Sensex drops 1% on weak Asian cues

India equity benchmarks gave some of its yesterday’s gains, opening 1% lower on weak Asian cues. The market ignored positive economic news from the United States and Europe — which finally had consensus on a stronger euro-zone bailout fund — supporting most stock indexes and the euro.

Commenting on the lukewarm market response, Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets said, "Passing the ruling in German Parliament is only one step. Implementation is the next step and of course that will take time," he believed.

But he acknowledged that the German nod for European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) expansion is the right step towards solving EU crisis.  

The 30-share BSE Sensex lost 194 points to 16,503 and the 50-share NSE Nifty lost 60 points to 4,955. 

2G scam row: All Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's stocks were extremely under selling pressure. Reliance Capital, Reliance Communications, Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure plunged 5-7%.

CBI said Anil Ambani continued to be under investigation. It also said they were investigating Swan stake sale to Delphi by Reliance ADA. Reliance ADA sold Swan stake to Delphi at undervalued prices.

Among other largecaps, DLF, SAIL, Tata Steel, SBI, ICICI Bank, TCS, ONGC, HUL, Jaiprakash Associates and Axis Bank were witnessing selling pressure.

However, Sesa Goa, Ranbaxy Labs, HCL Tech and Wipro gained.

EU welcomes India allowing WTO waiver for Pakistan

The European Union today welcomed India's decision to withdraw its objections to the World Trade Organisation waiver sought by the EU for granting duty-free access to certain goods from Pakistan.

The EU described New Delhi's decision, announced yesterday following bilateral trade talks between India and Pakistan, as "very positive". The head of the European Union delegation to Pakistan, Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, said the decision was "relevant in light of the renewed floods in the province of Sindh".

The WTO waiver granting unilateral trade concessions to Pakistan was originally sought by the EU to provide relief after devastating floods in India's neighbouring country last year.

The 75 products on which duties are proposed to be waived accounted for about 27 per cent of Pakistan's exports to the EU last year, with their value amounting to almost 900 million euros out of the EU's total imports of goods worth 3.3 billion euros from Pakistan.

Liberalising these 75 tariff lines -- of which one product (ethanol) would be granted a waiver subject to an annual quota of 80,000 tonnes, based on past imports -- would result in an increase in the EU's imports from Pakistan by an estimated 100 million euros a year, in comparison to 2009.

The EU will receive nearly 80 million euros less in tariff revenues as a result of these trade concessions, a statement said.  The EU will now re-launch the process in the WTO for formalisation of the waiver. Simultaneously, the EU will press ahead with internal legislative processes in the European Parliament and Council for ratification of the proposed regulations granting these
trade preferences to Pakistan by member states. 

The next meeting of the WTO Council for Trade in Goods is scheduled on November 7 and a formal decision should be possible at the next WTO General Council meeting in the beginning of December. "If all goes well, the preferences would be in place by early 2012," the statement said.

The EU is Pakistan's largest trading partner, with their annual trade valued at 7.6 billion euros. The trade balance is already in favour of Pakistan, whose
main export items to the EU are textiles and clothing products, accounting for over 60% of all exports.

German parliament clears bailout fund expansion plan

The German Parliament has approved crucial reforms to the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) that would allow the fund to participate in the primary market and to recapitalize European banks.

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Sensex ends 252 pts higher on expiry day

A smart rally on the expiry day, led by heavyweights, helped the Nifty to shut shop above the key psychological 5,000 mark. Oil & gas, private banks, technology, FMCG and auto stocks played a key role in today's upmove. The 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 252.05 points or 1.53%, to close at 16,698.07 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 69.55 points or 1.41%, to end at 5,015.45.  

Ambareesh Baliga, COO, Way2Wealth said, the downside in the market is limited now. He doesn’t see the Nifty going below 4,750-4,800. The upsides, he says, would also be capped at 5,100-5,250.

Meanwhile, the favourable verdict in German Parliament over European bailout package failed to lift mood in Europe. France's CAC and Germany's DAX rose 0.2-0.7% while Britain's FTSE were trading 0.6% down at the time Indian markets closed. Even Dow Jones and Nasdaq futures came off their day's highs and were up around 0.8%.

