Mumbai, May 6
A sharp overnight fall in the prices of commodities worldwide caused gold prices to fall nearly Rs 500 per 10 grams despite a surge in buying during today's Akshaya Tritiya festival. Silver prices fell even more to Rs 56,000 from Rs 60,000 on Thursday.

According to information available from Opera House, India's main gold trading hub, gold prices in the city fell to Rs 21,800 from Rs 22,300 per 10 grams overnight. Prices of precious metals on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) were even lower. Gold spot prices stood at Rs 21,700 per 10 grams on Friday, while silver was priced at Rs 53,757 per kg. The gold trade, however, does not expect precious metals to correct sharply. "If there is a correction demand for gold jewellery will increase further as we are entering the wedding season," says jeweller Shashikant Jhaveri who operates out of this area.

Reactions from the ground indicate that retail buyers welcomed the dip in gold prices by making a beeline for jewellery shops across the country. "We expect sales to rise by as much as 35-40 per cent this Akshaya Tritiya," another Mumbai-based jeweller said here.

Most of the buyers who were buying gold jewellery and coins today had already booked their purchases several days in advance in anticipation of further increase in prices. "The fall in prices actually caused a lot of people to buy some more though the amounts were very small," says Jhaveri.

Globally, analysts are attributing the decline in price of precious metals to appreciation in the value of the dollar against the euro and profit booking by speculators. Those bearish on gold and silver expect the former to fall to $1,445 an ounce while in India silver is expected to fall to Rs 46,000 per kg.

Mumbai, May 6
Snapping its longest nine-day declining spell in a decade, the BSE Sensex gained 308 points today to close at 18,518 on all round buying at lower prices amid sharp fall in global crude oil prices.

All sectoral indices finished with gains, surging between 0.33 per cent and 3.71 per cent. The most battered stocks recently - banking, auto, IT, realty and capital goods were the major gainers.

Oil marketing PSUs gained as crude prices slumped below $100 a barrel in the US market. Brent crude, although still above $100 a barrel, also fell sharply. BPCL rose by 3.62 per cent, HPCL 2.83 per cent, IOC by 2.63 per cent and Oil India by 1.62 per cent.

India imports about 75 per cent of crude oil requirements and marketmen said the government might hold it plans of raising prices of some subsidied petroleum products if the decline continues.

After having lost about 1,392 points or over 7.10 per cent in the last nine sessions, the Sensex opened higher at 18,289.78 and shot up further to 18,568.48.

However, it closed the day at 18,518.81, gaining 308.23 points or 1.69 per cent from its last close.

The NSE 50-share Nifty also ended higher by 91.60 points or 1.68 per cent to 5,551.45 from its last close. — PTI

Mumbai, May 6
SKS Microfinance nosedived by nearly 20 per cent to hit the lower circuit limit on BSE today amid reports that global financial services firm J P Morgan has cut its share price target by more than half.

In a sharp reaction, the scrip of the country's largest microfinance institution ended 19.83 per cent lower at Rs 331.30 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

In the intra-day trade, the scrip had declined by 19.98 per cent to hit the lower circuit limit of Rs 330.65.

Jittery investors went for panic selling on the National Stock Exchange as well, where the stock tanked 19.99 per cent to close at Rs 330.75.

In terms of volume, over 33 lakh shares of the company were traded on the bourses during the day.

According to media reports, JP Morgan slashed the company's share price target to Rs 200 from Rs 550, citing weakening of its business model. — PTI

New Delhi, May 6
The Finance Ministry has initiated a public debate on the issue of a negative list for taxation of services as announced by the Finance Minister in his Budget 2011.

In his Budget speech, Pranab Mukherjee had said, “Many experts have argued that it will be desirable to tax services based on a small negative list, so that many untapped sectors are brought into the tax net. Such an approach will be very conducive for a nationwide GST”.

The main issues that are sought to be deliberated in the debate are advantages and disadvantages of a negative vis-a-vis a positive list, the right approach for India and the international experience of taxation of services based on the negative list.

It would discuss important issues arising by moving toward the taxation of services based on negative list, definition of the term “service” and possible list of services that merit to be included in the negative list.

Areas that would need to be exempted separately even after moving toward the proposed negative list and the revenue implication of moving toward negative list are also to be deliberated upon.

Industry federations and academic institutions like NIPFP will participate in the debate and send suggestions for which the nodal agency will be the Directorate-General of Service Tax. A concept paper on the subject is proposed to be drafted after the feedback from the stakeholders.

New Delhi, May 6
After detecting several cases of misuse of incentives, the Commerce Ministry has tightened the norms governing the Deemed Export benefit scheme, a move expected to save about Rs 1,800 crore to the exchequer annually.

The Deemed Exports refer to those transactions in which goods supplied to the users do not leave the country and payment for such supplies is received either in Indian currency or in foreign exchange.

Generally supply of goods to projects financed by multi-lateral or bilateral agencies qualify for these benefits.

However, concerned over the cases of misuse, especially in the power sector, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has decided to send recovery notices to those under its scanner, sources said.

The decision to make the rules tough follows a meeting of Policy Interpretation Committee of DGFT held in March. "By taking these measures, the government would save around Rs 1,800 crore annually," a source said.

It has been decided that the deemed exports would not be available if the bill of entry is in the name of authority executing the project. — PTI 

Tokyo, May 6
Sony Corp chief executive Howard Stringer apologised for "inconvenience and concern" caused by the security breach that compromised personal data from more than 100 million online gaming accounts.

