Washington D.C., Dec 28
President Barack Obama and lawmakers are launching a last-chance round of budget talks days before a New Year's deadline to reach a deal or watch the economy go off a "fiscal cliff."

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will meet congressional leaders from both parties at the White House on Friday at 3 pm EST (2000 GMT) to try to revive negotiations to avoid tax hikes and spending cuts — together worth US $600 billion — that will begin to take effect on January 1.

Members were divided on the odds of success, with a few expressing hope, some talking as if they had abandoned it and a small but growing number suggesting Congress might try to stretch the deadline into the first two days of January.

In order to be ready to legislate if an agreement takes shape, the Republican-dominated House of Representatives convened a session for Sunday.

And House Majority Leader Eric Cantor advised members to be prepared to meet through January 2, the final day before the swearing-in of the new Congress elected on November 6.

It "doesn't feel like anything that's very constructive is going to happen" as a result of the meeting with Obama, said Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker. "It feels more like optics than anything that's real.

The two political parties remained far apart, particularly over plans to increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans to help close the U.S. budget deficit. But one veteran Republican, Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona, held out the prospect that if Obama came through with significant spending cuts, Republicans in the House might compromise on taxes.

The coming days are likely to see either intense bargaining over numbers, or political theater as each side attempts to avoid blame if a deal looks unlikely.

"Hopefully, there is still time for an agreement of some kind that saves the taxpayers from a wholly, wholly preventable economic crisis," Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Democratic-controlled Senate, said on the Senate floor. But the rhetoric was still harsh on Thursday after months of wrangling —much of it along ideological lines — over whether to raise taxes and by how much, as well as how to cut back on government spending.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the top Democrat in Congress, accused Republican House Speaker John Boehner of running a "dictatorship" by refusing to allow bills he did not like onto the floor of the chamber. — Reuters 

Mumbai/new Delhi, Dec 28
Helped by hopes for a turnaround in the performance of luxury unit Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Motors has earned the tag of being the best performer among the Bombay Stock Exchange's top 30 stocks in 2012.

Most analysts have maintained their outperform/buy ratings on Tata Motors after it reported 10.5% growth in net profit for quarter ended September 30 driven by 14% volumes growth of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).

Analysts are betting big on Tata Motors on the back of new launches in the Jaguar variants and volume growth. CLSA expects Tata Motors’ outperformance to continue given the improving volume trajectory. The brokerage firm expects JLR to sell 357,000 units for FY13, which it believes is achievable given the ramp up of new range rover by Q4.

"Deliveries of the new Jaguar variants and some incremental volumes of the new F-type Jaguar in the fourth quarter should support growth," added the note from CLSA. It has a 'outperform' rating on the stock.

On the other hand, persistent concerns about global demand for software services led to Infosys to be the worst bluechip performer for the year. While lenders were the top performers among sectors, with the banking subindex up nearly 57%, real estate and FMCG were the next best sectoral performers.

Gold has been glittering bright for investors for many years, but the year 2012 saw Indian equities overshadow the yellow metal's sheen with returns of more than 25%.

According to market experts, 2011 was very tough for the equity markets and the gains seen in 2012 are mainly because of a pullback rally towards the end on the back of factors like strong foreign fund inflow and reforms push, among others.

After outperforming the stock market for more than a decade, the appreciation in gold prices in the year passing by has been lower than that of the Indian equities.

An analysis of gold prices and stock market movements shows that the BSE benchmark index Sensex rose by over 25% this year, which was nearly double the gain of about 12.95% in gold prices.

The appreciation in another precious metal, silver, has also been almost similar at about 12.84% in 2012. The stock markets' outperformance over the bullion market in 2012 shows a reversal of trends seen in the previous years. — Agencies

New Delhi, December 28
Describing Ratan Tata as a true Indian corporate leader, India Inc on Friday said he led the Tata group brilliantly and attained global heights which showed it is possible to do business in an ethical way.

Ratan Tata, an iconic corporate leader, retired as chairman of the US $100-billion Tata Group today after a 50-year run, on his 75th birthday.

Confederation of Indian Industry president and Godrej Group chairman Adi Godrej said: "Ratan Tata led the Tata Group brilliantly and successfully in expanding and globalizing it."

Industry chamber Assocham hailed Ratan Tata as a true Indian corporate leader who went on to conquer global heights in business.

