99 from $169.99. Last week, Amazon cut the price on its most expensive Kindle electronic reader, the Kindle DX, to $379 from $489. A week before, it had reduced the price of its cheaper version of the Kindle to $189, just hours after bookstore chain Barnes & Noble lowered the price of its Nook to $199. The price war comes as makers of e-readers anticipate competition from Apple Inc’s iPad tablet computer, which can also function as an e-reader. It has a starting price of $499, sports a color screen and has the ability to play video and browse the Web. Sony could not be reached for comment. Shares of the Japanese company were down less than one percent to 2,342 yen on the Tokyo stock exchange. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 6 Jul 2010 | 9:43 pm Oil hovers near $72 ahead of US crude supply dataOil prices edged up in tepid Asian trade today after recent falls on concerns about the US economic recovery, analysts said.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 6 Jul 2010 | 8:55 pm HSBC clients scrutinized in U.S. tax evasion probeNEW YORK/CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into whether some HSBC Holdings Plc clients may have failed to disclose offshore accounts, lawyers familiar with the probe said on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 6 Jul 2010 | 8:44 pm Corporate tax collections rise 21.7% in Q1 - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 6 Jul 2010 | 6:14 pm Centre making case to open retailForeign direct investment in multi-brand retail trade is currently prohibited in India.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 6 Jul 2010 | 2:40 pm India mulls FDI in multi brand retailNew Delhi: The government pulled a sensitive item in the reforms agenda out of cold storage on Tuesday, with the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) releasing a discussion paper on permitting foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail chains such as those run by the likes of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Carrefour SA around the world.  Photo: Harikrishna Katragadda/Mint The government has tried to defuse some of these concerns, by suggesting in its discussion paper that the sector would be opened up to foreign firms in a “calibrated manner”. It has also pitched issues such as inflation control and employment into the discussion about FDI in multi-brand retail. It has been suggested in the discussion paper that modern retailers with efficient cold storage chains could minimize wastage of fresh produce and ease food inflation. India currently lets around Rs1 trillion of fresh produce go waste and more than half of this can be brought to market if the proper farm-to-fork infrastructure is in place. The department has argued that “FDI in front-end retailing is imperative” to fund cold storage for farm produce.  Ahmed Raza Khan/Mint Both industry and the stock market welcomed the baby step towards opening up the sector. “The retail industry in India needs access to more capital. It can definitely go into the investment (for) the supply chain. But we just cannot build the back-end without an equal amount of development in the front-end,” said Rakesh Biyani, CEO of Future Group. Retail stocks rose by as much as 5%. Shares of Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd ended 4.84% up at Rs441 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Shares of Shopper’s Stop Ltd rose 2.02% and Trent Ltd, 3.19%. The exchange’s key index rose 173.04 points, or 0.99%, to 17,614.48. India currently allows 51% FDI in single-brand retail and 100% in cash-and-carry stores that can only sell to other retailers and businesses. Thomas Varghese, CEO of Aditya Birla Retail Ltd, said he is in favour of allowing 49% FDI in multi-brand retail. “If you are allowing FDI, do it in a calibrated fashion because it is politically sensitive and link it (with) up some caveat from creating some back-end infrastructure,” he added. To allay fears about the impact on small retailers once the big boys step in, the discussion paper has asked whether a Shopping Mall Regulation Act should be put in place to protect them. “The unfounded fear that large retailer will kill small ones is wrong. There is room for both to grow over the next foreseeable future,” said Harsh Bahadur, general manager (wholesale) at Tesco Hindustan Wholesaling Pvt. Ltd. He added that if the government went ahead and allowed FDI, it would be “good news for the economy”. Wal-Mart India’s president Raj Jain declined comment on the grounds that he hadn’t read the discussion paper. An analyst appreciated the government’s willingness to finally get down to the business-end of policymaking. “While there have been ongoing discussions for many years, this is very significant in putting down all these issues, talking about them very clearly and coming up with issues that we need to resolve,” says Saloni Nangia, vice-president (retail) at consultancy Technopak Advisors Pvt. Ltd. Both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left parties are opposed to allowing FDI in multi-brand retail. asit.m@livemint.com Ruhi Tewari also contributed to this story. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jul 2010 | 1:45 pm Govt moots entry for global brands in retailIn a move that could bring the biggest supermarket chains of the world, like Wal-Mart and Carrefour, to the bazaar near your home, the government has made a strong pitch for foreign direct investment in the retail sector, reports HT Correspondent.See graphic Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 6 Jul 2010 | 1:39 pm Govt gets ball rolling on FDI in retailDiscussion paper out, feedback sought on diverse concerns.