Andrew Freris, chief investment advisor Asia of BNP Paribas wealth management believes that Germany will vote in favour of this move. Currently, 17 countries have voted in favour and 7 are yet to vote.

On the home turf, the BSE Auto and IT surged 2% each. FMCG, Oil & Gas, Bank and Power indices were up 1-1.8%.

Heavyweight Infosys shot up 3.4%, to close above Rs 2,500; the stock has seen smart recovery from August lows of near Rs 2000 level.

From the oil & gas space, ONGC and Reliance Industries rose 2.2% and 1.3%, respectively.

About 603 shares advanced as against 824 shares declined on National Stock Exchange. Total traded turnover on both exchanges was more than Rs 2.43 lakh crore.

Sensex choppy

The benchmark Nifty reclaimed the 5000 mark in the opening trade following positive trend in SGX Nifty but took a U-turn soon after. Markets globally are waiting for a solution to European debt crisis but no unanimous decision could be arrived over terms of Greece's second bailout on Tuesday.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 16,499, down 25 points after 473 points rally yesterday. The 50-share NSE Nifty fell 6 points to 4,965. 

In the largecap space, DLF, M&M, HUL, Sesa Goa, Bharti Airtel, Sterlite Industries, Reliance Infrastructure, Hindalco, L&T, Bajaj Auto, Reliance Power, BPCL, Reliance Industries, HUL, SAIL and ACC were witnessing selling pressure.

However, Cairn India rose 3% as ONGC issued NoC to Cairn-Vedanta deal. ONGC rose 0.8%.

Infosys, Wipro, HCL Tech, TCS, Reliance Capital, Reliance Communications and Tata Power were other gainers among largecaps.

About 373 shares advanced as against 451 shares declined on NSE. The CNX Midcap rose 18 points to 7,187.

JSW Steel fell 3% and Jet Airways was down 2%.

Shree Renuka Suguar, Balrampur Chini and Triveni Engg were down over 0.5%.

However, Hathway Cable, Hexaware Tech, Dabur, Titan Industries and Sintex were up 0.8-1.5%.

Vivimed Labs gained 3.5%.

Global cues

Asian markets were mixed in trade. Hang Seng was down 0.8% and Straits Times down 0.5%. However, Shanghai and Nikkei gained 0.20%. Kospi and Taiwan went up 0.4%. 

Tijaria Polypipes IPO opens today

Jaipur based Tijaria Polypipes ' Rs 60-crore initial public offering has opened for subscription today. The company is offering 1 crore equity shares through the issue at Rs 60 per equity share. 

The issue to the public will constitute 42.33% of the fully diluted post-issue equity share capital of the company. The issue will close for subscription on September 29.

Tijaria Polypipes manufactures high-grade HDPE, MDPE and LDPE plastic pipes and sprinkler systems under the brand names of Tijaria and Vikas. At present, the company has an installed manufacturing capacity of 20,664MT HDPE pipes, 7,392MT PVC pipes and 7,200MT of PET flakes & granules per year. Its products are used in irrigation, telecommunication, industrial, infrastructure and housing sectors.

It achieved total sales of Rs 118.59 crore in the financial year 2010-11 and a profit after tax of Rs 6.90 core for the same period.

The company now proposes to expand its current manufacturing capacity and diversify into the manufacturing of polyster zippers long chains, mink blankets & PET sheets and also proposes to manufacture the raw materials required for it. The company will manufacture partially oriented yarn (POY), draw texturised yarn (TY) and monofilament yarn all under one roof. The company plans to set up two new units at industrial areas of Rajasthan Industrial and Investment Corporation (RIICO) at Ramachandrapura and Sitapura Extension, close to Jaipur.

The total project cost is estimated at Rs 108.52 crore. For implementing the new project the promoter group has contributed Rs 8.52 crore as equity capital and the company has arranged a term loan of Rs 40 crore from banks.

The lead manager to the issue is Hem Securities Limited, Mumbai and the registrar to the issue is Sharex Dynamic (India) Pvt. Limited.