"As Tata lays down his office today after his 50 years of association with the great business house of the country, we in the Indian industry salute him for courageous and completely ethical way of doing business. He has shown the guts which reflect that it is possible to do business in a clean and ethical way," Assocham president Rajkumar Dhoot said in a statement.

He said despite odds Tata showed some rare courage when he made acquisitions like Jaguar Land Rover and Corus in Europe. Wishing Cyrus Mistry great success, Dhoot said he was confident that the young successor to Tata will uphold the values that are associated with the group.

Earlier last week, the chamber came up with a CEOs survey spread across several cities, including London and New York, which placed the Tatas as the best known Indian global brand. The CEOs had also expressed confidence that Mistry would be able to steer the $ 100 billion group well even though the global business environment is uncertain at present.

BIG TASK AHEAD: However, the survey respondents said the biggest challenge for Mistry would be to ensure that the Tata companies are able to sail through the global slowdown, since the group operates in some 80 countries, several of which are in the grip of difficult times.

GLOBAL BUSINESS LANDSCAPE: Infosys , Wipro, Mahindra and Mahindra and Aditya Birla Group were the other major Indian corporate houses listed to have made their mark on the global business landscape, the survey said.

However, it said the brand Tata stood out among all the top Indian corporates and perceived as the truly international brand.

It said while the change of guard at the Bombay House, the headquarters of the Tatas later this month, is on the corporate calendar and the event would go down as a landmark occasion among the most watched for several years.

New Delhi/Hong Kong, Dec 28
Bharti Infratel, backed by billionaire Sunil Mittal, dived 13 per cent in its trading debut after raising about US $760 million in India's biggest IPO in two years, weighed down by a cautious outlook for mobile tower operators.

The IPO, priced near the lower end of an indicative range to ensure success, struggled to find interest from retail investors and was supported mostly by overseas institutional buyers, a key pillar in the Indian stock market.

Bharti Infratel's poor trading debut is unlikely to deter future offerings in India, bankers said, with strong foreign fund bids expected to underpin the share market.

"It's early days and the stock should settle in the course of the next day or two. If the foreign flows continue, the market will remain buoyant which should translate into more deals," a person familiar with the Bharti Infratel IPO said. "If not IPOs, there should be more follow-on offerings."

Already, privately owned Axis Bank has announced plans to raise fresh equity capital, and the source said a possible NSE listing is among the other IPOs that investors can expect. Bharti Infratel's listing follows a tepid first half in IPO deals.

HC TO HEAR PIL: The Delhi High Court will hear a PIL on January 30 seeking inspection of SEBI records on permitting Bharti Infratel to issue public offerings for its cell phone towers installations allegedly without considering the radiation norms compliance. SEBI grants permission to private firms to raise funds through public offerings in the capital markets in accordance with existing guidelines. — Agencies

Mumbai, December 28
Risks to India's macroeconomic stability have increased on the back of an economic slowdown, high inflation, and ballooning fiscal and current account deficits, the Reserve Bank of India said in a report on Friday. A slowdown in both domestic savings and investment demand, as well as a moderation in consumption have also emerged as threats to macroeconomic stability, the central bank said in its financial stability report (FSR).

"The overall macroeconomic risks in the Indian financial system seem to have increased since the publication of the previous FSR in June 2012," the RBI wrote in the report.

India's economy is expected to grow 5.7-5.9% for the fiscal year ending in March, the slowest since 2002/03. Growth prospects also remain below the recent trend of double-digits, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this week calling the five-year government plan for 8% expansion "ambitious."

The current account deficit also remains a concern as Asia's third largest economy has seen exports fall due to weak demand in key markets like the United States and Europe, while imports of gold and oil have remained high.

On the fiscal side, the government could see a shortfall in tax and non-tax revenue because of the economic slowdown, and is at risk of overshooting its expenditure targets, the RBI said. It added data from banks showed a significant portion of foreign exchange exposures at companies remained unhedged, posing another risk to macroeconomic stability.

"This is especially disquieting given that the exchange rate volatility has been higher in India in comparison to other emerging market currencies as well as those of advanced economies," the central bank wrote in the report.

The RBI also said profitability at banks may come under pressure in coming quarters with gross nonperforming assets continuing to tread above the credit growth and on the back of rising slippages. State-run banks saw a high degree of deterioration in asset quality compared with its peers. The RBI said if the adverse macroeconomic conditions persists, the system level gross NPA could rise from 3.6% at end of September to 4% by end of March 2013 and 4.4% by March-end, 2014. — Reuter