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Stocks, rupee gain amid hopes for nod to FDI
Nokia sells headquarters to raise cash
Bangalore India’s most livable city, Vienna tops global list
SC to hear Sahara refund case today
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Outlook for banking system remains negative in near term: Moody’s
Tractor firms betting big on Africa
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Stocks, rupee gain amid hopes for nod to FDI
Mumbai, December 4
Hopes of more open market operations and some monetary easing by the Reserve Bank of India by December-end also aided sentiment.
However, there are apprehensions that while the government will be able to muster support for the bill in the Lok Sabha, it will still remain pending in the Rajya Sabha, Gupta added. The benchmark BSE Sensex gained 0.22%, or 42.80 points, to end at 19,348.12. The broader Nifty rose 0.31%, or 18.30 points, to end at 5,889.25, finding resistance around psychologically important 5,900 level. Reliance Industries rose 2.6%, marking its highest single day percentage gain since Sept 17. Banking shares also rose on hopes of more RBI action, dealers said. ICICI Bank rose 1.55% after earlier hitting a new 52-week high of Rs 1,122.60, while SBI gained 1.6%, marking its sixth day of gains. RUPEE STRENGTHENS: The rupee strengthened for a fourth session in five on Tuesday as investor hopes for a parliamentary approval to foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail grew a day ahead of the impending vote. Parliament began debate on FDI in multibrand retail earlier in the day with both houses due to vote on the reform on Wednesday. "If FDI in retail goes through, we may see 54 levels on the rupee or else we are likely to head below 55," said Uday Bhatt, a forex dealer with UCO Bank. "If there is an increase in foreign institutional investment limit in government bonds as speculated, we will see a further upside," he added, predicting a 54.50 to 54.95 range for the rupee until the vote on Wednesday. — Reuters
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Nokia sells headquarters to raise cash
Helsinki, December 4
The glass and steel building by the Baltic Sea will be bought by Finnish real estate company Exilion, and Nokia will lease it back on a "long-term basis," it said on Tuesday. Tuesday's announcement comes amid fierce competition in the smartphone market in which the former no. 1 phone maker has been edged out by Samsung Electronics and Apple's iPhone. Nokia has announced 10,000 job cuts and is streamlining operations to save €1.6 bn by the end- 2013. Nokia, which has been trying to improve its finances through job cuts and other measures, said it planned to exit more non-core assets. Last week, Nokia Corp sued Research In Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry, for breach of contract in Britain, the United States and Canada over cellular patents the two companies agreed on nine years ago. The struggling Finnish cellphone maker said that it agreed with RIM in 2003 on a "cross-license for standards-essential cellular patents," amended in 2008. RIM has since claimed the license should also have covered patents for non-essential parts and it filed arbitration proceedings with the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce in March 2011. Nokia said it had made the filings earlier this week to enforce the tribunal's ruling, which says that the Canadian company is "not entitled to manufacture or sell products compatible with the WLAN Standard without first agreeing with Nokia on the royalty to be paid." — Agencies
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Bangalore India’s most livable city, Vienna tops global list
New Delhi, December 4 Amongst Indian cities, Bangalore (139) ranks higher than New Delhi (143), Mumbai (146), Chennai (150) and Kolkata (151) in overall quality of living, according to Mercer's 2012 Quality of Living Index. "Bangalore's rise in its quality of living ranking can be attributed to positive ratings for international schools which are suitable for expatriates," the report said. In terms of city infrastructure, however, Mumbai (134) was ranked highest among Indian cities followed by Kolkata (141), New Delhi (153), Chennai (168), Bangalore (170). However, no Indian city could manage to find a place in the global list, which was topped by Vienna and was followed by Zurich and Auckland in second and third place, respectively. Other cities in the top 10 include Munich in fourth place, followed by Vancouver (5th). Düsseldorf dropped one spot to rank sixth followed by Frankfurt/Main (7th), Geneva (8th), Copenhagen (9th), and Bern and Sydney tied in 10th place. Indian cities do not fare well compared to their global peers in the list. Among Asia Pacific cities, Australian and New Zealand cities rank higher on the index with Sydney (11), Wellington (13), Melbourne (18) and Perth (21) following Auckland (3). Globally, the cities with the lowest quality of living are Khartoum, Sudan (217); N’Djamena, Chad (218); Port-au-Prince, Haiti (219); and Bangui, Central African Republic (220). Baghdad, Iraq (221) ranks last. Mercer's Quality of Living Index list covers 221 cities, ranked against New York as the base city. "In order for MNCs to ensure their expatriates are compensated appropriately and an adequate hardship allowance is included in compensation packages, they must be aware of current events and local circumstances," Mercer senior researcher Slagin Parakatil said. "Factors such as internal stability, law enforcement effectiveness, crime levels and medical facilities are important to consider when deciding on an international assignment, and on experiences encountered by expatriates," he added. — Agencies |
