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Fortis to be debt free post Parkway stake saleFortis Healthcare will be debtfree following the sale of its stake in Singapore healthcare firm Parkaway Holdings, Yogesh Sareen, chief financial officer of Fortis said on Monday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 7:57 am Did not wish to pursue Parkway stake over S$3.8/sh: FortisWith Khazanah planning to buy all the shares of Parkway in its general offer at S$3.95 per share, the curtain falls on Fortis Healthcare\'s Parkway bid.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 7:00 am France Tel, Vivendi may merge cinema channels reportFrance Telecom\'s Orange and Vivendi\'s Canal Plus are in talks over a merger of their cinema payTV channels, two French newspapers said on Monday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 6:54 am Fortis says to pursue other opportunities in SE AsiaFortis Healthcare, which lost out in a battle for control of Singapore healthcare firm Parkaway Holdings, said it will pursue other opportunities in Singapore and the region.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 6:54 am To use QIP proceeds for coal mining biz: Adani EnterprisesAdani Enterprises concluded a Rs 4,000 crore qualified institutional placement (QIP) recently. In an exclusive interview with CNBCTV18, Devang Desai, Group CFO, Adani Group, speaks about it.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 6:18 am GVK Power denies fund raising plansGVK Power Infrastructure is looking to raise funds. The company may dilute up to 25% stake. It has a gas capacity of 900 MW and is looking at a capacity expansion of 1,600 MW.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 5:42 am Fortis shares up on Khazanah`s likely offer for ParkwayFortis shares up on Khazanah`s likely offer for ParkwaySource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 5:35 am Engineers India share sale to raise up to $211mnThe government plans to raise as much as Rs 990 crore (USD 211 million) in a followon public offering of shares in staterun Engineers India Ltd.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 4:49 am Sterlite Industries First-Quarter Profit Misses Estimates; Shares Decline - Bloomberg
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jul 2010 | 4:04 am Fortis walks out from Parkway bidKhazanah plans to buy all the shares of Parkway in its general offer at S$3.95 per share, reports CNBCTV18, quoting agencies. Fortis said it will accept Khazanah offer, thus drawing the curtains on its bid for Parkway.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 3:59 am Europe bank test transparency gets cautious thumbs-up - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jul 2010 | 3:48 am Maruti Q1 net dips, Angel Broking downgrades stock target - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jul 2010 | 3:48 am Dena Bank expects 6 bln rupees infusion from govt in FY11MUMBAI (Reuters) - State-run Dena Bank expects an infusion of 6 billion rupees from the government in FY11, D.L. Rawal, chairman and managing director, told reporters on the sidelines of an earnings press conference on Monday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jul 2010 | 3:41 am Sensex weak rate sensitives slide ahead of credit policy - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jul 2010 | 3:38 am Sterlite Industries June-qtr net surges(Versus the same period a year earlier, in billion rupees unless stated)Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jul 2010 | 3:32 am Dabur's net profit up by 20.5% - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jul 2010 | 3:31 am Europe bank test transparency gets cautious thumbs-upLONDON/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Investors gave European banks the benefit of the doubt on Monday over stress tests that prompted more transparency from Spanish banks needing to raise capital than from German banks cagey about sovereign debt.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jul 2010 | 3:31 am West Bengal government to provide Re1 subsidy on dieselBesides this, the state government will provide a subsidy of Rs50 crore on kerosene.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Jul 2010 | 3:28 am GlaxoSmithKline Pharma June quarter net up 4% at Rs128.9 crNew Delhi: Drug firm GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals today posted a nearly 4% increase in its net profit to Rs128.9 crore in the quarter-ended 30 June 2010, over the same period last year. The company had a net profit of Rs124.35 crore in the corresponding period last year, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals said in a filing to the BSE. During the quarter, net sales of the company stood at Rs497.93 crore, a 9% increase from Rs457.41 crore registered in the same period previous year. “Sales of pharmaceuticals were adversely impacted on account of constraints on vaccine supply during the quarter,” the company said. In the six-months ended 30 June 2010, the company’s net profit stood at Rs290.18 crore, as against Rs267.62 crore recorded in the corresponding period last year. During the period, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals had a net sales of Rs1,039.03 crore, as against Rs914.56 crore posted in the year ago-period. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 3:23 am GlaxoSmithKline Pharma net up a tad on sluggish salesMUMBAI (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals reported a marginal 4 percent rise in quarterly profit on constraints in supply of vaccines due to global capacity crunch, the company and analysts said on Monday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jul 2010 | 3:18 am Credit policy: What will RBI do tomorrow? - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jul 2010 | 3:18 am Vodafone may sell minority stake in Bharti: ReportVodafone Group Plc may sell its minority stake of 4.39% in Bharti Airtel that is valued at Rs 5200 (USD 1.1 billion) at current market price, the Business Standard reported on Monday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 3:16 am Opposition seeks parliament vote on high pricesNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's top opposition parties said on Monday they will seek a special discussion and vote in parliament over high prices this week, attacking the government on an issue that has emerged as a major policy challenge.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jul 2010 | 3:15 am Moody's upgrades India's sovereign currency rating to Ba1The upgrade of the government bond local currency rating to Ba1 from Ba2 is still a notch below investment grade, but will improve investors' faith in the Indian economy.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Jul 2010 | 3:00 am GMR looking for buyers for InterGen stakeThose sources told the Journal that GMR believes the value of its stake is in the $ 1 billion range, and that the company may not sell if bidders don''t meet that range.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Jul 2010 | 2:55 am DLF to buy out Dubai World unit in JV - reportMUMBAI (Reuters) - DLF is buying out the stake held by a property unit of debt-laden Dubai World in an equal joint venture in India for about 2 billion rupees ($43 million), the Economic Times reported on Monday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jul 2010 | 2:51 am Maruti skids 12 pct as profit outlook worsensMUMBAI (Reuters) - Shares in Maruti Suzuki tumbled as much as 12 percent as India's top carmaker spooked investors with a surprise rise in royalty payments to its parent, forcing analysts to slash growth estimates for the company.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jul 2010 | 2:50 am Markets dragged lower by Maruti after profit fallMumbai: Auto stocks slid on Monday and dragged shares down after top car maker Maruti Suzuki posted a surprise 20% drop in quarterly profit on the weekend, casting a gloom on the outlook. Maruti, which sells every second new car in India, dived more than 12% in its biggest intraday slide in over 6 years as brokerages downgraded the stock saying high royalty payments to parent Suzuki Motor Corp will squeeze its margins. The result, coming ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s(RBI) policy review on Tuesday, when the central bank is widely expected to raise key interest rates, dented investor confidence. “Maruti is causing a lot of damage to the market today. Also, investors are cautious ahead of the RBI policy tomorrow,” said Neeraj Dewan, director of Quantum Securities. By 11:18am, the 30-share BSE index was trading down 0.23% at 18,089.84, with 14 of its components declining. The 50-share NSE index was down 0.3% at 5,435.15. Other Asian shares rose as solid US corporate earnings and surprisingly strong euro zone data offset growing scepticism that stress tests on European banks were not strict enough. The MSCI’s measure of Asian markets other than Japan was up 0.5%, while Japan’s Nikkei was trading 0.7% higher. Maruti was trading at Rs1,216, down 10.5%, in volume of 889,810 million shares -- more than 10 times the 30-day daily average. UBS downgraded its rating on the stock to ”neutral” from “buy” and slashed its 12-month target price to Rs1,550 from 1,750. Top motorcycle maker Hero Honda was down 5% while vehicles maker Tata Motors shed 0.9%. The sector index index dropped nearly 2%. Financials were mixed ahead of the policy review. Top lender State Bank of India was down 1.8%, while rival ICICI Bank firmed 0.9%. A majority of economists expect the RBI to raise key interest rates by 25 basis points on Tuesday and tighten policy further in coming quarters, a Reuters poll showed last week. Fortis Healthcare rose as much as 5.1% after sources told Reuters Malaysian state investor Khazanah was poised to offer to buy all outstanding shares of Singapore’s Parkway Holdings, bettering Fortis’ offer. Khazanah’s latest offer will be around S$3.95 ($2.88) per share of the Singapore healthcare firm in response to the S$3.80 offered by Fortis, the sources said. Non-ferrous metals producer Sterlite Industries climbed 0.5%, while top power utility NTPC dropped 0.1% ahead of their quarterly earnings. In the broader market, gainers almost equalled losers on volume of 122 million shares. STOCKS ON THE MOVE * Eicher Motors (EICH.BO) hit an all-time high of 1,013 rupees after the commercial vehicles and motorbikes maker said its April-June consolidated net profit nearly trebled to 551.8 million rupees [ID:nSGE66P06F] The stock was trading 2.9% higher at 1,004 rupees. * Engineers India (ENGI.BO) fell as much as 13%, after the price band for a follow-on public offering of shares in the state-run firm to raise up to $211 million was set at a steep discount. [ID:nSGE66P05V] The stock was trading 8.5% lower at 308.85 rupees. * Jaiprakash Associates (JAIA.BO) was down 4.4% at 122.90 rupees on concerns about margins after it reported a 5 percent rise in quarterly profit. [ID:nSGE60H05T] Morgan Stanley said total revenues grew faster but significant margin weakness across divisions mainly cement and construction led to disappointment. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 2:46 am Khazanah offers S$3.95/share in Parkway general offerIndia's Fortis Healthcare, which was locked in a battle with Khazanah for control of Parkway, has decided to accept the offer, Khazanah said in a statement.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Jul 2010 | 2:43 am Khazanah wins battle for Parkway; Fortis bows outSINGAPORE/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Malaysian state investor Khazanah trumped India's Fortis Healthcare in a takeover battle for Singapore's Parkway with an offer that values Asia's biggest listed hospital operator at $3.3 billion.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jul 2010 | 2:40 am Khazanah wins battle for Parkway; Fortis bows out - Reuters