Great recovery attempt

A handsome recovery from lowest point of the day could not save the market from registering its third consecutive session of loss on Monday. While short covering and a rebound in global markets drove the recovery in the last couple of hours of trade, a steep cut in oil & gas, capital goods, metals, FMCG, power and auto stocks forced a negative closure. A drastic fall in international commodity price too weighed on the market today.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 110.96 points or 0.69%, to close at 16051.10 after seeing recovery of 250 points from day's low of 15,801.01. The 50-share NSE Nifty hit an intra-day low of 4,758.85, before closing at 4,835.40, down 32.35 points or 0.66%

Chidambaram "knew it all' 2G: Raja claims

Former telecom minister A Raja's lawyer on Monday told the court that Union Home Minister P Chidambaram was a party to all the decisions taken in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation.

He, however, clarified that he was not making an attempt to present Chidambaram as an accused.

"I am not calling P Chidambaram an accused but he knew everything. He was acquainted with all facts and circumstances of the case," he said.

Raja's lawyer also said that the statement of the home minister should have been taken in September 2010 itself.

Earlier on Monday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday filed fresh charges in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam, seeking life imprisonment for all the accused.

Till now, the charges against the accused could have led them to a maximum imprisonment of seven years.

Special Public Prosecutor U U Lalit filed an application before Special CBI Judge O P Saini, saying a case of criminal breach of trust under Section 409 of the Indian Penal Code is "certainly made out" against Raja, his former private secretary RK Chandolia and former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura.

The CBI plea said besides Raja and two former officials, all others, including DMK MP Kanimozhi and three telecom firms should be charged under section 409 (criminal breach) read with 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

"It is submitted that accused 1, 2, and 3 (Raja, Behura and Chandolia) were public servants having a dominion over valuable 2G spectrum in their respective capacities as public servants," said the CBI application.

"The said accused public servants in pursuance of conspiracy with other accused dishonestly disposed of the valuable 2G spectrum illegally and in violation of the existing policies and the eligibility criterion in order to confer wrongful gain on accused no 4 (Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa), 5 (Vinod Goenka), 6 (Swan Telecom), 7 (MD of Unitech Sanjay Chandra) and 8 (Unitech Wireless Tamil Nadu Ltd)," the CBI told the court.

"Thus, accused Raja, Behura and Chandolia have committed an offence punishable under section 409 IPC and all other accused have committed an offence punishable under section 409 read with section 120 B IPC. With the cognisance of this court (they) should be charged accordingly," the application said.

Earlier, all the accused were slapped with cheating and criminal conspiracy charges. Raja was additionally charged with forgery.

In another related development on Monday, the hearing of Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy's application, pleading for Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to be made an accused in the 2G case, was deferred till October 12.

Swamy expressed hope that his petition in Supreme Court asking for a CBI probe against Chidambaram would be decided by then.

Sensex recovers 300 pts

The market made a smart recovery from day's low to trade flat with a negative bias, following rebound in global markets. Bharti, ICICI Bank, TCS, Infosys, SBI and Wipro were lead players in this recovery. The 50-share NSE Nifty slipped 14 points to 4,853 and the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 47 points to 16,115 after showing more than 300 points recovery from day's low of 15,801.01.

European markets like France's CAC and Germany's DAX jumped 2% each; Britain's FTSE rose 0.5%. Even the Dow Jones futures gained 0.6%, which lost more than 1.5%.

On the home turf, heavyweights like Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank shot up 2.5-3%. TCS, Infosys, SBI, DLF and Wipro were up 0.5-1.5%.

Jaiprakash Associates was the biggest gainer - jumped 3%. Tata group stocks too got back into green - Tata Steel, Tata Power and Tata Steel rose 0.5% each.

However, largecaps like L&T, ITC and NTPC went down 1.3-1.7%. ONGC and Reliance Industries fell 0.7% each.

Sterlite Industries, Hero Motocorp, Cairn, Hindalco, Bajaj Auto, GAIL and Sesa Goa tumbled 2-3.5%.

But the broader indices underperformed benchmarks - the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices fell 1.2% each.

Rupee weakens tracking Asian peers

The rupee weakened on Monday morning, tracking lower Asian peers amid broad gains in the dollar against major currencies. Traders will watch the domestic share market for further cues.

