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Sensex nears 16k with 232 pt rally
Re up 25 paise, snaps 2-day losing streak
FinMin to set up special group to deal with impact of global crisis
Govt may okay Reliance KG-D6 plan
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Infrastructure growth bounces back in Nov
Yuan closes at all-time high versus dollar
Tata to replace starter motors in Nano
Aviation industry rocked despite traffic growth in 2011
Havells forms 50:50 JV with Chinese firm
Samsung to buy Sony’s stake in LCD joint venture
Japan to enter dollar swap pact with India
CNG may cost Rs 2 more as input costs soar on weaker Re
China sees 11% industrial output growth in 2012
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Sensex nears 16k with 232 pt rally
Mumbai, December 26 The 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark index closed 232.05 points or 1.47% higher higher at 15,970.75 points — its highest closing in about two weeks.
While most of the overseas bourses were closed on account of yearend holidays, positive cues from Japan and a few other markets helped boost the sentiments in domestic shares. Traders were also seen indulging in some bargain-buying in select blue-chip stocks, such as Infosys, RIL, Bharti Airtel, TCS, HDFC Bank and L&T, as also a few midcap stocks. Experts said market trends have historically been positive in the last month of the year, but a slew of negative newsflow from India and abroad has so far averted any yearend rally on the bourses. So far in December, the Sensex has registered a total gain of only 1.75%. But, the Sensex managed to close at its highest level since December 13, when it had last closed above 16,000 level. Monday's upsurge, coming after a rally of over 600 points in two consecutive trading sessions last week, was largely seen as a relief rally for the bruised investors, who have suffered huge losses so far in 2011. Despite Monday’s positive move, the Sensex is still trading with a fall of over 20% so far this year and the total investor wealth, measured in terms of cumulative market value of all listed stocks, has dipped by about Rs 20 lakh crore. In Monday’s trade, the market wealth grew by about Rs 60,000 crore and stood at Rs 54,73,886.85 crore at the end of trading session. "In the short run, stocks are stretching their strength. Given the current scenario, markets have started to look somewhat expensive," said Gajendra Nagpal, chief executive officer at Unicon Financial Intermediaries. Nagpal cautioned the rally would be unsustainable until India addresses its high fiscal deficit and inflation. The government earlier said meeting its fiscal deficit targets would be a challenge in a slowing domestic economy and uncertain global environment. — PTI, Reuters
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FinMin to set up special group to deal with impact of global crisis
New Delhi, December 26 The decision was taken at a meeting headed by R Gopalan, secretary, department of economic affairs in the finance ministry. "The group will work towards developing an early warning mechanism to avert a crisis," a senior ministry official said, adding it would also include experts. Among others the meeting was attended by chief economic advisor Kaushik Basu, financial services secretary DK Mittal and disinvestment secretary Mohammad Haleem Khan. The idea to set up a small group comprising representatives of different regulators to deal with the crisis was mooted by the Reserve Bank of India. The central bank had pitched for "a closely knit nimble footed CMG with representations from the regulatory bodies, namely, the RBI, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (IRDA), the Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA) and the finance ministry. The group, which will be a part of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), according to sources, will be headed by the secretary, department of economic affairs. The group, the official said, would be on the lines of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) which was set up by the United States administration to identify threats and responding to emerging risks to ensure stability of the financial system. — PTI
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Govt may okay Reliance KG-D6 plan
New Delhi, December 26 Sources privy to the development said the fields can produce 10 million cubic meters per day by 2016 and will help shore up output from the block which has seen 35% drop in output in the past 15 months. The oversight panel, called the management committee, had in its last meeting on December 2 refused to approve the investment plan saying that the proposal made in December 2009 was based on the prices of that year, and new rates need to be worked out at the current prices. The sources said RIL and its partners UK's BP Plc and Niko Resources of Canada felt reworking rates would require several months and would lead to loss of the 4-month weather window in the Bay of Bengal that began this month. As a compromise, RIL agreed to cap spending on the four satellite fields at $1.53 billion, plus or minus 15%. It includes $30 million pre-development activity cost that RIL and BP have been insisting on taking up during the next quarter for preengineering and other studies. Reliance Industries has so far made 18 gas discoveries in the KG-D6 block. Of these, D-1 and D-3 — the largest among the lot -— were brought into production from April 2009 but output has fallen from 54 mmcmd, reached in March 2010, to 32.94 mmcmd this month. Together with 6.86 mmcmd of associated gas produced from MA oilfield in the same area, total production from the block is 39.80 mmscmd. The firm had in July 2008, submitted a field development plan for nine satellite gas discoveries (D-2, D-4, D-6, D-7, D-8, D-16, D-19, D-22 and D-23) with an estimated capex of $5.6 billion and reserves of 1,708 billion cubic feet. — PTI
