Mumbai, August 26
The BSE Sensex today tanked below the 16k mark for the first time in 18 months, losing 297 points at 15,848.83, as investors turned cautious globally ahead of the US Fed's statement amid fears of slowdown in world's major economies, including America.

All the 13 sectoral indices closed in the red, with realty, metal, oil & gas and bankex leading the fall, while some of them hitting new 52-week lows in intra-day trading.

Index-heavyweight, RIL, registered 52-week low and ended 4.61 per cent down. It was the major contributor, about 75 points, to the Sensex decline.

Fall in other heavyweights like ITC, SBI, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Coal India, L&T, ONGC and Tata Motors weighed down the market.

The BSE 30-share index, Sensex, opened on a high note and touched 16,256.38, up 110 points, but fell to 15,765.53 before ending at 18-month low of 15,848.83, down by 297.50 points or 1.84 per cent. It is the lowest closing since February 5, 2010 - 15,790.93.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty plunged 91.80 points or 1.90 per cent to end at 1-1/2 year low of 4,747.80 - level not seen since February 5, 2010.

Brokers said investors booked profits and decided to play safe ahead of US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's address later in the day to bankers, against the backdrop of economic slowdown concerns worldwide.

Slowdown in FII inflows hit the market sentiment hard.

FIIs pulled out Rs 1,494 crore yesterday, taking total withdrawals to Rs 11,200 crore this month, as per SEBI data.

CNI Research CMD Kishor P Ostwal said, "The markets tumbled in the afternoon session due to weakness in European stocks as cautious investors are now eyeing on the speech of US Federal Reserve Chairman later in the day, expecting another round of quantitative easing to tackle the current fluid economic situation globally." Asian stocks ended narrowly mixed. Key Indices in China, Hong Kong and Singapore closed in the red, while from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan logged gains.

However, European markets were trading down in afternoon.

The CAC was down by 0.55 per cent, the DAX by 1.34 per cent and the FTSE by 0.47 per cent.

Among the 30 Sensex-based scrips, 27 closed with losses, while Hero MotoCorp, M&M and Infosys registered gains.

Jaipra Asso was the top loser from the Sensex pack with a fall of 7.58 per cent, while DLF, Tata Steel, Coal India, SBI, Tata Power, Hindalco, Maruti Suzuki, ITC, Wipro, Sterlite Ind, NTPC, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Jindal Steel, ONGC, HDFC Bank, Cipla, Bajaj Auto, HDFC and Sun Pharma ended lower between 5.76 per cent and 1.11 per cent. Sectorally, BSE-Realty plunged by 4.09 pct, Metal (3.69 pc), Oil & Gas (3.19 pc), PSU (3.19 pc), Bankex (2.50 pc), Consumer Durables (2.47 pc) and Power (2.28 pc). — PTI

Mumbai, August 26
State-run ONGC today toppled billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) as the country's most-valued company today, as a regular game of musical chairs for the top slot continued in the stock market.

With a market valuation of Rs 2,37,842 crore, slightly higher than RIL's Rs 2,35,571 crore, the PSU energy major reclaimed the top position from the private sector corporate giant after a gap of nearly four and half years.

However, ONGC's lead over RIL is barely about 1 per cent (about Rs 2,200 crore) and their performances would be keenly watched when stock market resumes trading next week.

RIL had first toppled ONGC to become the country's most-valued firm way back in late 2006, but the state-run energy giant later reclaimed the top position, albeit only for a few brief period. RIL has managed to stay on the top since February 2007, except for past few days.

A situation similar to game of musical chairs is evident in the stock market for past few days when there have been many twists and turns in the top positions of the country's most-valued firms.

Earlier on August 17, state-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) dethroned RIL as the top-valued firm, ending the private sector energy's giant over four-year reign at the top. Two days later on August 19, RIL briefly slipped to the third position after CIL and ONGC but returned to the second slot at the time of the market closing.

However, CIL's top position proved to be short-lived as RIL reclaimed this position within six days on August 23. — PTI

New York, August 26
A day after he took over from Steve Jobs as Apple Inc CEO, Timothy Cook assured his team that the technology giant "is not going to change" and will "continue to make the best products" in the world, since it "is in our DNA".