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 6 Jul 2010 | 1:24 pm Swap ratio gloom spreads to R-PowerReliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) lost more than a fourth of its market capitalisation in just two days of trading after the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG) announced its merger with sister firm Reliance Power (R-Power).Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 6 Jul 2010 | 1:22 pm Home loan firms may see new lending rate normsNHB to start the exercise for a smooth transition.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 6 Jul 2010 | 1:19 pm World stocks rise on value play; euro climbsNew York: World stocks posted their biggest gains in a month on Tuesday after recent drubbings pushed shares to attractive levels, while the euro rose as investors waded back into risky assets. The price of crude oil rose with the gains in equities and helped by the weaker dollar after five sessions of declines. Gold prices eased with the decline in risk aversion. Stocks maintained their luster after the Institute for Supply Management, a US business group, said its index of non-manufacturing activity grew in June for a sixth straight month, though the pace of expansion was its slowest since February. MSCI’s all-country world stock index jumped 2.2%, after last week plumbing its lowest point since 25 May. “The market had got down to quite an oversold level,” said Colin McLean, managing director at fund manager SVM in Edinburgh. “Individual stocks are down at support levels in terms of moving averages, and could bounce a bit.” “The fall has been a bit indiscriminate over the past few weeks,” he added. The benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 fell every day last week and is down 8.3% since December, with investors concerned some countries could suffer a double-dip recession. Signs of weakness in the labor and housing markets as well as a potential slowdown in manufacturing have sparked worries. But analysts on Tuesday said the data from the Institute for Supply Management on the US service sector, which dominates the US economy, did not suggest a double-dip recession was on the horizon. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 129.27 points, or 1.33%, to 9,815.75. The S&P gained 14.77 points, or 1.44%, to 1,037.35, and the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 31.30 points, or 1.50%, to 2,123.09. US equity markets also advanced in anticipation of a $22 billion initial public offering by the Agricultural Bank of China. The IPO, which could set an all-time record, is seen as a key test of investor sentiment, compromised in recent weeks by persistent fears of a stalling global economy. Comments from a member of the European Central Bank Governing Council, Christian Noyer, relieved concerns about the health of French banks. Noyer said the sector is likely to pass Europe-wide stress tests later this month. His comments followed similar remarks from the French economy minister. US and European banking shares were higher on Tuesday. Bank of America Corp shares gained 2.5% at $14.18 and the KBW bank index rose 2.3%. Financial stocks were the best-performing sector on the S&P 500. The FTSEurofirst 300 closed up 2.6% at 991.23 points, bouncing back from six-week closing lows. French banks Societe Generale, Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas jumped 4.2% to 6.3%. Mining stocks were also in demand. The STOXX Europe 600 Basic Materials rose 5.1% after slipping on Monday. The sector has been recently hammered by worries over the pace of the global economy. Shares of BP rose 3.7% as the company said it had no plans to issue stock and talk persisted of sovereign wealth fund interest in the British oil major. “Markets are a bit oversold. The decline has been quite strong,” said Joost de Graaf, senior portfolio manager at Kempen Capital Management in The Netherlands. “There are hopes that second-quarter earnings will be OK and will lift some of the negative atmosphere.” The MSCI world index is still down nearly 10% for the year. World stocks weakened Monday. US markets were closed on Monday for the Independence Day holiday. Japan’s Nikkei closed up nearly 1%, coming off a seven-week low. Emerging market stocks jumped 2%. Dollar Hit The more risk-friendly mood hit the dollar, which fell nearly 1% against a basket of major trading partner currencies. The Australian dollar rallied after the Reserve Bank of Australia offered an upbeat assessment of the global economy, spurring appetite for high-yielding currencies, while rising risk demand also boosted the euro. Australia’s central bank held its key interest rate at 4.5%, saying the policy was appropriate, given caution in global markets, and said it remained optimistic about the outlook for Asia and the Australian economy. Relief over the central bank’s position boosted global risk appetite, prompting an unwinding of bearish positions in the euro put on amid worries of unsustainable European sovereign debts. “There’s been a gradual return of risk appetite,” said Ulrich Leuchtmann, currency strategist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. The euro rose 0.91% at $1.2653. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar declined about a third of a percent to ¥87.46. But while investors in most markets signaled rising risk appetite, US Treasury debt prices rose as traders added to bets that the Federal Reserve will cling to an easy monetary policy into the second half of 2011 in a bid to avert a double-dip recession. In the wake of Friday’s US jobs report showing a payroll loss for the first time this year, safe-haven appetite for bonds persisted despite the stocks rebound on Wall Street. Yields on benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes declined 0.01 percentage point to 2.97%. In commodities, US light sweet crude oil rose $1.29, or 1.79%, to $73.43 per barrel, and spot gold fell $12.35, or 1.02%, to $1195.60 an ounce. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jul 2010 | 12:27 pm Govt fast-tracks board hirings to keep divestment on trackMumbai: The government will not seek any relaxation in listing norms from the capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) so as to avoid any delay in its divestment plan for state-owned firms. Top government officials told Mint that the government doesn’t require any special exemption from Sebi as the department of public enterprises (DPE) and the ministries concerned have expedited the process of recruiting independent directors for the state-owned firms for which public offerings have been scheduled this year.  Yogesh Kumar/Mint “We don’t require any special relaxation from Sebi for companies that are scheduled to float public issues this year. There will be no delay in our divestment plans,” said Sumit Bose, secretary, disinvestment ministry. According to him, state-owned companies in which the government planned to sell some of its stake this year, and the ones which did not have the required number of independent directors, are now filling up the vacancies with the help of DPE and the ministries concerned. “Things are running as per schedule, and we can expect the public offering of Engineers India Ltd (EIL) by the end of this month,” he added. Hindustan Copper Ltd will complete the process of hiring book-running lead managers next week while Coal India Ltd (CIL) is getting ready for its initial public offering. The initial share sales in all three firms are planned during the current quarter ending September. “We are asking the companies to fill up the vacancies as soon as possible. For those companies who have announced their plans to tap the market, the process should be faster,” said a DPE official who did not want to be identified. To speed up the process, DPE currently has a database of 86 chief executives, 89 professors and academicians, 104 retired government executives, and 80 chartered accounts and cost accountants who can be tapped for directorships. Instead of searching for independent directors on their own, state-owned companies can choose from this database. Under normal circumstances, the selection process for such directors in state-owned firms is a long-drawn-out one. Typically, a company looking for an independent director sends a notice to the concerned ministry first, which forwards it to a government-appointed search committee consisting of the chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB), the secretary of DPE, the secretary of the administrative ministry, the CEO of the concerned firm and non-official members. Between 2006 and 2008, the search committee and PESB recommended names of 387 persons for appointment as independent directors. Another 67 names were added to the list in the first 10 months of 2009. According to Prithvi Haldea, chairman and managing director of Prime Database, a Delhi-based primary market tracker, the power to appoint independent directors should be delegated to boards of individual companies. “This will make the process faster and efficient,” he said. Haldea pointed out how the delay in appointment of directors delayed the public floats of Oil India Ltd and NHPC Ltd last year. “Such delays could lead to the issues missing an appropriate time to list when the market cues are positive. Sebi insists on compliance of clause 49 only at the times of raising capital. It should be made a continuous requirement,” he added. The government wants to raise Rs40,000 crore by selling part of its stake in state-owned firms in the current fiscal—the biggest and most ambitious target in the history of the disinvestment programme that started in 1992. After SJVN Ltd’s Rs1,079 crore issue, EIL was expected to enter the market with a Rs1,100 crore public issue in June, but the issue has been delayed due to inadequate number of independent directors on its board. The EIL issue will be followed by that of CIL, the largest ever float in the Indian capital market. Hindustan Copper, Steel Authority of India Ltd, Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd and Indian Oil Corp. Ltd have got the cabinet’s approval for public issues this year. An individual aged between 45 and 65 years is eligible to become an independent director if the person holds a graduate degree from a recognized university and has a proven track record from industry, business or agriculture. These persons should have experience as a chairman and managing director or a managing director in the private or public sector, a professor in an academic institution, or as a chartered accountant. Persons having experience of at least 10 years at the level of joint secretary and above in the government can also be considered for the post of an independent director. There are three kinds of directors on the boards of Central public sector enterprises— functional, nominee and independent directors. According to DPE, the number of functional directors (including chairman and managing director) should not exceed 50% of the actual strength of the board, and the number of nominee directors appointed by the government is restricted to a maximum of two. There are around 250 Central government-owned enterprises and a majority of these firms are profitable. The government intends to grant more autonomy to large public sector enterprises on condition that their boards are professionalized by inducting adequate number of independent directors. anirudh.l@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jul 2010 | 11:23 am
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