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Infrastructure growth bounces back in Nov
Riding on a stellar growth in cement, electricity and refinery products, the eight infrastructure sectors which have weightage of 38 per cent in the overall index of industrial production (IIP), considerably improved year-on-year as well from 3.7 per cent in November 2010. However, due to lagging performance in the previous months, the April-November growth of the core industries stood at 4.6 per cent as against 5.6 per cent in the same period last fiscal, according to the data released on Monday.. Except for crude oil, natural gas and fertilizers, all other segments registered healthy growth in November. The maximum growth was witnessed in cement which expanded by 16.6 per cent, while there was a contraction of 4.3 per cent in the same period last fiscal. Electricity and steel production increased by 14.1 per cent and 5.1 per cent against 3.5 per cent and 7.6 per cent, respectively, in the same month last year. Coal and petroleum refinery products growth went up by 4.9 per cent and 11.2 per cent in November 2011. However, crude oil and natural gas output contracted by 5.6 per cent and 10.1 per cent from a positive growth of 17 per cent and 5.5 per cent, year-on-year, respectively. — Agencies
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Yuan closes at all-time high versus dollar
Shanghai, December 26 The yuan is expected to remain stable or rise slightly in the last week of the year to close 2011 near 6.30 versus the dollar, in line with market expectations. The currency is likely to continue to appreciate next year as China continues to post big trade surpluses despite a slowdown in exports and amid pressure from the United States to let the yuan rise to balance bilateral trade, traders said. But the yuan's appreciation is likely to slow to around 3 per cent in 2012, with much of the rise seen in the second half of next year as China may keep the yuan relatively stable in the first half to assess the impact of the euro zone crisis, they said. "The PBOC has recently set a slew of strong mid-points and pumped dollars into the market via state banks, giving the market a clear signal that the government won't let the yuan depreciate," said a trader at a major Chinese bank in Shanghai. "But the central bank appears not in a hurry to let the yuan appreciate amid global economic uncertainties resulting from the euro zone debt crisis. So the yuan is likely to move largely sideways in coming months." Spot yuan closed at 6.3198 against the dollar, up from Friday's close of 6.3364, after hitting an all-time high of 6.3160. Its previous peak was 6.3294 hit on Dec. 16. The PBOC set the dollar/yuan mid-point at 6.3167 on Monday, stronger than Friday's 6.3209 and near the record-high fixing of 6.3165 on Nov. 4. The yuan has appreciated 4.27% so far this year, with most of the gain being recorded in the first 10 months of the year as China tries to rebalance trade and use the currency to help fight high inflation. — Reuters
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Tata to replace starter motors in Nano
New Delhi, December 26 Denying that it was “recall”, the replacement exercise to be undertaken by Tata Motors would be the biggest-ever replacement exercise in the Indian automotive history. Tata Motors has asked an estimated 140,000 Nano owners to bring back their cars for change of the starter motor free of cost. According to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) data, Tata Motors has sold a total of 140,428 Nano units till November 2011 since the vehicle’s launch in 2009. Earlier, after complaints of the car catching fire, the company has sought to strengthen the exhaust system of the cars for free for those owners who wanted it. In a statement after the fire incidents, the company had said that the fires were caused by "additional foreign electrical equipment having been installed or foreign material left on the exhaust system." The company offered "enhanced features" to all those who had purchased the car, but had again insisted it was not a recall. This time also vehemently denying it to be a recall, Tata Motors said it was changing the old starter motor with a new and “better” one, an exercise that will reportedly to cost the company around Rs 110 crore. "We have devised a better starter motor and so we are upgrading it in our old Nanos for improved performance”, a Tata Motors spokesperson said on Monday. “We have not received any complaint for this and this is not a recall," he added. The company started the exercise in October and has already replaced the starter motor in about 50,000 Nano units. According to company officials the part would be changed in all the old cars that were sold before launching the the Nano 2012 in November. On November 21 this year, Tata Motors introduced an upgraded Nano with a facelift, a more powerful engine, better fuel efficiency and new features, while keeping the price the same, in a bid to boost sales. Dogged by problems
The five-seater hatchback, which has suffered a series of fires since its launch in 2009, costs as little as Rs 140,880 (US $2,770) for the no-frills model. Last November, Tata Motors offered Nano owners the option of installing additional safety equipment, but said the move did not amount to a recall.