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jul 2010 | 2:38 am BP chief executive Tony Hayward to step down - The Hindu
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jul 2010 | 2:30 am Moody s ups Rupee debt rating - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jul 2010 | 2:29 am Fortis to be debt free post Parkway stake saleFortis, which owns about 25 percent of Parkway, currently has debt of 29.30 billion rupees, and its debt to equity ratio is 0.7.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Jul 2010 | 2:25 am Khazanah ups offer for Parkway to $2.5bn; Fortis to exitSingapore/New Delhi: Ending the fierce battle for control over Singapore-based hospital chain Parkway Holdings, Malaysia’s Khazanah today offered to fully acquire it at an increased price of about $2.5 billion after Indian rival Fortis Healthcare withdrew from the race. On a day when Khazanah’s earlier $835 million partial offer for 51.5% in Parkway was to close, its arm Integrated Healthcare Holdings (IHHL) said it is converting it into a full general offer. “IHHL is offering to acquire all shares in Parkway that it does not already own at a price of SGD 3.95 per share in cash. The voluntary offer represents a 4.5% increase to the partial offer,” it said. The development comes after Fortis Healthcare, which has the management control of Parkway with 25.37% stake, agreed to make an exit. “Fortis Global Healthcare (Mauritius) Ltd (FGH), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fortis Healthcare, has provided an irrevocable undertaking to IHHL to accept the voluntary general offer for all its shares,” the filing added. “At the offer price of SGD3.95 per share, the value of other shares in the issue (including Fortis’ stake) as of 26 July is approximately SGD 3.5 billion (around $2.5 billion),” it said, adding the offer will now close on 16 August. IHHL, which owns 23.32% stake in Parkway, had made a partial offer at SGD 3.78 per share in May and Fortis Healthcare had countered it with a $2.3-billion full offer at SGD 3.8 per share. Stressing that he was never interested in a bidding war, Fortis Healthcare Chairman Malvinder Singh said: “At SGD 3.8 per share, it was already stretched out. We think at some point of time it was not economically viable...We have taken into account what is best for every shareholder of Fortis.” Describing the development a win-win situation for both the parties, he said: “While we believe that Parkway is a very good asset but every asset has certain intrinsic value that led us to believe that we should divest our stake in Parkway.” He said Fortis will be receiving the money from Khazanah in a month’s time. The Singh family-owned Fortis had picked up 23.9% stake in Parkway for about $685.3 million (nearly Rs3,100 crore) when it bought TPG Capital’s shares in March this year. Parkway Holdings is counted as Asia’s premium healthcare provider, with a network of 16 hospitals, having 3,400 beds, spread over six countries, including India Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 2:23 am Honda denies it may sell some stake in Hero HondaCNBC-TV18 reported, without saying where it got the information, that Honda was likely to divest a stake of about 6% in Hero Honda.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Jul 2010 | 2:22 am Rupee reverses gains as shares drop; dollar eyedMumbai: The Indian rupee reversed gains in afternoon session on Monday tracking a drop in local shares but the dollar’s losses against major currencies prevented it from slipping sharply. At 2:04pm, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs46.98/99 per dollar, after rising to 46.80, its strongest since 16 July. It closed Friday at Rs46.94/95. Indian shares were trading down 0.6%, pulled down by a fall in automaker Maruti which posted a surprise 20% drop in net profit over the weekend. Traders were also watching the dollar’s moves versus majors for direction. The index of the dollar against six major currencies was very choppy. The euro firmed against the dollar on Monday as investors bought into riskier assets, calmed after the release of European banks’ stress test results late on Friday. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at Rs47.18, 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 Rs47, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $3 billion. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 2:20 am Investors find some reassurance in Europe’s bank testsSingapore/Paris: Investors took some reassurance that European banks had passed “stress tests” on their ability to deal with a debt crisis, prompting European stock futures prices to rise on Monday. Shares rose in Asia as the worst fears about the tests were assuaged and European markets were set to follow suit with spread betters calling for British, German and French stock markets to open as much as 0.8% to 1% higher. The euro held on to its gains from Friday. But scepticism remained about the credibility of the tests because they showed a combined capital shortfall of the 91 banks put under the microscope that was much smaller than expected. “On the surface, if anything, you have to take these tests with a pinch of salt,” said Jonathan Cavenagh, currency strategist at Westpac, Sydney. “Sovereign debt problems remain, funding constraints for their banks are still there and these have the potential to weigh on the euro.” The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was up 0.5% at 11:20am. It was still down around 7% from its year-to-date high in mid-April, in part over concerns that debt defaults in the euro zone could derail the global recovery. By 11:32am, futures on the STOXX Europe 50, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC were up 0.6% to 0.9%. Financial spreadbetters expected Britain’s FTSE 100 to open as much as 0.8% and their call on the DAX and France’s CAC-40 largely reflected futures pricing. The euro was changing hands around $1.2910, little changed from $1.2916 in New York on Friday. Fears of a euro-zone debt crisis and its impact on European banks had driven the euro below $1.19 last month, its lowest since 2006. But it began a swift recovery in July and hit a 10-week high above $1.30 last week. Only seven of 91 banks failed the stress tests -- five small Spanish banks, Germany’s state-rescued Hypo Real Estate and Greece’s ATEbank. No listed bank failed. Financial markets had expected a shortfall of €30 billion to €100 billion, although many European banks had already raised capital during the financial crisis. The relatively placid exercise in Europe was a far cry from the high anxiety in early May over Greece’s debt crisis that reverberated in global markets over concern it could spread like wildfire through Europe and beyond. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said then that Europe’s fate was at stake. France declared the euro was under speculative attack. Violence erupted on the streets of Athens over the Greek government’s austerity measures to deal with the crisis. But stronger-than-expected economic data, and business confidence surveys suggesting the euro zone will avoid a double-dip recession despite fiscal austerity measures, were helping to revive investor confidence in Europe. More than a dozen banks barely passed the tests, with just over the required 6% of Tier 1 capital in the most stressful scenario, and are likely to come under market scrutiny. The stress test scenarios included how banks would cope with a double-dip recession, a 20% drop in stock markets and sharp rises in interest rates. While the tests were criticised as too lenient, the wealth of data disclosed by banks representing 65% of Europe’s banking assets, and the commitment of banks, regulators and governments to follow-up action, may outweigh the scepticism. Given the haggling among EU governments and regulators about the tests right up to the last moment, the degree of transparency was greater than had been expected a few weeks ago. Sources familiar with the discussions said Germany fought hard behind closed doors to limit the extent of disclosure. In the end, most banks - except Deutsche Bank - issued a detailed breakdown of their exposure to the sovereign debt of EU countries, enabling investors to run their own risk simulations to gauge a counterparty’s solidity. That should help reopen the interbank lending market, which partially froze at the height of the euro-zone debt crisis and has remained tight on fears banks have been hiding big exposures. EU authorities were chastised for refusing to test the impact of a debt default by Greece. But European Central Bank governing council member Christian Noyer said euro-zone states “have put several hundreds of billions of euros on the table with the support of the IMF to make this hypothesis completely excluded”. Economist Nicolas Veron of the Bruegel think-tank said the success of the exercise would depend partly on whether European regulators adopt a more cooperative approach after the stress tests than they did before them. “If this is the start of a beautiful friendship among EU supervisors, then that’s not the same as if the united front crumbles next week and they start criticising each other again.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 2:08 am Honda denies it may sell some stake in Hero HondaTOKYO (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co said on Monday it had no intention of selling any part of its 26 percent stake in India's profitable motorcycle maker Hero Honda Motors, denying a media report.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jul 2010 | 2:01 am Dena Bank Q1 net profit up 21%Mumbai: Public sector lender Dena Bank today reported a 20.67% jump in net profit for the first quarter ended 30 June to Rs138.79 crore. The company had posted a net profit of Rs115.02 crore during the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal, Dena Bank said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The bank also reported an increase of 8.72% in total income during the first quarter to Rs1,221.78 crore, as against Rs1,123.82 crore in the year-ago period. The percentage of Dena Bank’s gross non-performing assets (NPAs) to gross advances went down to 2.11% in the quarter ended 30 June from 2.22% during the same period of 2009-10. Its net NPAs, however, grew to 1.49% during the first quarter from 1.26% in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the filing said. The bank reported a revenue of Rs627.74 crore from its corporate banking segment for the quarter ended 30 June, up 17.56% over the figure of Rs533.97 crore for the same period last fiscal. Its revenue from the retail banking segment went up by 5.95% during the first quarter of this fiscal to Rs255.56 crore from Rs241.20 crore during the year-ago period, Dena Bank added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 1:43 am Union Bank of India Q1 net profit up 36 pcPublic sector lender Union Bank of India today reported a growth of 36.01 per cent in net profit for the first quarter ended June 30 to Rs 601.42 crore.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 1:42 am Fortis shares zoom 6 pc on Parkway stake saleShares of Fortis Healthcare today rose 6.42 per cent, after the company said it will sell its entire stake in Singapore's Parkway Holdings to Malaysia's sovereign fund Khazanah.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 1:39 am Godrej Consumer Products - India Infoline.com