* At 9:05 a.m., the partially convertible rupee was at 49.53/54 per dollar, after dropping to 49.69 in early deals and weaker than its close of 49.42/43 on Friday.

* The unit had shed 4.4% of its value last week, its biggest fall since the week ended July 12, 1996.

* The MSCI index of Asian stocks ex-Japan was down 1.8%, while the Nifty India stock futures traded in Singapore were down 0.7%, suggesting a weak start to the local market.

* The index of the dollar against six major currencies was up 0.14% at 78.616 points. It was at 78.502 points when the rupee closed on Friday. Most Asian currencies were also lower versus the dollar.

* The euro dropped sharply on Monday, moving towards an eight-month low hit last week, as riskier assets were hammered across the board with markets waiting for more details on fresh efforts from European officials to tackle the debt crisis there.

Sensex dips below 16000, Nifty at 4800

Equity benchmarks fell further in line with rest of Asia. Oil & gas, capital goods, FMCG and private banks stocks were under pressure. The 30-share BSESensex was trading at 15934, down 228 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 69 points to 4798, led by panic selling.

Among Asian markets, Hang Seng, Nikkei, Straits Times, Kospi and Taiwan were down 1.5-2%. Jakarta Composite fell over 4% and KLSE Composite slipped nearly 3%. Shanghai declined just 0.5%. Thailand plunged 6.5%.

Macquarie Securities said equity markets continued to face downside risks. 

Among commodities, Silver crashed 7%. Crude slipped below USD 80 a barrel on the NYMEX.

John-Paul Smith of Deutsche Bank said the next phase of the unraveling of the carry trade might lead to major decline in commodity prices and increase signs of distress among EM corporates. "This could result in further underperformance of equities," he added.

On the sectoral front, the BSE Metal Index slipped 3% on the back of fall in commodities prices in international markets.

Oil & Gas, Capital Goods, FMCG, Auto, Realty and Bank indices were down 1-1.7%.

Largecaps like Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, ITC, L&T and HUL were down 1-2%. ONGC and SBI fell 0.7% each. Sterlite Industries plunged 4%.

Sensex trims losses; Re goes down to 49.74/$

The market recovered partially and appeared stable after sell-offs in initial trade. The 30-share BSESensex was trading at 16,226, down 134 points after seeing recovery of more than 100 points from early day's low. Meanwhile, the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 42 points to 4,881.

Technology (post fall in rupee to 49.74 per dollar), FMCG (defensive counters), PSU oil & gas and select power companies' shares were on buyers' radar.

However, financial, telecom, metal, capital goods and auto stocks were still under selling pressure, which weighed on the market.

Tata Motors, Sterlite Industries, HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel, Cairn India, Axis Bank and SAIL were top losers among largecaps - these stocks plunged 3-4%.

However, TCS, Tata Power, Wipro, Infosys, NTPC and HCL Tech gained 1-2%. ONGC, ITC and HUL were other gainers; rose 0.6-0.9%.

The broader indices underperformed the benchmarks - the BSE Midcap Index was down 1.3% and Smallcap down 1.6%. About three shares fell for every share gaining on BSE.

Among midcaps, KGN Industries, Sunteck Realty, Trent, Patni Computer and Redington gained 1-5%.

Wall Street slides at open on recession fears

Stocks fell sharply at the open on Thursday, extending losses for a third day, as a grim outlook from the Federal Reserve and downbeat data in Europe and China heightened fears about a global recession.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 147.88 points, or 1.33%, at 10,976.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 13.82 points, or 1.18%, at 1,152.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 71.89 points, or 2.83%, at 2,466.30.

Former Indian captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi dies

 Mansur Ali Khan, formerly known as the Nawab of Pataudi, died due to respiratory ailments here on Thursday. The former cricketer who led India to many wins, was 70.

Pataudi Jr, as Mansur was also known, played 46 Tests for India between 1961 and 1975. His first-class career spanned over almost two decades and he made a prolific impact on Indian cricket with not just his forceful batting and medium-pace bowling but through his sheer determination to excel. He was appointed India captain at an early age of 21 and is regarded widely as the man who uplifted the team from being resigned to defeats to a spirit to fight for a win.