— AFP |
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Aviation industry rocked despite traffic growth in 2011
New Delhi, December 26 Along with these were some other factors that earned a bad name for the industry, such as the scandal involving some pilots with fake
licences, three crashes and charges of predatory pricing against some carriers when rivals faced a workers' strike. "Spiraling jet fuel prices and a high interest rate regime in 2011 threatened the survival of some domestic carriers," said Amber
Dubey, director, aviation for global consultancy firm KPMG. "Our jet fuel prices are 50-60 percent higher than global average." The year was dominated by the struggle Air India faced to keep afloat, as it continued to reel under a huge debt, estimated now at Rs.43,777.01 crore towards purchase of new aircraft and working capital loans. This apart, the management faced three strikes, mainly due to late payment of salaries and a problem over the merger of Indian Airlines, which stranded thousands of passengers, and added crores in losses to the already bleeding carrier. Other carriers also faced similar financial trouble and even approached Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month to seek his intervention in at least getting aviation fuel and loans at a cheaper rate. Among the other carriers, Vijay
Mallya-led Kingfisher, which had acquired Air Deccan with much fanfare in 2007, shut down the budget operations to concentrate as a full-service carrier, while its market share dropped to fifth from third in October. The only carrier that remained a profit-making operation was low-cost
IndiGo, which also hit the headlines by announcing an order for 180 aircraft from Airbus Industrie worth as much as $15.6 billion. Indian carriers, which flew 55 million domestic passengers between January and November against 46.8 million in the like period of last year, also utilized just 20 percent of their overseas entitlement, against 39 percent into India by foreign airlines.
— IANS |
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Havells forms 50:50 JV with Chinese firm
New Delhi, December 26 The 50:50 joint venture will leverage upon technology and manufacturing strengths of its partners, providing energy and cost efficient products for Global Sylvania as well as the local Chinese markets. The joint venture, named as Jiangsu Havells Sylvania Lighting Co Ltd, will entail an investment of $50 million and target an annual turnover of $100 million in the next three years. It will focus on launching energy efficient and green lighting solutions including. but not limited to, LEDs, CMI, HID and lighting fixtures. Havells through its Sylvania subsidiary, manages a global lighting business across more than 40 countries with some of the prestigious global brands like Sylvania, Concord, and Luminance. The joint venture aims at facilitating constant innovation and quicker product release in international markets including a co-owned, reliable and stable supply source in China. The company, through its Sylvania subsidiary, manages a global lighting business across more than 40 countries with some of the prestigious global brands like Sylvania, Concord, and Luminance.
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Samsung to buy Sony’s stake in LCD joint venture
Tokyo/Seoul, December 26 Samsung and Sony plan to sign an agreement on the deal on Monday, Samsung said in a regulatory filing. Sony holds a nearly 50% stake in LCD joint venture S-LCD, which was established in April 2004 to secure stable supplies of the component. The decision comes after Sony in November warned of a fourth straight year of losses, with its TV unit alone set to lose $2.2 billion on tumbling demand and a
surging yen. — Reuters |
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Japan to enter dollar swap pact with India
Tokyo, December 26 The agreement would set the total swap arrangement at $10 billion, or 780 billion yen, the Nikkei said. Both countries are looking to sign off on the arrangement next Wednesday, when leaders meet at a bilateral summit, the paper said. The currency swaps are expected to support the Indian rupee as it continues to weaken against the greenback and Europe's sovereign debt crisis hits India's exports. The dollar-swap arrangement with India would follow a similar agreement with South Korea in
October. — Reuters |
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CNG may cost Rs 2 more as input costs soar on weaker Re
New Delhi, December 26 City gas retailers including Indraprastha Gas Ltd, which supplies CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households in the national capital, are likely to announce fuel price revision over the weekend, sources privy to the development said. IGL had last raised CNG in Delhi by Rs 2 per kg to Rs 32 per kg from October 1. The sources said the hike was necessitated because IGL and other city gas firms were being forced to buy expensive imported LNG as supplies. Also, the rupee depreciation has made raw material — natural gas from Reliance, state-owned GAIL and imported LNG — even costlier.
— PTI |
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China sees 11% industrial output growth in 2012
New Delhi, December 26 Minister of Industry & Information Technology Miao Wei was quoted by the state radio as saying that China's industrial development in 2012 "would not be optimistic" partly due to an uncertain global economy. Miao added China would launch guidelines in 2012 to accelerate consolidation in sectors like steel, automobiles and cement. China's state radio reported that Miao made the comments at his ministry's annual work conference.
— Reuters |
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New Delhi, December 26