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jul 2010 | 1:25 am DLF to buy out Dubai World in joint venture: ReportA unit of DLF will buy the stake owned by Limitless Group, which is a part of Dubai World, in Bidadi Knowledge City in southern Karnataka state.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Jul 2010 | 1:23 am Vodafone may sell minority stake in Bharti Airtel: ReportOfficials at Vodafone and Bharti, India's largest mobile operator, could not immediately be reached for a comment.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Jul 2010 | 1:13 am BP’s Hayward to step aside; Gulf work resumesLondon: BP Plc was expected to announce changes at the top on Monday with the anticipated departure of CEO Tony Hayward, who came under fire for his handling of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Hayward would be replaced by Bob Dudley, an American executive who is now managing the oil spill response operation, according to sources close to the British oil giant. Hayward was widely criticized in the United States for complaining he wanted his “life back” weeks after the 20 April Deepwater Horizon offshore rig explosion that killed 11 workers and led to the worst oil spill in US history. He was also lambasted by angry American lawmakers at a congressional hearing, where he was accused of ducking responsibility for the spill. The sources said BP’s board, meeting in London, would discuss a plan for Hayward’s departure on Monday. The boardroom drama unfolded as the company was due to report second quarter results on Tuesday. Analysts at Barclays bank said BP could report a loss for the second quarter of $13 billion as it makes provisions of up to $25 billion for the cost of the oil spill — far outweighing an expected 77% jump in underlying profits. BP’s efforts to contain the gushing oil have been watched closely by investors because its ultimate costs may hinge on how much oil is determined to have flowed into the Gulf. BP, which has lost 40% of its market capitalization since the blast that caused the spill, would not comment on the reports and said Hayward remained the CEO, with the full support of the board and management. With the well sealed since July 15 by a temporary cap, the board’s concern has shifted to the market’s preoccupation about Hayward’s future, which is making it hard for the company to move forward, the sources said. Moving on Clearing weather in the spill zone allowed work to resume on drilling a relief well to plug the leak that has spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf for three months. A Transocean Ltd rig was reconnecting equipment, a BP spokeswoman said. Other vessels that had left the region Friday to get out of the path of what was Tropical Storm Bonnie were also returning. As remnants of the storm dissipated on Saturday, the head of the US spill response, Thad Allen, said a “static kill” operation to plug the well with heavy drilling mud and possibly cement could start in three to five days. Although vessels were returning to the site on Sunday, Allen said the storm could push back BP’s mid-August target date for completing the relief well, seen as the only permanent fix to the leak, by seven to nine days. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 1:11 am Moody's ups rupee-denominated debt ratingHONG KONG/MUMBAI (Reuters) - Moody's Investors Service raised the rating on local currency debt to one notch below investment grade at "Ba1" with a positive outlook, citing improving public finances due to recent government reforms.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:49 am Fortis to sell entire stake in ParkwayFortis to sell entire stake in Parkway.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:39 am Oil hovers around $79 in Asian tradeOil prices rose slightly, extending gains in Asian trade today, as investors awaited the European market's reaction to last week's bank stress test results and as a US storm threat eased, analysts said.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:31 am Maruti Suzuki falls over 11 pc on poor Q1 numbersMaruti Suzuki India today plunged over 11 per cent in the early trade after it reported 20.25 per cent decline in net profit for the quarter ended June 30.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:27 am Oil rises above $79 on equity gains, risk appetitePerth: Oil rose past $79 on Monday, supported by improved risk appetite and expectations that a forecast severe Atlantic hurricane season could bring further disruptions to oil and gas operations in the US Gulf of Mexico. Asian shares rose and the euro extended gains on Monday as solid US corporate earnings and strong euro zone data offset growing scepticism that a stress test on European banks were not strict enough. US crude for September delivery rose as much as 30 cents to $79.28 a barrel and inched up 5 cents to $79.03 by 10:24am, The contract settled down 32 cents at $78.98 a barrel on Friday, after reaching $79.60, the highest intraday price since May 6. ICE Brent crude climbed 21 cents to $77.66. “Results of the stress test were generally well-received by the market and it helped to provide a little more certainty since there were no real surprises,” said Toby Hassall, chief commodities analyst at CWA Global Markets Pty Ltd. Only seven of 91 banks - five small Spanish banks, Germany’s state-rescued Hypo Real Estate and Greece’s ATEbank - failed the tests, for an overall capital shortfall of $3.5 billion euros. “On the weather front, even though there is no specific weather threat at this point in time, we have an outlook of a more active than normal hurricane season, so that’s offering support to oil prices, which is seeing a weather premium,” Hassall said. Energy companies were scrambling to restore offshore oil and gas output, but almost 50% of daily crude production in US-regulated areas of the Gulf of Mexico was shut as of Sunday due to Tropical Depression Bonnie, the US government said. The depression faded overnight and is no longer shown by the National Hurricane Center’s outlook. Forecasters have said the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from 1 June through 30 November, could be the worst since 2005, when Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma caused havoc in the Gulf Coast, damaging oil rigs and refineries and forcing sharp cuts in production. A fire at the weekend forced the closure of Formosa Petrochemicals Corp’s 540,000 barrels per day refinery in Taiwan, with a crude distillation unit expected to be shut long term and other units possibly restarting this week. In China, Dalian Port Co. has resumed operations at two of its oil berths and its main 300,000 tonnage berth is expected to reopen soon, the company said on Sunday, after a fire at the port a week ago shut the berths down. Analysts said oil prices will continue to be driven by macroeconomic sentiments in the short-term, with investors focusing on the pace and extent of a slowdown in the Chinese economy as well as the speed of economic recovery in the United States, the world’s largest energy consumer. On this week’s outlook, strategists said Wall Street is on the cusp of a breakout in US stocks, but it will need another spate of convincing earnings reports to feed the rally that sprouted at the end of last week. The US economy is not likely to slip back into recession but letting tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire is necessary to show commitment to cutting budget deficits, treasury secretary Timothy Geithner said on Sunday. In a sign of increased bullishness on oil prices, open interest positions increased at the September $85 and $90 call options on Friday versus a week ago as crude prices rose to near $80 a barrel before ending the session slightly lower. Money managers also increased net long crude oil positions on the New York Mercantile Exchange to 90,472 from 85,962 in the week through 20 July, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday. Separately, BP Plc decided Chief Executive Tony Hayward should step down over his handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and his departure is likely to be announced in the next 36 hours, sources close to the company said on Sunday. As the boardroom drama intensified, clearing weather in the spill zone allowed work to resume on drilling a relief well to plug the leak that has been spewing oil into the Gulf for more than three months. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:06 am US says Afghan war will get worse; Pakistan in focusKabul: More Nato troops will die fighting in Afghanistan this summer, a top US military officer said, as a new report emerged implicating Pakistan for actively collaborating with the insurgency while accepting US aid. The New York Times, citing documents leaked by the group Wikileaks, said representatives from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence met directly with the Taliban in secret strategy sessions to organise militant networks fighting US soldiers. The agency was also involved in plots to assassinate Afghan leader, the Times said, adding the Wikileaks report was based on 91,000 documents collected from across the US military in the country. The White House condemned the leak, saying it could threaten national security and endanger the lives of Americans. Pakistan said leaking of unprocessed reports from the battlefield was irresponsible. Violence in Afghanistan is at its highest of the 9-year-old war as thousands of extra US troops, dispatched by President Barack Obama in December, step up their campaign to drive insurgents out of their traditional heartland in the south. US Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he expected fighting to intensify over the next few months, but Washington’s goal of turning the tide against the insurgency by year’s end was within reach. “No one is declaring victory but there is progress,” he told reporters in Kabul. “I believe that goal is still achievable and certainly the proof of that will be what happens over these next many months in what is a very challenging period.” Mullen’s remarks on Sunday came as the Taliban said they were holding captive one of two US servicemen who strayed into insurgent territory, and that the other had been killed. “We have the body of the dead soldier and the other one who is alive. We have taken them to a safe place,” said Zabihullah Mujahid by telephone from an undisclosed location. A spokesman for the Nato-led force declined to comment on the Taliban’s announcement it was holding one of the men, who were both from the US Navy. The Navy described both men as still missing. The two had failed to return on Friday in a vehicle they had taken from their compound in Kabul, the Nato-led force said. Rumours circulated in local and international media about the fate of the missing men and how they had managed to stray into an insurgent-controlled area in Logar province, a short but dangerous 100 kms drive south of the capital. One provincial offical said alcohol was found in their vehicle. Mullen, who called the troops’ disappearance an “unusual circumstance”, said the US military was doing everything possible to find them. Last month was the deadliest for foreign troops since 2001, with more than 100 killed, and civilian deaths have also risen as ordinary Afghans are increasingly caught in the crossfire. “As we continue our force levels and our operations over the summer ... we will likely see further tough casualties and levels of violence,” Mullen told a news conference in Kabul. The only other foreign soldier believed held by the Taliban is Idaho National Guardsman Bowe Bergdahl, whose capture in June last year triggered a massive manhunt. His captors have issued videos of him denouncing the war, in what the US military has called illegal propaganda. Separately, the Afghan government said on Sunday it was checking reports from villagers that civilians had been killed in a raid by foreign forces in Sangin, in southern Helmand province, on Friday. The Nato-led force said it was aware of reports of the incident and was investigating, but would not comment further until further details were available. Such incidents have triggered outrage in the past among the population against the international troops whose mission is to protect them. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:02 am Cotton farmers opt for double-gene Bt technologyThe widespread acceptability of Bt technology among India's cotton farmers is a recognised realitySource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am RBI says can't relax distance norm for business correspondentsEven as banks are set to roll out mobile phone-based financial inclusion project to 72,300 habitations starting this September, the Reserve Bank of India has declined to accept a proposal from an Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) to relax theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideThe counter is experiencing selling interest at higher levels. Fresh short position can be initiated if the counter dives below Rs 318 with tightSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am AI draws up new turnaround plan; focus is on reducing debt costThe Air India management has unveiled yet another turnaround plan after its board meeting held here onSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Gold to trade range-bound; crude oil moving upAfter the severe drubbing in the second half of 2008 that extended to early 2009, in the wake of serious slowdown and near-recessionary conditions that forced emergency bailout action by many governments, commodity markets have displayedSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Q1 numbers show revenues, profits growing fasterRaw material costs for India Inc are beginning to ease, if the initial set of earnings numbers for the first quarter of the current financial year is anySource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Outlook positive for Nifty futuresI am holding long position in Jindal Steel July futures. Please advice a strategy. - PrabhakarSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Top IT cos see slide in Europe's share in overall revenueConfronted by longer sales cycle in Europe and the sharp depreciation in European currencies, India's top IT services firms witnessed a sequential drop in the share of revenue contribution from the crisis-hit region during the first quarter ofSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Bankers expect key rates to go up 25-50 bpsBankers and analysts expect a 25-50 basis point (bps) hike in repo and reverse repo rates in the Reserve Bank of India monetary policy review on Tuesday. However, they do not expect any change in the cash reserve ratio due to the tightSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Punj Lloyd– SellInvestors with medium-term perspective can consider selling the stock of infrastructure player Punj Lloyd (Rs 134.6). The company operates in the oil and gas pipeline sector besides building roads and civilSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Monsoon shortfall narrows, crops gainNew Delhi: Heavy showers, particularly in soybean regions, have narrowed the shortfall in India’s monsoon rains to 9%, raising hopes of strong harvests in the world’s leading consumer of rice, vegetable oils and sugar. Farmers have already planted rice, oilseeds, cane and cotton in a larger area than last year, and are expected to further expand cultivation as the vital June-September monsoon progresses. Total rainfall since 1 June was only 9% short of normal, improving rapidly from a deficit of 16% on 19 July as the rain-bearing monsoon winds ended a weak phase in the middle of the month. In the soybean-growing central regions, the shortfall in monsoon rains since 1 June has narrowed to 6% on Sunday from 18% on 19 July. The weather office has forecast widespread rainfall along India’s west coast and soybean-growing central regions this week. In the first week of August, rainfall is likely to decrease in the central regions but areas near the foothills of the Himalayas may receive more rain, the weather office said in its two-week forecast. The weather office expects total June-September rainfall to be normal, which would help the government control rising inflation that has triggered a series of protests. India’s farm output, which suffered last year because of the drought, is expected to rise if rainfall is close to normal as forecast by the weather office. Increase in rainfall is expected to boost water level in India’s main reservoirs, which are important for irrigation and power generation. Official data showed on Friday that the reservoirs were filled to 19% of their capacity, crawling up from 17% a week ago, but well below the normal level of 29% at this time of the year. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2010 | 11:03 pm Sensex opens 63 pts up on strong Asian cuesThe 30-share index, which gained nearly 253 points in the previous four sessions, added another 63.11 points, or 0.34%, to 18,194.09 points in morning trade on the BSE.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Jul 2010 | 10:59 pm CEOs upbeat on economic growth, inflation a worryMumbai: Robust domestic demand should boost India’s economic growth but inflation and its impact on profitability of companies is a concern, a survey of chief executives by a top industry body showed. Most CEOs expect higher capacity utilisation and expansion in the second quarter of the fiscal year that started on 1 April, versus the first quarter, though a majority also said input costs would rise without any change in pricing power. India’s industrial output rose at its slowest pace in seven months in May, with some analysts saying the slowdown reflected capacity constraints rather than cooling of demand. “Businesses are upbeat on the domestic economy despite the global uncertainties and are maintaining their investment momentum,” said Hari Bhartia, president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). In a poll of about 90 CEOs, 56.4% expected 2010-11 GDP growth of 8.5-9%, in line with official projections, while 38.5% saw an 8-8.5% expansion while 5.1% predicted a 9-9.5% rise. However, all the chief executives polled expect headline inflation to be higher than the central bank’s forecast of 5.5% at the end next March. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will revisit the forecast when it reviews policy on Tuesday. Of the respondents, 64.1% expect the wholesale price index-based (WPI) inflation to stay above 6.5% in March 2011, while 28.2% see it moderating to 6-6.5 % and 7.7% forecast a lower range of 5.5-6%. India’s annual WPI inflation remained above 10% for the fifth straight month in June, and the figure for April was revised sharply higher. The RBI is widely expected to raise key rates by 25 basis points on Tuesday and 92.3% of CEOs polled said banks would increase lending rates if the RBI hikes again, putting pressure on company margins. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2010 | 10:11 pm Asian shares, euro rise after stress testsSingapore: Asian shares rose and the euro extended gains on Monday as solid US corporate earnings and surprisingly strong euro zone data offset growing scepticism that stress tests on European banks were not strict enough. Only seven of 91 banks - five small Spanish banks, Germany’s state-rescued Hypo Real Estate and Greece’s ATEbank - failed the tests, for an overall capital shortfall of $3.5 billion euros. The shortfall was much smaller than the €30-100 billion predicted by markets, although many European banks have already raised capital during the financial crisis. The euro gained 0.2% in early Asian trade, after rising on Friday as the bank tests showed no nasty surprises and on strong euro zone data, including a record jump in German business sentiment in July. “With the results of the stress tests, which had been the market’s big focus, out in the open, downward factors seem to have run their course for now, even though there’s criticism that those tests might have been too easy,” said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equity marketing at Nikko Cordial Securities. “The market will likely rise initially and then move narrowly awaiting reaction in Europe with market players keeping an eye on currency moves.” Asian stocks outside Japan rose 0.4%, after rising 1.5% on Friday on optimism over US company earnings. Japan’s Nikkei outperformed its regional peers, gaining 1.2% and extending a 2.3% rally in the previous session. Investors were shifting to focus to a slew of corporate results from major Japanese exporters such as Sony and Honda later in the week this week. South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI firmed 0.4% following stronger-than-expected seocnd-quarter growth data while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.3%. U.S. stocks rose about 1% on Friday as GE shares jumped after the conglomerate increased its quarterly dividend by 20%, the latest in a string of bullish news from big U.S. multinationals which have helped ease concerns that the global economic recovery may be stalling. While most economists rule out a slide back into recession, data shows U.S. growth is definitely cooling, even as parts of Europe show sparks of life and Asian economies roar ahead. Economists polled by Reuters think US growth slowed to a 2.5% annual rate in the second quarter, down from 2.7% in the first quarter. The GDP data, to be released on Friday, is also expected to show much of the US growth continued to be reliant on government spending amid weakening consumer confidence. Reflecting investor caution towards risk taking amid doubts about the credibility of the stress tests, the Australian and New Zealand dollars steadied after rallying on Friday. Investors are awaiting to see how European markets will react to the test results, which were announced after they had closed, although the outcome was unlikely to provide players with a clear sense of direction. Banks were tested on how well they could withstand another recession in the next two years and some losses on their government bond holdings. They failed if their Tier 1 capital ratio dropped below 6%. But analysts said the assessments were not tough enough and questions remained over the true health of the sector. “The tests did not assume a sovereign default and included haircuts on sovereign debt only for the component held on trading books, which represents a small majority of overall holdings,” analysts at Credit Agricole CIB said in a note to clients. Spot gold rose $1.60 to $1,190.65 an ounce while crude oil futures inched above $79 a barrel as Tropical Storm Bonnie dissipated into a low-pressure system and avoided oil and gas operations in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2010 | 9:36 pm New banks may have to reach out to rural indiaRBI to issue discussion paper on new licence conditions this week.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 25 Jul 2010 | 1:29 pm Air India aims to break even by 2014-15Mumbai: Beleaguered national carrier Air India unveiled an ambitious turnaround plan on Sunday that envisages the airline reaching operational break-even and wiping out the Rs14,000 crore of accumulated losses and Rs18,000 crore of debt on its balance sheet by 2014-15. The plan includes raising its fleet strength to as many as 275 planes in five years from 148 now. The new 100-page turnaround plan for 2010-14, which ruled out any job cuts or wage reductions and, was approved by the board and would be adopted after incorporating suggestions by representatives of the airline’s 33,500 employees, said chairman and managing director Arvind Jadhav. Also Read | Previous stories on Air India The new plan to turnaround the fortunes of the debt-ridden, loss-making carrier has been prepared on the assumption of an expanding aviation market, with robust growth in passenger traffic and yields, unlike previous blueprints that had been based on a “shrinking demand scenario,” Jadhav told a press conference. “We will be revisiting this fresh turnaround plan every three months on the basis of changing dynamics of competition and demand,” he said. The plan was presented to employee unions on Sunday by civil aviation minister Praful Patel and Madhavan Nambiar, secretary in the ministry of civil aviation.  Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint “I am seeing a favourable tailwind now for Air India. Union leaders have also extended their cooperation,” said Mahindra. “We are now making them accountable to deliver this plan. Like in any conventional business transformation process, Air India would also set up a change management (office) and a business transformation office to oversee the progress,” Mahindra said. “In India, companies survive because of pride, people and plan. Now Air India has a plan. I must say I am very pleased to see that Air India is coming out of turbulence.” Under the new turnaround plan, Air India will be either selling its land and buildings or offering them as security to raise fresh loans. Jadhav said the airline will hive off its aircraft maintenance and overhaul and ground-handling units as separate business entities in the current fiscal, helping the carrier to reduce its headcount and enhance profitability. The airline will also spin off its catering, hospitality and training centres as separate business units. Air India has a fleet of 148 planes, with 30 more to be added as a part of a 2005 order. According to the new plan, Air India is looking at a fleet strength of 250-275 in the next five years. The fresh turnaround plan is “forward-looking with a series of revenue generation measures unlike past plans with a focus of merely cost-cutting,” said George Abraham, general secretary of the Aviation Industry Employees Guild that represents 8,000 Air India employees, after a two-hour meeting with the minister and the airline board. However, Abraham said the turnaround exercise would be in vain if the government doesn’t give the airline initial financial support. “The government should pay Air India the promised equity of Rs5,000 crore upfront rather than giving it in phases,” he said, adding the money would help the state-owned airline compete better with rivals. “Or else, Air India will end up running from banks to banks to service its debt burden.” Aviation minister Patel said the government will support Air India to reduce its cost of debt by financial restructuring and has hired SBI Capital Markets Ltd (SBICAPS), the merchant banking arm of State Bank of India. “SBICAPS will submit its report by August-end. The government has already infused Rs800 crore and allocated Rs1,200 crore that will (be) disbursed” provided certain conditions are met, he said. Patel also said the government planned to offer a sovereign guarantee to the lenders of Air India to bring down its cost of debt. pr.sanjai@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2010 | 12:45 pm Oberois may up stake in EIH to counter hostile bidThe Oberoi family, promoters of hotel chain operator EIH Ltd, is likely to increase its stake in the company to ring-fence it against a possible takeover bid. EIH operates the Oberoi and Trident hotel chains.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 25 Jul 2010 | 12:34 pm Early birds signal slowdown in earnings growthIts raining bad news for India Inc. The early birds 315 manufacturing and services companies that have announced their first quarter results so far have shown a sharp slowdown in their earnings growth rate.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 25 Jul 2010 | 12:32 pm AI lenders may get sovereign guarantee: PatelThe government is willing to consider a sovereign guarantee to give comfort to lenders of Air India (AI), Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said today.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 25 Jul 2010 | 12:30 pm The Week in Review for 23 July 2010The terms for the goods and service tax (GST) could get diluted. On Wednesday, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee proposed a new structure for the tax that includes major concessions for the states. The concessions include imposing different tax slabs that don’t include petroleum products, alcohol, electricity, and real estate. Under Mukherjee’s proposal, starting next fiscal, there’ll be a 20% tax on goods, a 12% tax for so-called mass items, and a 16% tax on services. Those rates will then start merging until they reach a uniform 16% in three years. The GST aims to replace several indirect taxes and create a common market across the country. It’s scheduled to be rolled out on 1 April 2011. And while the Centre may have made many concessions to states on GST, it’s looking to take control of key aspects of the tax. The draft constitutional amendment proposes to give the Centre veto powers over rates. On the flipside, the Centre will not be able to change GST rates by itself. Another major government’s proposal this week could make acquisitions more expensive for Indian companies. On Monday, markets regulator Sebi suggested an overhaul of takeover regulations that will make life easier for incumbents and harder for corporate raiders. As per the proposed changes, the threshold for open offers will go from 15% to 25%. But once a company crosses that mark it will also have to make an open offer to buy 100% of the company’s shares. Under existing rules, buyers only need to make open offers for 20% after acquiring a 15% stake. Some of India’s most important banks announced their quarterly numbers during the week. HDFC Bank met analysts expectations with its net profit shooting up almost 33.9% to Rs812 crore in the quarter ending June. Net interest income rose 29.4% to Rs2,401 crore. On Wednesday, Yes Bank announced a 56% increase in net profit to Rs156 crore. Its net interest income climbed 67% to reach Rs262 crore. Its numbers were driven by strong credit growth that came largely from 3G auction payments. A new study said the proposed aforestation programme could help suck up more greenhouse gases than previously thought. The report from the Indian Institute of Science says the scheme could offset 10.5% of projected emissions. That’s compared to an environment ministry estimate of 6.4%. The proposed Green India Mission plans to restore and add ten million hectares of forests over the next ten years. A train accident in West Bengal on Monday morning left over 60 passengers dead. The deadly mishap occurred when an express train rammed into the rear of a waiting train at the Sainthia station. Over 150 other passengers were wounded. The Andhra Pradesh high court has granted bail to five of the accused in the Satyam accounting fraud case. Those out of prison include the company’s former MD, B. Rama Raju. Not given bail is his brother and Satyam founder B. Ramalinga Raju. On Friday, the prime minister’s chief economic advisor, C. Rangarajan said inflation was currently the biggest threat to India’s economic growth. Rangarajan also said monetary policy had to be tightened. Ratan Tata is all set to lead a new joint venture to assemble helicopters in India. The head of the Tata group will take over as chairman of Indian Rotorcraft. Tata Sons owns 74% stake of the company and AgustaWestland the remaining 26%. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2010 | 12:28 pm Policy rates to go up, corridor may shrinkEvery banker worth her salt knows the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will raise both policy rates in its quarterly review of monetary policy on Tuesday as it fights rising inflation in a $1.2 trillion (Rs56.4 trillion) economy that’s set to expand at a faster pace. It’s also fairly certain that the central bank will not tinker with commercial banks’ cash reserve ratio (CRR), or the portion of deposits banks are required to keep with RBI. This is because liquidity in the financial system is already tight and banks have been borrowing from RBI to take care of temporary asset-liability mismatches for over a month now. The consensus seems to be that both the repo rate and the reverse repo rate will go up by 25 basis points (bps) each. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. The repo rate is currently 5.5% and the reverse repo rate 4%. The repo rate is the rate at which RBI infuses liquidity in the system when banks are liquidity-starved and the reverse repo rate is the rate at which the central bank drains cash when banks have too much money. Also Read | Charticle: Rate hike on the horizon So, in a liquidity-flush situation, the reverse repo is the policy rate, but when there is no excess money in the system and banks are borrowing from RBI, as is the case now, the repo rate is the policy rate. The current policy rate will probably be raised to 5.75%. RBI can raise the reverse repo rate too by an identical margin to 4.25% and keep the gap between the two rates—the rate corridor, in RBI parlance—at 1.5 percentage points. But there is a possibility that the reverse repo rate is raised by a larger margin, say 50 bps, to 4.5%, to shrink the corridor to 1.25 percentage points. What’s the need for doing that? If the corridor narrows, volatility in interest rate movements in the market will decline. It will also help keep the policy rate at a relatively higher level when liquidity returns to the system. If the reverse repo rate is 4.25%, in a liquidity-surplus situation that will be the policy rate. But if it is raised by 50 bps to 4.5%, the policy rate will be 25 bps higher in such a situation. I would think that the central bank should narrow the gap between the two policy rates unless it is absolutely sure that there won’t be excess liquidity in the system at any time soon and the repo rate is indeed the policy rate. The wholesale price-based inflation was 10.6% in June and the April inflation data was revised significantly higher from 9.6% to 11.2%. The last time wholesale price inflation was at such a high level (it breached 12%) was between June and October 2008. At that time, the repo rate was 9%, 350 bps higher than the current level. The reverse repo rate was 6%, and the CRR was 9%, 200 bps and 300 bps higher, respectively, from the current levels. RBI started paring rates and CRR in October 2008 after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. that plunged the global financial system into an unprecedented credit crunch. Many argue that the context of 2008 was very different; the economy was clearly growing above its potential and there were signs of overheating in certain pockets. A much higher policy rate was justifiable then, but not now, they say. This argument does not seem very convincing if one takes a close look at all macro-economic indicators. Growth in both exports and imports in the first half of 2008 and the first five months of 2010 is comparable. Industrial production growth in the first five months of 2010 is actually higher than in the first half of 2008. Bank credit growth was higher in 2008, but there is not much difference between growth in India’s gross domestic product, or GDP, between then and now. On average, the economy grew at about 8% in the first three quarters of 2008. The scene is not very different now. GDP growth was 8.6%, 6.5%and 8.6%, respectively, for the quarters ended September and December 2009 and March 2010. The Prime Minister’s economic advisory council has pegged growth for the current fiscal at 8.5%, higher than its February estimate of 8.2%. The International Monetary Fund’s forecast for India’s economic growth for 2010 is 9.4%. Tailpiece RBI raised its policy rates in March and June ahead of its policy announcements. In April, this columnist wrote about shifting to a monthly or six-weekly review of monetary policy to avoid such inter-meeting actions. The central bank seems to be veering towards this idea. Until 2005, RBI used to make two formal policy statements—in April and October—known as the slack season and busy season policies. Then RBI governor Y.V. Reddy introduced quarterly reviews in fiscal 2006. Globally, most central banks conduct a monthly policy review and a few of them, including the US Federal Reserve, six-weekly ones. The Federal Open Market Committee, the policymaking body of the Fed, holds eight meetings a year at intervals of five to eight weeks and the minutes of such meetings are released three weeks after the date of the review. Despite the lack of adequate data to track economic activities, I am told RBI is seriously considering increasing the frequency of policy reviews to avoid inter-meeting policy announcements. Tamal Bandyopadhyay keeps a close eye on all things banking from his perch as Mint’s deputy managing editor in Mumbai. Comment at bankerstrust@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2010 | 12:24 pm Instead of feeding the poor, India lets grain rotNew Delhi/Chandigarh: A day after the Prime Minister urged a quick start to a national food security network, it has emerged that his government may let foodgrain —enough to feed 140 million poor people for a month—decay, instead of spending money and effort distributing it to the poor. Warning of an “emergency situation”, a person familiar with the situation told the Hindustan Times that 17.8 million tonnes of wheat and rice are being stored under tarpaulin across India. Of this around 10 million tonnes has seen at least one monsoon, at risk of rotting. In Punjab, 49,000 tonnes of this foodgrain is ready to be destroyed after spending three monsoons—to be fit for human consumption, it cannot endure more than one—covered with tarpaulin. “The wheat stocks have rotted,” said Punjab food and civil supplies principal secretary S.P. Singh, referring to the 49,000 tonnes. The fate of the remaining wheat and rice stored under tarpaulin will be discussed on Monday by an empowered group of ministers (eGoM), which in March had rejected a suggestion to release grain to states at subsidized prices fixed for families above the poverty line.  Uncovered: Wheat sacks piled up in the open at a yard in Punjab. Across India, 17.8 million tonnes of wheat and rice are stored under tarpaulin. Madhu Kapparath/Mint The counter-argument: With India being home to a quarter of the world’s hungry people and a third of its malnourished children, foodgrain cannot be allowed to rot; the state must find a way. Since May, the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the agency holding the largest percentage of grain, made a series of suggestions to the Centre. One of these is to distribute the grain to 150 of India’s poorest districts, at present being considered by the National Advisory Council as a proving ground for universal distribution of subsidized foodgrain as one solution to widespread poverty and hunger. Of the 59 million tonnes of grain stored by FCI and state agencies across India, 42 million tonnes is in covered buildings. The amount of grain stored under tarpaulin has been rising. It was 9.4 million tonnes in 2008; 16 million tonnes in 2009 and 17.8 million tonnes in 2010 (as on 1 June). feedback@livemint.com The Hunger Project is a joint effort of the Hindustan Times and Mint to track, investigate and report every aspect of the struggle to rid India of hunger. If you have any suggestions, write to us at thehungerproject@livemint.com Next: Despite warnings, Punjab grain rots Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2010 | 12:11 pm Quick Edit | Price fight in the HouseThe government will face a belligerent Opposition when Parliament opens for the monsoon session, with inflation as the focus of its attacks. For his part, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has clearly pinned his hopes on a good monsoon to ease food prices. The forces of nature appear to be on the Prime Minister’s side halfway into the rainy season, but whether that will be enough to slow the rate of inflation to 6% by December isn’t clear yet. The central bank is expected to help things along by tightening monetary policy, which may help absorb inflationary pressures such as those engendered by the freeing up of some fuel prices. But given that the economy is in strong revival mode, it will take all the government’s nerve to stay on top of the situation and not get spooked by a twitchy inflation rate. The Opposition isn’t going to stop beating up the government on prices. That’s the Opposition’s job. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2010 | 11:54 am Maruti’s royalty to Suzuki to increase furtherMumbai: India’s biggest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, will be paying a higher royalty to its Japanese parent Suzuki Motor Corp. after the government removed a cap on the amount local companies pay their overseas partners for transfer of technology. Suzuki and other foreign companies had been seeking more liberal royalty norms, capped at 5% of domestic sales and 8% of exports, for several years, Maruti Suzuki chairman R.C. Bhargava said. In April, the ministry of commerce and industry issued a notification removing the cap and permitting Indian companies to pay royalty to their technical collaborators without seeking prior government approval.  