•Oppn mounts pressure for sacking Raja over 2G scam
•2 home ministry bureaucrats arrested on bribery charge
•Rupee ends weak on Greece, Portugal ratings cut
•73K requests pending for examining patent applications
•Mediclaim cover to get lower on increasing premium
•AT&T sells 7% in Tech Mahindra
•Piramal Healthcare may sell domestic formulation biz
•Suzlon in JV with Bulgarian wind farm company
•RIL makes fourth oil discovery in Cambay Basin
•Reserve Bank of India transfers 90 senior officials
•Power sector losses to exceed Rs 45,000 cr
•Bank of Baroda Q4 net up 20% to Rs 906 cr
•Marico Q4 net up 15% to Rs 51 cr
•Balrampur Chini Q2 net down at Rs 27.5 cr
•India IT spend to rise 14% in 2010: Gartner
•Saregama offers 50,000 songs for phone download
•AstraZeneca to pay $520 mn fine to US authorities
•Goldman CEO faces withering attack over ethics
•More financial fraud feared in 2010, 2011: Deloitte
•Astrology can't be banned: Govt more stories
About Me
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
UPDATE - 27/04/2010
Commodity News WireEnergy Oil Dips Below $85; Greece Worries, Supplies Weigh
U.S. oil fell below $85 a barrel on Monday as Greece's festering debt crisis pushed the U.S. dollar up and as the oil market girded for further growth to inventories in the United States, the world's top energy consumer.
Bullions Gold Inches Up, Near 1-Week Highs; FOMC Eyed
Gold edged up on Tuesday, nearing a one-week high marked the previous day as a halt in the euro's decline provided support, while focus is on the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting starting later in the day.
Currency Euro Hit By Greek Uncertainty; Dollar Up Vs Yen
Confusion about the timing and amount of emergency aid for Greece prompted investors to sell the euro on Monday as markets worried about whether the euro zone country will manage to avert a debt default.
Base Metals Copper, Aluminum Drop as Dollar Rebounds on Greek Aid Concern
Copper declined for the first day in three amid concerns that an aid package for Greece won?t stop its deficit crisis from spreading, improving prospects for a stronger dollar. Aluminum, lead and zinc also dropped.
Agri Commodity Rising Export Demand Propels Guar Gum Prices
Rising demand for exports has resulted in guarseed and guar gum prices surging in the last couple of weeks.
Monsoon Challenges
One more financial year has begun, and one more south-west monsoon will be upon us in a matter of weeks.
U.S. oil fell below $85 a barrel on Monday as Greece's festering debt crisis pushed the U.S. dollar up and as the oil market girded for further growth to inventories in the United States, the world's top energy consumer.
Bullions Gold Inches Up, Near 1-Week Highs; FOMC Eyed
Gold edged up on Tuesday, nearing a one-week high marked the previous day as a halt in the euro's decline provided support, while focus is on the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting starting later in the day.
Currency Euro Hit By Greek Uncertainty; Dollar Up Vs Yen
Confusion about the timing and amount of emergency aid for Greece prompted investors to sell the euro on Monday as markets worried about whether the euro zone country will manage to avert a debt default.
Base Metals Copper, Aluminum Drop as Dollar Rebounds on Greek Aid Concern
Copper declined for the first day in three amid concerns that an aid package for Greece won?t stop its deficit crisis from spreading, improving prospects for a stronger dollar. Aluminum, lead and zinc also dropped.
Agri Commodity Rising Export Demand Propels Guar Gum Prices
Rising demand for exports has resulted in guarseed and guar gum prices surging in the last couple of weeks.
Monsoon Challenges
One more financial year has begun, and one more south-west monsoon will be upon us in a matter of weeks.
Monday, April 19, 2010
RBI likely to raise policy rates tomorrow
The Reserve Bank (RBI) will try to put the lid on inflation, which is nearly in the double-digit region, possibly by hiking key rates in its annual monetary policy tomorrow, feel bankers.
The apex bank, however, may not be too aggressive in tightening the monetary policy and is likely to resort to only a moderate 0.25 percentage point hike in short-term borrowing rates and mandatory bank deposits with RBI.
moderate tightening should suffice because inflation is expected to ease after the rabi (winter) crop, including wheat, sugar, potatoes and pulses, reaches the market, around mid-May.
Wholesale prices-based inflation touched 9.90 per cent in March, mainly fuelled by high food inflation. The bankers said too much caution on the monetary front may also hamper economic recovery.
Economic activity has seen revival and factory production rose by a stellar 15.1 per cent in February, the fifth straight month of double-digit expansion, riding largely on the back of fiscal and monetary stimulus measures announced by the government and RBI in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Repo and reverse repo are the key short-term lending and borrowing rates, respectively, while Cash Reserve Ratio is the money that every bank has to mandatorily keep with the central bank. Also, industry sources said that banks are not likely to raise lending rates, at least immediately, even if RBI hikes rates by a quarter percentage point as liquidity is sufficient in the near term.
"The RBI is likely to hike the rates by anywhere between 0.25-0.50 percentage point as the inflation situation warrants monetary action.
The apex bank began unwinding its monetary stimulus by upping the CRR by 0.75 percentage points in January and policy rates (repo and reverse repo) by 0.25 percentage points in March to cool inflation.
The hike is certain given the current inflation conditions and signs of the economic recovery. "I expect that CRR will be hiked by 0.25 per cent as the focus of the central bank now is to bring down inflation.