In a blog post yesterday, the head of the Japanese technology giant sought to reassure customers, saying the company is focused on investigating and fixing the hacker attack.

"We are absolutely dedicated to restoring full and safe service as soon as possible and rewarding you for your patience," Stringer wrote in his first public comments since Sony shut down its PlayStation Network on April 20. Stringer said there is "no confirmed evidence" that stolen information has been misused.

He acknowledged criticism that Sony was slow to inform customers of the embarrassing breach, calling the issue a "fair question." As soon as the company discovered the potential scope of the problem, it suspended the network and hired technical experts to help, he said.

Although Sony began investigating unusual activity on the PlayStation network on April 19, it did not notify consumers of the breach until April 26. — AP

Ludhiana, May 6
Now, all dealers making intra-state transactions (within the state) will be required to upload the information about the goods on the department's website, www.pextax.com, before the vehicle leaves premises of a dealer. It shall come into effect from June 1. The public notice issued by the department has put small traders in a fix as they will be required to buy computer and other infrastructure.

At present, only information regarding goods being brought into and moving out of the state (inter-state transactions) is furnished at the information collection centres/checkposts by the dealers and consumers.

"Now, this process of collection of information from dealers will be extended to intra-state transactions also. Hence, all the dealers will be required to upload the information about the goods on the department's website. It shall be in the form of a self-declaration format/proforma, which shall be prescribed shortly by the department," said A. Venu Prashad, Excise and Taxation Commissioner.

This compulsory declaration will be applicable for all the transactions exceeding Rs 2,00,000 for one single bill, except for the six commodities which include iron and steel, cotton bales and yarn, edible oils, timber, marble and tiles of all kinds.

The compulsory declaration for the above-mentioned six commodities will be applicable for the transactions exceeding Rs 20,000 for one single bill.

Jatinder Khurana, president of the Taxation Young Lawyers Association, said now all the dealers would be required to make necessary arrangements for uploading the forms i.e. computer with an Internet connection and a printer along with the technical manpower.

New Delhi, May 6
UK’s Hardy Oil and Gas Plc today said it will not exercise the option to raise its stake in a Reliance Industries-operated gas block, which is one of the 23 areas where the Mukesh Ambani firm is selling 30 per cent interest to BP Plc for $7.2 billion.

Reliance is selling a stake in 23 oil and gas blocks it had won under various rounds of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) rounds along with partners like Niko Resources of Canada and Hardy since 1999.

NELP allows firms to sell or farm-out participating interest (or stakes) subject to the preemption right of the consortium partner.

In a statement, Hardy said, "It has elected not to exercise an option to increase its participating interest by 3 per cent in the D3 (KG-DWN-2003/1) exploration licence." The UK firm holds a 10 per cent stake each in the Reliance-operated D3 and D9 blocks in the Krishna-Godavari Basin and onland Assam-Arakan basin block AS-ONN-2000/1.

In each of the blocks, Hardy had an option to raise its stake by 10 per cent of the interest that Reliance was selling to BP, i.e. by 3 per cent.

Going by Hardy's calculation that put the gross value of D3 at about $5 billion, BP is paying $1.5 billion for the 30 per cent interest in that block alone. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Muthoot debut
Mumbai: Wiping out its initial gains, shares of gold finance company Muthoot Finance on Friday closed at Rs 172.60 on the NSE, lower by 1.37 per cent over the issue price. After debuting at Rs 196.60 a piece, shares of the company had surged by over 13 per cent to touch a high of Rs 198.90 during the day. — PTI

BPL Chirag
Lucknow: BPL Techno Vision Ltd on Thursday launched a rechargeable LED torch, BPL Chirag, which gives five hours of light after four hours of charging. The company’s chief operating officer K Vijaya Kumar said the product has been designed for the rural Indian market which suffers heavy load shedding. It is priced at Rs 849 and weighs 550 grams. — TNS

PFC price band
New Delhi: The government is believed to have fixed the price band at Rs 193-203 per share for the follow-on public offer of state-run Power Finance Corporation. The FPO is likely to fetch close to Rs 5,300 crore at the upper end of the band and Rs 4,400 crore at the lower end of the price band. The issue opens on May 10 and closes on May 13. — PTI

Union Bank hikes lending rate
Mumbai: Union Bank of India on Friday raised its base rate, the minimum lending rate, by 50 basis points to 10 per cent. The bank has also increased its Benchmark Prime Lending Rate (BPLR) from 13.75 per cent to 14.25 per cent with effect from May 7. — PTI

Open offer for Henkel
New Delhi: Jyothy Laboratories on Friday said it would start the mandatory open offer by next week for 20 per cent in Henkel India following its acquisition of majority stake on Thursday. The company said it will merge the acquired company with itself in due course of time. — PTI

Allahabad Bank ups Base Rate
Chandigarh: Allahabad Bank has revised its Base Rate along with the Benchmark Prime Lending Rate upwards by 50 basis points. The Base Rate now will be 10 per cent from 9.5 per cent and the BPLR will be 14.25 per cent from 13.75 per cent. — TNS

Hewlett-Packard to boost reach
Chandigarh: Hewlett-Packard India on Friday outlined its strategy to tap the home and SMB market in Punjab. Bharat Kharbanda, country category manager, Consumer Imaging & Printing Products, said for widening its reach in Punjab, HP is strengthening its channel engagement efforts and is conducting road shows and training across the state to educate channel partners on the new product portfolio and technologies. — TNS