Photo: Ramesh Pathania; Graphic: Paras Jain/Mint “Suzuki decided that Maruti Suzuki India would now conform to Suzuki’s global royalty payment strategy,” Bhargava said in a telephone interview. Royalty payments have been typically calculated as a percentage of net sales and derived from the use of an asset or a fixed price per unit sold, minus the value of imported content. After the notification, Suzuki got a free hand in fixing the technical fee it can charge Maruti Suzuki on newer and existing models. Typically, new models attract a higher fee. As the model matures in its life cycle and the investment on fixed costs is amortized, royalty on the model is reduced, eventually exempting it from the fee. With the exception of the Maruti 800, Omni and Gypsy, all models in Maruti Suzuki’s stable attract royalty. Maruti Suzuki’s net sales for the three months ended June 2010 were Rs8,050.6 crore and recurring royalty was 5.1%. Maruti paid Suzuki Rs123.6 crore more during the quarter than what it would have paid without the revision in the royalty rate. The net royalty burden for the quarter was Rs413 crore, 81% higher than in the same quarter last year. In the first quarter of fiscal 2009-10, royalty as a percentage of net sales was 3.6%. The deregulation came into effect from December, requiring Maruti Suzuki to pay an additional 0.8%, or Rs65 crore, retrospectively for the four months to March. According to Vineet Hetamasaria, vice-president of research at Mumbai-based brokerage Pincmoney, a subsidiary of Pioneer Investcorp, the royalty burden on the company, which had been rising due to the addition of newer models in its product portfolio, is set to rise further with no cap on the upper limit. “This is a structural change and will have a recurring impact,” he said. In fiscal 2009-10, Maruti paid royalty on 86% of its total unit sales, 5 percentage points more than a year ago. The company had sold 1.18 million units in the domestic and export markets. Experts say the entire Indian automobile industry will feel the impact of the deregulation. Other auto makers with foreign collaboration, such as ToyotaKirloskar Motors Ltd and Honda Siel Cars India Ltd, are not listed in India and don’t have to disclose figures. “It impacts not only every international model launched in India, but also part makers which have foreign collaborations and supply to auto makers directly or indirectly,” said Pankaj Chadha, director of the automotive practice at global consulting firm Ernst and Young. It will even cover model launches from Tata Motors Ltd’s Jaguar and Land Rover stables in India which are governed by the country of origin rule relating to where the models are designed and developed. As the move inflates the cost per model for Maruti Suzuki, the company might have to build the higher royalty payment into the price of its automobiles, Bhargava said. But the car maker hasn’t taken any call on pricing action yet. In the three months ended June, the higher royalty burden, among other factors, singed Maruti Suzuki, which said profit fell by 20% to Rs465 crore from Rs583 crore a year earlier. The company’s earnings were way off the estimate of Rs653 crore by five analysts polled by Mint on 21 July. Still, Ernst and Young’s Chadha said the liberalization of the royalty regime was a positive move. “It incentivizes the (foreign partners of) auto makers for better model launches at a quicker pace,” he said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2010 | 11:42 am Will Zynga become the Google of games?San Francisco: Orientation for new employees of Zynga, the fast-growing maker of Facebook games such as FarmVille and Mafia Wars, can be a heady affair, given the company’s outsize ambitions —all of which are embodied in Mark Pincus, Zynga’s 44-year-old founder. In a pep talk this month, Pincus told his company’s newcomers that he had set out to build an enduring Internet icon, one that was synonymous with fun. “I thought, it’s 2007, and this can’t be all that the Internet is meant to be,” he said. There has to be more than “a garage sale, a book store, a search engine and a portal,” he added in a good-natured putdown of the Web giants eBay, Amazon, Google and Yahoo. And lest there be any doubt which of those giants Zynga aims to match, Pincus said the opportunity to build an online entertainment empire was “like search before Google came along.” So far, he seems on track. The Zynga Game Network Inc., as the company is officially called, is the hottest start up to emerge from Silicon Valley since Twitter and, before that, Facebook. Unlike Twitter, which has meager revenue, Zynga is on a path to pocket $835 million (around Rs3,900 crore) in revenue this year, according to the Inside Network, which tracks Facebook apps. While Facebook needed four and a half years to reach 100 million users, Zynga crossed that mark after just two and a half years. Zynga’s empire is made up of cartoonish online games that even Pincus acknowledges are goofy. And most striking, given its financial success, is the fact that the games are free to everyone. Zynga makes money, by and large, only when a small fraction of its users pay real money for make-believe “virtual” goods that let them move up in the games or to give their friends gifts. For instance, in FarmVille, its most popular game, players tend to virtual farms, planting and harvesting crops, and turning little plots of land into ever more sophisticated or idyllic cyberfarms. Good farmers—those who don’t let crops wither—earn virtual currency they can use for things like more seed or farm animals and equipment. But players can also buy those goods with credit cards, PayPal accounts or Facebook’s new payment system, called Credits. A pink tractor, a “FarmVille” favourite, costs about $3.50, and fuel to power it is 60 cents. A Breton horse can be had for $4.40, and four chickens for $5.60. The sums are small, but add up quickly when multiplied by millions of users: Zynga says it has been profitable since shortly after its founding. The company has ballooned to nearly 1,000 employees, up from 375 a year ago, and now has some 400 job openings. And investors, including Google and the Netscape founder Marc Andreessen, have put about $520 million into the company. Though some of the money was used to buy out early investors and employees, it’s still a huge sum in Silicon Valley. Zynga has been valued at more than $4.5 billion, putting Pincus, who has retained voting control over the company, on a path to become Silicon Valley’s next billionaire. And, not surprisingly, Zynga has caught the attention of people beyond Silicon Valley. At a recent gathering of media and technology moguls, Jeffrey Katzenberg, the chief executive officer (CEO) of DreamWorks Animation, was asked what he would do if he were to start his career over. “I said I would like to be Mark Pincus,” he recalled in an interview. “He has nailed the next killer app, the next compelling thing that’s going to happen” in media. There have been some bumps on Zynga’s road to success. The games are programmed to send updates to players’ Facebook friends when certain actions are completed, like planting or harvesting crops. Six million Facebook users, who grew tired of constant updates about their friends’ games, joined a group called “I don’t care about your farm, or your fish, or your park, or your mafia!!!” Facebook started restricting the messages, and Zynga’s traffic dropped sharply. For instance, “FarmVille” had a 26% drop, to 61 million monthly users, in July from a peak of about 83 million in March, according to AppData.com. Pincus says he expects growth to resume with new games like “FrontierVille,” which a month after its release on 9 June had 20 million players. And Zynga investors say the drop in traffic had little effect on revenue because many players who dropped out didn’t buy virtual goods. Even so, some analysts and investors question Zynga’s ability to keep producing hit games in an ever more crowded field. “There are only so many potential customers and only so many categories,” says Rick Heitzmann, a managing director of FirstMark Capital, a venture capital firm that has invested in online game companies, though not in Zynga. “And they are burning through categories quickly,” he adds, noting that Zynga already had games for pets, farms, restaurants and other subjects. For now, however, it is hard to argue with Zynga’s record. Its games have 211 million players every month, according to AppData.com. Though that figure counts a user for each type of game he plays, it makes Zynga about four times larger than its nearest rival, Electronic Arts. Playdom is third, with 41 million users. “I have a very high-stress life,” says Alena Meeker, 32, a financial analyst at a major brokerage firm in San Francisco. “I love relaxing with the games.” Meeker, who plays several of Zynga’s games, says she devotes about an hour a day to them and spends $20 to $40 on virtual goods every week. She says she uses the games to connect with friends, co-workers and family. Nathan R. Van Sleet, who lives in Oakland and is unemployed, says he plays “YoVille,” a game in which users create avatars and interact with others in custom-decorated homes, for up to 16 hours a day. Because he is hearing-impaired and doesn’t know sign language, online forums of “YoVille” players have allowed him to connect with various people. “If it were not for the forums, I would have missed the opportunity to meet these people,” Van Sleet said in an email message. Pincus points to these kinds of testimonials when he says that the games, while simple, have a higher purpose: connecting people. The company also donates some proceeds from virtual goods to earthquake relief in Haiti and other causes. While some traditional developers grumble about the social-game phenomenon, which they see as a step backward in sophistication, the popularity of Zynga and some of its rivals has made the multibillion-dollar video game industry take notice. In November, Electronic Arts bought the Zynga rival Playfish for as much as $400 million. But some analysts say that most other traditional gaming companies are falling behind the trend that is taking the industry by storm. “The only one that can catch up is Electronic Arts,” says Michael Pachter, a research analyst at Wedbush Securities. As Zynga has emerged as the most successful maker of Facebook applications, its relationship with the giant social network has become more complicated. First, there was the brouhaha over the notification system and the drop in traffic. Then Facebook said it would push all applications to use a virtual currency, Credits, on the site, and take 30% of proceeds. Tensions mounted, but the two companies eventually settled their differences. In May, they announced a five-year partnership expanding the use of Credits in Zynga games. Ethan Beard, who heads Facebook’s platform team, acknowledged the strains. But he said that the relationship between the two companies now was “very, very strong.” Still, some analysts predict more friction ahead, as the balance of power between the two companies shifts. “Most people think Facebook would have been a phenomenon without games,” says Pachter, the Wedbush Securities analyst. “I am not sure that’s right. 