In an email to Apple's staff, Cook lauded Jobs leadership saying, "Steve has been an incredible leader and mentor to me, as well as to the entire executive team and our amazing employees. We are really looking forward to Steve's ongoing guidance and inspiration as our chairman." "I am looking forward to the amazing opportunity of serving as CEO of the most innovative company in the world... I want you to be confident that Apple is not going to change," he added.

Terming his decision to join Apple as the "best" one he ever made, Cook said it has been the "privilege of a lifetime" to work for Apple and Jobs for over 13 years.

Cook said he cherishes and celebrates Apple's unique principles and values. "Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that — it is in our DNA.

"We are going to continue to make the best products in the world that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do," he said.

He said he shared Jobs' "optimism" for Apple's bright future and said the company's "best years" lay ahead of it.

"Together, we will continue to make Apple the magical place that it is. I am looking forward to diving into my new role," he said. — PTI

San Francisco, August 26
The change of guard at Apple Inc gives rivals from Google Inc to Microsoft Corp and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd an unprecedented opportunity to take on the consumer electronics powerhouse.

Steve Jobs passed the reins at Apple to his right-hand man Tim Cook on Wednesday, saying he could no longer fulfil his CEO duties.

Technology executives around the world praised Jobs' skills as an innovator and a business leader, but as the dust settles, industry insiders and analysts expect his departure to ratchet up the competition as rivals look for fresh opportunities.

"What this will do is clearly embolden the competitors, because a lot of them think they just can't compete with Steve Jobs," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst with the Enderle Group, whose clients include Apple rivals such as Microsoft, Lenovo and Dell.

As tech companies step up efforts to chip away at Apple's strongholds in consumer electronics, PCs and entertainment, the company will also have to defend its internal ranks from outsiders looking to lure away its top talent.

"Companies lose a lot of their aggressiveness, their culture, their sense of purpose, when the founder steps down," said Michael Cusumano, a professor at MIT Sloan School of Management. — Reuters

Jackson WY, August 26
Those expecting Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to pull a rabbit from his hat at a retreat for central bankers here on Friday may be in for a let down.

His opening remarks will be widely watched by financial markets hoping for some indication the US central bank is prepared to step in to support an economic recovery that appears at risk of stalling.

Bernanke, however, is unlikely to announce a third round of Fed bond buying. The Fed has already bought $2.3 trillion in longer-term securities - a policy known as quantitative easing. Its most recent program, dubbed QE2, ended in June.

But he is likely to acknowledge the economy's strains, and may show a willingness to take other, relatively modest, steps to shore up the recovery.

"If people in the marketplace think he's going to announce QE3, they're going to be disappointed," said Bank of America Chief Economist Mickey Levy, speaking in the lobby of the Jackson Lake Lodge, where the annual retreat is being held.

The US economy braked sharply in the first half of the year, expanding at less than a 1 per cent annual rate. Analysts do not believe it is faring much better now.

At the same time, Europe is strangled by a debt crisis, and both major economic zones appear at risk of recession.

As gloomy news on the US economy mounted in recent weeks, stock markets plunged and speculation the Fed would crank up its crisis-fighting operation grew. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note hit a new low.

So far in August, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index has fallen 10 percent - a figure that papers over some of the gut-wrenching daily drops and mind-bending volatility. — Reuters

New Delhi, August 26
A day after telecom regulator TRAI said it has sought clarifications from private operators for hiking tariff, Minister of State for Communications and IT Milind Deora today said the mobile service providers could fix tariff but within the regulatory framework.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, the minister said, telecom service providers can fix call tariffs depending upon the market conditions and commercial requirements but within the regulatory framework of the telecom department.

"The operators have the flexibility to fix the tariff for mobile services depending on the market conditions and other commercial considerations subject to the regulatory principles of non-discrimination, compliance of interconnection usage charges and non-predation," he said.

TRAI chief JS Sarma had yesterday said they had written to the private operators seeking clarifications on the recent hike brought about by them in the call rates.

Led by Airtel, operators including Vodafone, Idea cellular, Aircel and Reliance Communications recently hiked their call tariffs in select circles by almost 20 per cent.

The move from Bharti came after years of cut-throat competition between telecom operators, both established and new ones, which had led to call tariffs hitting rock bottom.

With the entry of new players and the ensuing tariff wars, the high priced bidding for 3G auctions, which saw top operators like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications coughing up Rs 12,295 crore and Rs 8,583 crore, respectively, had led to margins being hammered.