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SC to hear Sahara refund case today
New Delhi, December 4 On August 31, the court had asked Sahara to repay within 90 days as much as Rs 240 billion to up to nearly 30 million mostly small investors, plus interest of 15 percent a year. Sahara said in newspaper advertisements on Saturday it had "cleared" about 330 billion rupees to investors in the so-called optionally fully-convertible debentures and had maximum outstanding liability of Rs 51.20 billion, which it was ready to deposit with the authorities. SEBI said in late October it had received complaints from investors that they were being "forced" by agents and officials of Sahara to switch the money held through the outlawed bonds to other investment products sold by the group. A member of a two-judge Supreme Court bench on Monday said Sahara had defaulted on paying the money as ordered by November 30, according to a media report. The Supreme Court said it would hear the case on Wednesday, after a lawyer for Sahara sought more time to reply to why the group had not complied with the court's order. — Reuters
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Outlook for banking system remains negative in near term: Moody’s
Mumbai, December 4 "This environment is characterized by slow economic growth, high inflation, high interest rates, and a weak local currency," Vineet Gupta, a Moody's vice president and senior analyst said in a statement released on Tuesday. "We expect these factors to lead to a further deterioration in asset quality, an increase in provisioning costs, and a fall in profitability," he added. The Indian economy grew by 5.3% in the September quarter and is on track for its slowest growth in a decade for the fiscal year that ends in March. Moody's expects the high level of loan growth, at about 15% annually, to continue outstripping internal capital generation, posing a challenge for Indian banks to maintain capitalization at current levels, with some banks facing a need to raise new capital externally. It was not immediately clear what precisely the agency was referring to as external capital. The ratings agency also said loan classification, especially regarding restructured loans, as well as provisioning requirement practices in India is weak. "Loan classification and provisioning requirements mask the extent of the banks' asset quality and capital challenges," Gupta said. Moody's, however, continues to assume a high probability of systemic support by the government which has already announced its plans for capital infusions into some state-run banks. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had said the government would soon decide how much additional capital will be injected into state banks after determining most such lenders will need additional funds. — Reuters
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Tractor firms betting big on Africa
Chandigarh, December 4 From the leading tractor maker, Mahindra & Mahindra, to the state owned HMT Tractors and from emerging players like Indo Farm Tractors to the established players like Escorts Agri Machinery —almost all players are either already exporting tractors to countries like Algeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania. The flat growth in tractor sales in India and with Africa slated as the next farming basket in the world because of its large tracts of untilled land, tractor manufacturers see a huge potential for growth in the African market. Speaking on the sidelines of Agro Tech 2012, HMT Tractors CMD S.G. Sridhar said the firm was looking at exporting tractors to Africa in a big way. “We have a production capacity of 10,000 tractors a year at our Pinjore facility, but are manufacturing only 4,000. In the next fiscal we’ll be exporting tractors to Africa after we get financial aid of Rs 200 crore from the government to modernize our plant ” he said. Thanks to a drought in south and west India and a delayed monsoon in North India, tractor sales in the country are expected to be on a negative side, or at best achieve a flat growth. Last year tractor sales in India was 535,000 units, and this year the figure is expected to be around 530,000, even as latent sales are picking up. R.S. Khadwalia, CMD of Indo Farm Equipment, said as against exports of 500 units last year, this year the firm plans to double their exports to 1,000 units. “We see a huge potential for growth in exports, especially to African countries. With the exports to countries like the US and Europe, the previous biggest markets for Indian tractor manufacturers- declining rapidly, Africa has emerged as the best bet,” he said. Tractor major Escorts, too, is eyeing Africa as a potential export market in a big way.
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Analysts said the markets would closely track the progress on a crucial vote in the parliament on foreign direct investment in multibrand retail sector and other reform initiatives for the near term.
"Going ahead, market's movement will depend on the parliament's behaviour. If the government wins the FDI vote, it will be taken positively, but if they lose then selling cannot be ruled out," said R.K. Gupta, MD at Taurus Mutual Fund.