Mansur led the Indian team to its first overseas victory when New Zealand surrendered to his side in the 1967 series. The win and the subsequent victories were not just the result of playing well on the field but off it as well. Mansur was known to think differently and tackle the each opposition with a different approach. He recognised, for instance, that India must play with three spinners because spin was the key against foreign teams. It played dividends then and continues to do so now as in contemporary cricket, spin and not pace is considered as India's bowling might.

That captaincy came barely months after a life-threatening accident made Mansur's achievement stand out more. After all there is a genuine reason why he soon came to also be known as Tiger. Mansur was involved in a very serious car accident that left him with no vision in his right eye. Yet, he managed to excel not just as  a player but also as a leader for which he was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 1964 and the Padma Shri in 1967.

Two years after receiving the Padma Shri, Mansur married Bollywood actress Sharmila Tagore and retired from cricket in 1975. He had since been actively involved with the game as first an ICC match referee and then as a cricket analyst.

Rupee may give mkts some sleepless nights ahead

It was mayhem once again on Dalal Street with indices falling like ninepins. The NSE Nifty cracked below the all-important 5,000 mark as the dreadful opening in the European markets had investors running for cover.

The depreciating rupee is causing major pain for the market. “The risk aversion has gone up, which means investors will be scared of investing in markets beyond their immediate shores,” explains R Jagannathan, editor-in-chief, moneycontrol.com. 

Flexituff International IPO to open on Sept 29

Polymer products company Flexituff International is set to open its initial public offering of 67.5 lakh equity shares for subscription next week. The issue comprises of a fresh issue of 45 lakh equity shares and an offer for sale of up to 22.5 lakh shares by Clearwater Capital Partners (Cyprus) Limited.

The company manufactures FIBC, geo-textile fabric and ground cover, reverse printed BOPP woven bags, special PP bags including leno bags at its three manufacturing units located in Pithampur (MP) and Kashipur (Uttrakhand).

It also has a recycling and reprocessing plant at Kandla for recovering polypropylene and making various compounds of plastics. Its subsidiary, Lakshmi Incorporated, USA manufactures reclosable extruded zipper profile.

The issue will open for subscription on Thursday, September 29 and close on October 4 for QIB bidders. Other bidders will put in bids till October 5.

The net issue proceeds are proposed to be used for expansion of manufacturing facilities at SEZ and DTA units at Pithampur; setting up of Dripper project at Kashipur, and also for working capital requirements.

Promoters' stake will be reduced to 25.97% from 32.75% post issue. Clearwater Capital Partners (Cyprus) will offload 15.77% stake through issue.

For the year ended March 31, 2011, the company reported net profit of Rs 30.97 crore on total income of Rs 618.39 crore.

Collins Stewart Inga Private Limited is the book running lead manager to the issue.

Food inflation slips to 8.84%, but no relief for common man

Food inflation fell to 8.84% in the week ended September 10 from 9.47% in the previous week, but provided no relief to the common man as prices of key commodities continued to rule high.

Prices of most commodities, barring wheat, continued to remain firm on an annual basis, as per Wholesale Price Index (WPI) data released by the government today.

According to experts, the fall in inflation on a weekly basis is on account of statistical reasons, called as "high base effect". Food inflation was above 16% in the corresponding period last year.

As per the data, wheat prices during the week were down 2.72% year-on-year.

However, onions became more expensive by 29% and potatoes 13.78%. Overall, vegetables became 12.13% dearer.

Milk prices, too, were up by 10.38%, while fruits grew dearer by 17.67% and eggs, meat and fish prices rose by 9.28% year-on-year.

Prices of cereals also went up, by 4.13%, during the week under review. Even the prices of pulses, which had exhibited a declining trend during recent months, rose by 1.49% during the week ended September 10.

Overall, inflation in primary articles stood at 12.17% for the week ending September 10, compared to 13.04% in the previous week. Primary articles constitute over 20% of the WPI basket.

Non-food articles, which include fibres, oil seeds and minerals, recorded 17.42% inflation during the week ended September 10, up from 18.49% in the previous week, ended September 3.