The operators have also cited high 3G and BWA (broadband wireless access) auction prices and continuously declining margins as reasons behind the hike.

New Delhi, August 26
State fuel retailers may post a whopping Rs 121,000 crore revenue loss on selling diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene at government-controlled rates this fiscal, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy said today.

The revenue loss, termed as under-recovery in oil company parlance, is despite the recent steep hike in diesel prices by Rs 3 per litre, kerosene by Rs 2 a litre and LPG rates by Rs 50 per cylinder, besides a reduction in customs and excise duties.

"Even after these measures, the oil marketing companies (OMCs) are currently suffering under-recoveries to the tune of Rs 235 crore per day and are expected to incur an under-recovery of over Rs 121,000 crore during 2011-12," Reddy said at a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas here.

Before the price hike and reduction in customs duty on crude to zero from 5 per cent and excise duty on diesel being slashed by Rs 2.60 per litre, state-owned oil firms were projected to lose Rs 171,000 crore in revenues during the current fiscal.

Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum currently lose Rs 4.97 per litre of diesel, Rs 23.74 per litre of PDS kerosene and Rs 247 per cylinder of domestic LPG.

The losses on fuel sales have had a significant adverse impact on the financial health of oil PSUs, with diminishing cash flows and reduced resource generation for capacity expansion and modernisation. — PTI

Mumbai, August 26
Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines today said it will raise Rs 2,000 crore through a rights issue, a move that will help the private carrier overcome financial problems.

In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Kingfisher said its board of directors has approved the "issue of equity capital on rights basis (for) an amount not exceeding Rs 2,000 crore".

Further, the board also modified the terms and conditions of the Optionally Convertible Debentures (OCDs) that were issued by the company on January 3, 2011.

As per the new terms, the company said, an OCD holder will be allowed to convert the debentures into shares at a price to be determined by the Board.

The company had issued about Rs 700 crore of OCDs to certain entities in January. As part of the debt restructuring undertaken by the airlines last year, a portion of its debt was converted into equity.

In the the quarter ended June 30, 2011, the net loss of the Kingfisher Airlines widened by 40.66 per cent to Rs 263.54 crore, mainly due to increased fuel expenses.

The company had reported a net loss of Rs 187.35 crore during the corresponding quarter of last fiscal. — PTI

Mumbai, August 26
The country's foreign exchange reserves surged $1.615 billion to $318.22 billion on the back of a sharp rise in foreign currency assets (FCAs) for the week ended August 19.

The total foreign exchange reserves had slipped by $621 million to $316.605 billion in the week before.

FCAs, the biggest component of the foreign reserves, rose by $1.584 billion to $285.251 billion for the reporting week, the Reserve Bank said in its weekly data released today.

FCAs, expressed in US dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of the non-US currencies, such as the euro, the pound and the yen, held in the reserves.The gold reserves remained unchanged at USD 25.349 billion, the data showed. — PTI

BRIEFLY

ICICI online money tracking service
Chandigarh: ICICI Bank now makes its online money transfer tracking service Money2India.com much more convenient to access anytime, anywhere through mobile phones with GPRS connection. With this user-friendly accessibility through GPRS-enabled mobile phones, NRIs can now easily track exchange rates, as well as track their money transfer request status and place new requests for tracking from their mobile phones. — TNS

Wipro opens rural BPO centre
Bangalore: Wipro BPO on Friday announced the inauguration of its first rural BPO center at Manjakkudi village in Tamil Nadu. The Manjakkudi centre has a capacity of 120 seats, and will open with a 50 seat pilot project for an international client in the retail sector. Wipro plans to expand its rural BPO operations to 500 seats by March 2013 in Tamil Nadu and to replicate this BPO model across other states in the country, in the near future. — TNS

Cipla okays 100 pc dividend
New Delhi: Drug firm Cipla on Friday said its shareholders have approved final dividend of 100 per cent on 80.29 crore equity shares of Rs 2 each for the financial year ended March 31, 2011. The shareholders have also confirmed interim dividend paid at the rate of 40 per cent on 80,29,21,357 shares of Rs 2 each for the financial year ended March 31, 2011. — PTI

Rs 10 plastic notes soon
New Delhi: The government on Friday said it has decided to introduce 100 crore polymer bank notes in denomination of Rs 10 on trial basis. It will be on field trial basis at five locations in the country, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said. — PTI