Asian shares fell on Thursday as bad loans surged in Spain and investors awaited sale of French and Spanish debt. The MSCI Asia Pacific index shed 0.2 per cent. Japanese shares fell despite repoting the fastest growth in exports this year. Overnight on Wall Street, US stocks fell as IBM and chip-maker Intel disappointed with below-expectation earnings data.
Delhi High Court to hear Indraprastha Gas petition today
The Delhi High Court will hear a petition filed by Indraprastha Gas, a state-owned gas retailer. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board issued an order last week that asked the company to cut gas prices and refund the difference to customers from April 1, 2008. Such a move would wipe out all of IGL's future earnings. IGL says in its petition that the regulatory authority had arbitrarily overstepped its jurisdiction.
If inflation rises, RBI could raise rates: Subbarao
A day after the Reserve Bank of India cut interest rates by a steeper than expected 50 basis points, the Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao said that the call to cut rates was a tough judgement call. He expects the rate cut to help shore up growth and adds that the risk of inflation pressures re-emerging is relatively low. In the current scenario, the governor does not rule out a further rate cut. However, if inflation pressure surge, a reversal of the rate cut is also possible, he added.
Airfares surge on busy routes
Even before the holiday season has begun, all airlines have increased their fares on many busy air routes by 10-25 per cent over the past few days. One reason for the high fares was that the airlines, including the no-frill carriers, were cashing in on the severely curtailed services of the ailing Kingfisher Airlines. On the busiest Delhi-Mumbai route on which the last- minute return economy airfares averaged about Rs 9,000-10,000 in February when Kingfisher was carrying out large-scale cancellations, now range between a low of Rs 11,300 and a high of Rs 22,800.
Tata Communications not to submit bid for Cable & Wireless Worldwide
Tata Communications said on Wednesday that it would not submit an offer for Britain's Cable & Wireless Worldwide because it could not agree on a price. "Tata today confirms that it has been unable to reach agreement with CWW on an offer price and therefore confirms that it does not intend to make an offer for CWW," the company said in a statement. The deadline for the Indian company to indicate its intention was Thursday.
US business groups want India to rethink tax law changes
US business groups are urging Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to press Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee this week on proposed changes to India's tax law they fear could badly damage their investments in the fast-growing economy. Mukherjee is in Washington for the annual spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and is expected to meet with Geithner both in a bilateral setting and the large Group of 20 leading economies meeting.
Docomo wants discount to hike stake in Tata Teleservices
Four years after it invested $.2.7 billion for a 26 per cent stake in Tata Teleservices, DoCoMo is in talks with its Indian partner to raise its stake up to 49 per cent. The talks have been stuck because DoCoMo is seeking lower valuation for its equity stake that it is seeking to buy from Tata Teleservices. NDTV learns that DoCoMo is seeking a cut of nearly 30 per cent to the price at which the investment was made in 2008. DoCoMo is seeking a lower valuation since Tata Teleservices has failed to meet some of the targets that had been agreed upon at the time of signing the deal.
Reliance regains top spot in BSE Sensex
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries on Wednesday regained its position as the most influential stock on the BSE benchmark index Sensex and pushed FMCG major ITC to the second slot. RIL has a weightage of 9.25 per cent, followed by ITC which has a weightage of 9.07 per cent. Infosys slipped to the third place and commands 7.94 per cent weight in Sensex after the company's shares crashed 13 per cent on last Friday when the company gave a muted revenue guidance for FY2012-13.
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