Meanwhile, inflation in the fuel and power segment went up to 13.96% during the week ended September 10 from 13.01% in the previous seven-day period.

Experts are of the view that despite the latest fall, pressure on the food price front will continue to keep the government and the Reserve Bank on their toes.

Headline inflation, which factors in manufactured items, fuels and non-food primary items, in addition to food commodities, stood at a 13-month high of 9.78% in August.

The Reserve Bank has already hiked policy rates 12 times since March, 2010, to tame demand and curb inflation.

Sensex crashed over 500 points

Sensex crashed over 500 points to 16,533 as the Indian rupee slumped below 49 per dollar with global sell-off adding fuel to the fire. The 50-share NSE Niftyalso tumbled 161 points to 4,972.

The Indian rupee slipped to 49.08 per dollar, down 0.76 or 1.57% from yesterday's closing value, signalling huge outflow of money from India. Huge fresh shorts were seen in the market; Nifty 5000 put shed more than 20 lakh shares in open interest.

European markets too fell further; France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE plunged 4% each.

On the home turf, the broader indices too were following the same trend; the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices lost more than 2%.

Among sectors, the BSE Realty, Metal, Oil & Gas, Capital Goods, Bank and Auto indices were down 3-4%. Power, IT, FMCG and Healthare dropped 2-2.7%.

Heavyweights Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel crashed 5% each.

At 13:42 hours IST : Sensex drops over 450 pts; Re nears 49/$, Europe dips 3-4%

Further fall in European markets and a sharp crack in major sectors has made the Indian equity benchmarks even weaker. The 30-share BSE Sensex slipped 469 points to 16,595 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 140 points to 4,992. A continuously depreciating rupee may be signaling offloading of exposure from foreign institutional investors.

Federal Reserve's statement spooked all global markets. European markets extended fall; France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were down 3-4%. The Dow Jones Futures dropped over 1%.

Rupee opens at 48.74, a fresh 2-year low against $

The Indian rupee fell by 41 paise to an over two-year low of Rs 48.74 against the US dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange today after the American currency strengthened against other major rivals overseas.

Dealers said apart from dollar gains against major rivals overseas, weakness in the domestic equity market and sustained dollar demand from importers also put pressure on the Indian rupee.

Ssharad D Pawaar, SPFX INDIA said that, "The rupee is expected to be weak on the back of the dollar's gains globally. The slumping equity markets may put further pressure on the currency. The range for the day is seen between 48.30-48.55/USD."

Yesterday, the rupee fell by 28 paise to close at a fresh two-year low of 48.33/34 against the US currency on strong dollar demand from importers and some banks.

MARKET BLEEDS AGAIN : Sensex falls over 300 pts

The sell-off across sectors has pushed the equity benchmarks further down. The 50-share NSE Niftyplunged 100 points to 5,033 and the 30-share BSESensex lost 328 points to 16,737.

Federal Reserve flagged "significant downside risks" to the economy on the last day of FOMC meeting yesterday. Also, Moody's Investors Service cut debt ratings on financial companies like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citi.

Asian markets were witnessing heavy sell-off. Hang Seng crashed 4%. Kospi and Taiwan lost 3% each. Nikkei slipped 2%. Shanghai and Straits Times were down 1.7% each.

Sharp fall in European futures too were pointing weak start to the European opening; France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were down 2-4%.

On the home turf, the BSE Realty, Metal, Auto, Bank and Capital Goods indices fell 2-2.6%. Power, IT, Oil & Gas and FMCG indices dropped 1-1.6%.

Heavyweights Reliance Industries, Bharti, TCS, SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and L&T plunged 2-3%. However, BPCL bucked the trend; gained 1.5% on fall in crude oil prices. Nymex Crude was trading around USD 84 a barrel.

Market breadth too worsened; about five shares declined for every share gaining.