The apex bank, however, may not be too aggressive in tightening the monetary policy and is likely to resort to only a moderate 0.25 percentage point hike in short-term borrowing rates and mandatory bank deposits with RBI.
moderate tightening should suffice because inflation is expected to ease after the rabi (winter) crop, including wheat, sugar, potatoes and pulses, reaches the market, around mid-May.
Wholesale prices-based inflation touched 9.90 per cent in March, mainly fuelled by high food inflation. The bankers said too much caution on the monetary front may also hamper economic recovery.
Economic activity has seen revival and factory production rose by a stellar 15.1 per cent in February, the fifth straight month of double-digit expansion, riding largely on the back of fiscal and monetary stimulus measures announced by the government and RBI in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Repo and reverse repo are the key short-term lending and borrowing rates, respectively, while Cash Reserve Ratio is the money that every bank has to mandatorily keep with the central bank. Also, industry sources said that banks are not likely to raise lending rates, at least immediately, even if RBI hikes rates by a quarter percentage point as liquidity is sufficient in the near term.
"The RBI is likely to hike the rates by anywhere between 0.25-0.50 percentage point as the inflation situation warrants monetary action.
The apex bank began unwinding its monetary stimulus by upping the CRR by 0.75 percentage points in January and policy rates (repo and reverse repo) by 0.25 percentage points in March to cool inflation.
The hike is certain given the current inflation conditions and signs of the economic recovery. "I expect that CRR will be hiked by 0.25 per cent as the focus of the central bank now is to bring down inflation.
Friday, April 16, 2010
China's Q1 GDP grows more than expected
Some more monetary tightening move could be in the offing in China and the pressure to let the yuan float a little more freely may also increase after first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) grew at a faster than anticipated pace. GDP in the January to March period expanded by 11.9% from 10.7% in the fourth quarter of 2009, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. Economists had forecast growth of 11.5%. It was the fastest growth rate in the first quarter since 2007, when the Chinese economy grew by 13%. Non-deliverable yuan forwards climbed 0.2% to 6.6140 as of 10:08 a.m. in Hong Kong, suggesting that the currency may appreciate 3.2% in the next 12 months. The Shanghai Composite Index swung from losses to a gain following the release of the GDP data. Industrial production rose 18.1% in March and retail sales climbed 18%, the data showed. Urban fixed-asset investment increased 26.4% in the first quarter from a year earlier. Consumer prices in China rose at a less-than-estimated pace of 2.4% in March from a year earlier, government data showed. CPI rose by 2.7% in February. Economists had forecast a gain of 2.6%. The producer price index (PPI) was up 5.9% after climbing 5.4% in February.
SEC sues Goldman alleging CDO fraud -,Bloomberg
Goldman Sachs Group was sued by US regulators for fraud tied to packaging and selling collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) that contributed to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
Goldman Sachs misstated and omitted key facts about a financial product tied to subprime mortgages as the US housing market was beginning to falter, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said in a statement today. The SEC also sued Fabrice Tourre, a Goldman Sachs vice president.
SEC alleged that Goldman Sachs, led by chief executive officer Lloyd Blankfein, structured and marketed CDOs that hinged on the performance of subprime mortgage-backed securities. The New York-based firm failed to disclose to investors that hedge fund Paulson & Co. was betting against the security and influenced the selection of securities for the portfolio, the SEC said. Paulson wasn't accused of wrongdoing.
"The product was new and complex but the deception and conflicts are old and simple," SEC enforcement director Robert Khuzami said in a statement. "Goldman wrongly permitted a client that was betting against the mortgage market to heavily influence which mortgage securities to include in an investment portfolio while telling other investors that the securities were selected by an independent, objective third party."
Goldman Sachs misstated and omitted key facts about a financial product tied to subprime mortgages as the US housing market was beginning to falter, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said in a statement today. The SEC also sued Fabrice Tourre, a Goldman Sachs vice president.
SEC alleged that Goldman Sachs, led by chief executive officer Lloyd Blankfein, structured and marketed CDOs that hinged on the performance of subprime mortgage-backed securities. The New York-based firm failed to disclose to investors that hedge fund Paulson & Co. was betting against the security and influenced the selection of securities for the portfolio, the SEC said. Paulson wasn't accused of wrongdoing.
"The product was new and complex but the deception and conflicts are old and simple," SEC enforcement director Robert Khuzami said in a statement. "Goldman wrongly permitted a client that was betting against the mortgage market to heavily influence which mortgage securities to include in an investment portfolio while telling other investors that the securities were selected by an independent, objective third party."
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Infosys cautious on recovery; flags currency risk
Infosys cautious on recovery; flags currency risk
Infosys Technologies, India's No.2 software services exporter, forecast stronger-than-expected annual revenue growth of 16-18 per cent, noting that a pick-up in global technology spending was improving demand for outsourcing.
However, a firming rupee on the back of rising foreign investment in India's fast growing economy may keep earnings growth muted for outsourcers, and Infosys expects its profit margins to take a hit this year. This pressure is not likely to go away as the rupee is still appreciating.
Infosys Technologies, India's No.2 software services exporter, forecast stronger-than-expected annual revenue growth of 16-18 per cent, noting that a pick-up in global technology spending was improving demand for outsourcing.
However, a firming rupee on the back of rising foreign investment in India's fast growing economy may keep earnings growth muted for outsourcers, and Infosys expects its profit margins to take a hit this year. This pressure is not likely to go away as the rupee is still appreciating.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)