20-30% of visits to Facebook are to play games.” Zynga, which is said to be contemplating a public offering, clearly does not want to have all its eggs in the Facebook basket. It recently signed a sweeping agreement to bring its games to millions of users on Yahoo. And Pincus shared the stage with Steve Jobs, the Apple Inc CEO, at the unveiling of the iPhone 4 to announce that “FarmVille” was available on the handset. In addition, Zynga’s $520 million in financing includes a recent infusion of $300 million through two roughly equal investments from Softbank and Google, according to people briefed on the investments who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss Zynga’s finances publicly. Google and Zynga are also in the early stages of exploring a collaboration, these people said. Zynga and Google declined to comment or confirm a Google investment. When Pincus first envisioned Zynga, most investors and peers doubted that a gaming start-up could become the next big thing. But the success of games like “FarmVille” has silenced the critics. “Zynga has the most revenue, growth and happy customers of any three-year-old venture we’ve ever backed,” says John Doerr, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, the venture capital firm that has backed Amazon, Google and Netscape. Asked how big Zynga can become, Pincus has a difficult time hiding his ambition. “I am drinking the Kool-Aid more than anyone,” he says. ©2010/THE NEW YORK TIMES feedback@livemint.com Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2010 | 11:35 am Will Zynga become the Google of games?San Francisco: Orientation for new employees of Zynga, the fast-growing maker of Facebook games such as FarmVille and Mafia Wars, can be a heady affair, given the company’s outsize ambitions —all of which are embodied in Mark Pincus, Zynga’s 44-year-old founder. In a pep talk this month, Pincus told his company’s newcomers that he had set out to build an enduring Internet icon, one that was synonymous with fun. “I thought, it’s 2007, and this can’t be all that the Internet is meant to be,” he said. There has to be more than “a garage sale, a book store, a search engine and a portal,” he added in a good-natured putdown of the Web giants eBay, Amazon, Google and Yahoo. And lest there be any doubt which of those giants Zynga aims to match, Pincus said the opportunity to build an online entertainment empire was “like search before Google came along.” So far, he seems on track. The Zynga Game Network Inc., as the company is officially called, is the hottest start up to emerge from Silicon Valley since Twitter and, before that, Facebook. Unlike Twitter, which has meager revenue, Zynga is on a path to pocket $835 million (around Rs3,900 crore) in revenue this year, according to the Inside Network, which tracks Facebook apps. While Facebook needed four and a half years to reach 100 million users, Zynga crossed that mark after just two and a half years. Zynga’s empire is made up of cartoonish online games that even Pincus acknowledges are goofy. And most striking, given its financial success, is the fact that the games are free to everyone. Zynga makes money, by and large, only when a small fraction of its users pay real money for make-believe “virtual” goods that let them move up in the games or to give their friends gifts. For instance, in FarmVille, its most popular game, players tend to virtual farms, planting and harvesting crops, and turning little plots of land into ever more sophisticated or idyllic cyberfarms. Good farmers—those who don’t let crops wither—earn virtual currency they can use for things like more seed or farm animals and equipment. But players can also buy those goods with credit cards, PayPal accounts or Facebook’s new payment system, called Credits. A pink tractor, a “FarmVille” favourite, costs about $3.50, and fuel to power it is 60 cents. A Breton horse can be had for $4.40, and four chickens for $5.60. The sums are small, but add up quickly when multiplied by millions of users: Zynga says it has been profitable since shortly after its founding. The company has ballooned to nearly 1,000 employees, up from 375 a year ago, and now has some 400 job openings. And investors, including Google and the Netscape founder Marc Andreessen, have put about $520 million into the company. Though some of the money was used to buy out early investors and employees, it’s still a huge sum in Silicon Valley. Zynga has been valued at more than $4.5 billion, putting Pincus, who has retained voting control over the company, on a path to become Silicon Valley’s next billionaire. And, not surprisingly, Zynga has caught the attention of people beyond Silicon Valley. At a recent gathering of media and technology moguls, Jeffrey Katzenberg, the chief executive officer (CEO) of DreamWorks Animation, was asked what he would do if he were to start his career over. “I said I would like to be Mark Pincus,” he recalled in an interview. “He has nailed the next killer app, the next compelling thing that’s going to happen” in media. There have been some bumps on Zynga’s road to success. The games are programmed to send updates to players’ Facebook friends when certain actions are completed, like planting or harvesting crops. Six million Facebook users, who grew tired of constant updates about their friends’ games, joined a group called “I don’t care about your farm, or your fish, or your park, or your mafia!!!” Facebook started restricting the messages, and Zynga’s traffic dropped sharply. For instance, “FarmVille” had a 26% drop, to 61 million monthly users, in July from a peak of about 83 million in March, according to AppData.com. Pincus says he expects growth to resume with new games like “FrontierVille,” which a month after its release on 9 June had 20 million players. And Zynga investors say the drop in traffic had little effect on revenue because many players who dropped out didn’t buy virtual goods. Even so, some analysts and investors question Zynga’s ability to keep producing hit games in an ever more crowded field. “There are only so many potential customers and only so many categories,” says Rick Heitzmann, a managing director of FirstMark Capital, a venture capital firm that has invested in online game companies, though not in Zynga. “And they are burning through categories quickly,” he adds, noting that Zynga already had games for pets, farms, restaurants and other subjects. For now, however, it is hard to argue with Zynga’s record. Its games have 211 million players every month, according to AppData.com. Though that figure counts a user for each type of game he plays, it makes Zynga about four times larger than its nearest rival, Electronic Arts. Playdom is third, with 41 million users. “I have a very high-stress life,” says Alena Meeker, 32, a financial analyst at a major brokerage firm in San Francisco. “I love relaxing with the games.” Meeker, who plays several of Zynga’s games, says she devotes about an hour a day to them and spends $20 to $40 on virtual goods every week. She says she uses the games to connect with friends, co-workers and family. Nathan R. Van Sleet, who lives in Oakland and is unemployed, says he plays “YoVille,” a game in which users create avatars and interact with others in custom-decorated homes, for up to 16 hours a day. Because he is hearing-impaired and doesn’t know sign language, online forums of “YoVille” players have allowed him to connect with various people. “If it were not for the forums, I would have missed the opportunity to meet these people,” Van Sleet said in an email message. Pincus points to these kinds of testimonials when he says that the games, while simple, have a higher purpose: connecting people. The company also donates some proceeds from virtual goods to earthquake relief in Haiti and other causes. While some traditional developers grumble about the social-game phenomenon, which they see as a step backward in sophistication, the popularity of Zynga and some of its rivals has made the multibillion-dollar video game industry take notice. In November, Electronic Arts bought the Zynga rival Playfish for as much as $400 million. But some analysts say that most other traditional gaming companies are falling behind the trend that is taking the industry by storm. “The only one that can catch up is Electronic Arts,” says Michael Pachter, a research analyst at Wedbush Securities. As Zynga has emerged as the most successful maker of Facebook applications, its relationship with the giant social network has become more complicated. First, there was the brouhaha over the notification system and the drop in traffic. Then Facebook said it would push all applications to use a virtual currency, Credits, on the site, and take 30% of proceeds. Tensions mounted, but the two companies eventually settled their differences. In May, they announced a five-year partnership expanding the use of Credits in Zynga games. Ethan Beard, who heads Facebook’s platform team, acknowledged the strains. But he said that the relationship between the two companies now was “very, very strong.” Still, some analysts predict more friction ahead, as the balance of power between the two companies shifts. “Most people think Facebook would have been a phenomenon without games,” says Pachter, the Wedbush Securities analyst. “I am not sure that’s right. 20-30% of visits to Facebook are to play games.” Zynga, which is said to be contemplating a public offering, clearly does not want to have all its eggs in the Facebook basket. It recently signed a sweeping agreement to bring its games to millions of users on Yahoo. And Pincus shared the stage with Steve Jobs, the Apple Inc CEO, at the unveiling of the iPhone 4 to announce that “FarmVille” was available on the handset. In addition, Zynga’s $520 million in financing includes a recent infusion of $300 million through two roughly equal investments from Softbank and Google, according to people briefed on the investments who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss Zynga’s finances publicly. Google and Zynga are also in the early stages of exploring a collaboration, these people said. Zynga and Google declined to comment or confirm a Google investment. When Pincus first envisioned Zynga, most investors and peers doubted that a gaming start-up could become the next big thing. But the success of games like “FarmVille” has silenced the critics. “Zynga has the most revenue, growth and happy customers of any three-year-old venture we’ve ever backed,” says John Doerr, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, the venture capital firm that has backed Amazon, Google and Netscape. Asked how big Zynga can become, Pincus has a difficult time hiding his ambition. “I am drinking the Kool-Aid more than anyone,” he says. ©2010/THE NEW YORK TIMES feedback@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2010 | 11:35 am Rate hike on the horizonOn Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of India will announce its latest tweaks to the monetary policy. This quarterly review comes at a time when the economy is projected to grow at 9.5%, factory output continues to increase, albeit at slower rates, corporate profits rise and foreign investors pour money into local stocks. However, high inflation is casting a shadow on this benign situation and threatens to destabilize the economy and its pace of growth. Consequently, most economists expect governor D Subbarao to hike key interest rates by at least 25 basis points on Tuesday. Expect car, home and personal loans to get costlier while stocks of sectors such as auto, realty and banks might take a tumble. Also See | Rate Hike (Graphic) Graphic by Yogesh Kumar/Mint Compiled by Ashwin Ramarathinam ashwin.r@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Jul 2010 | 11:23 am
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