India interested in Iran oil pipeline

India is interested in the Iranian gas pipeline and issues like price and safety are being worked out.
"In principle in the long run, we need a pipeline and the issues need to be addressed. The issues are being addressed," official sources said today.
India considers Iran a major partner in the West Asian region and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be meeting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of the UNGA during this week to discuss bilateral issues.
The sources said Iran is a major partner of India on several issues in West Asia where Tehran is a matter of stability.
India has a bilateral trade of USD 12 billion with Iran and 64 of India's oil requirements worth USD 90 billion is sourced to the region.
Also, there are 6 million Indians in West Asia, the sources point out.
They said: "We are interested in the pipeline. There are basic issues. One is pricing and the other is safety."
The pipeline cost USD 6 billion and there are downstream projects that will work out to USD 30 billion. As a buyer, one would like some concession, the sources said.
The sources refused to read any meaning in the absence of any bilateral meeting for the Prime Minister with western leaders, especially US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the UNGA.
They said Singh would be having a number of occasions for such meetings when they come for upcoming meetings like the G20 and other summits.

What was Chidambaram's role in 2G Scam

The Supreme Court has been hearing a plea by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy seeking that a CBI probe on P Chidambaram's role as the then finance minster when 2G licenses were granted in January 2008. Today, as Swamy submitted factsheet on 2G at the Supreme Court, CNBC-TV18's economic policy editor, Siddharth Zarabi shares exclusive details of the same.
One of these documents is a letter dated back to March 25, 2011, which is almost over a month after A Raja was arrested and had to step down from the DoT.
The key contention of this 11 page factsheet which has been submitted by the finance ministry to the Prime Minister office written by Doctor PGS Rao, a deputy director in the finance ministry and addressed to Vini Mahajan, joint secretary in the Prime Minister�s office at that stage, dealing with matters including telecom department.
There are several key contentions � the finance ministry stuck to its guns and continued with the correspondence that it had initiated before the grant of licenses on January 10 2008 then the entry fee, the key point of contention that Rs 1651 crore was too low, 2001 prices should have been revised, that would have been sort of done in favour as the finance ministry wanted.
This note claims to have been seen, approved, and sent with the approval of finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. On March 25, 2011, Pranab Mukherjee was already the finance minister for well over two years, which is the key point that is being sort of noticed in this 11 page fact sheet. The finance ministry under Mukherjee has infact submitted a factsheet of this kind to the Prime Ministers office which directly or indirectly in some words without sort of being very explicit but at some place being quite clear, seeks to pin the blame of the 2008 incidence on the then finance ministry.
Therefore in some way it ropes in then Finance Secretary and current RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao. It takes into account Additional Secretary of the DA at that time Sindhushree Khullar and a whole host of other officials who were involved in the correspondence with the Department of Telecom. So, at this stage this fresh piece of evidence as has been submitted in court, the court hasn't pronounced its orders yet, the expectation is that arguments will continue.
A new twist has been delivered and Swamy is trying to bring on record the fact that the finance ministry, after Chidambaram had moved to the home ministry, has sought to blame the role on Chidambaram's ministry-ship at north block. Hence, it is the big political message that people are drawing at this stage from the fresh new evidence provided by Swamy.

Wockhardt gets a week to work out settlement

Bombay High Court today granted an additional one week's time to the debt-ridden Wockhardt to arrive at a workable solution to handle the litigations from
its foreign debtors, but also asked the company to delink this repayment from its recent asset sale to French foods major Danone.
The drug-maker had been rapped by the High Court earlier and asked to pay Rs 350 crore it owes to its foreign creditors without delay.
At the hearing today, the HC criticised Wockhardt on its debt and directed it to delink the repayment to its foreign currency convertible bond (FCCB) holders from its asset sale to Danone.
The court has fixed the next hearing on September 29. A group of bondholders led by the bond trustee of the Bank of New York Mellon, Sun Pharma Global and hedge fund QVT besides some creditors had taken Wockhardt to court, filing a wind-up petition, after the company defaulted on repayment of
its USD 110-million FCCBs, in 2009.
In the course of the proceedings, Wockhardt had been restrained from selling assets without approval from the HC. Early last month, Wockhardt signed a Rs 1,600-crore deal with Danone to sell its nutrition business to the French
multinational. The High Court is yet to approve the deal.
Today, Wockhardt sought some extra time to seek the proposal or solution for repayment that would fit all the parties- CDR as well as the bond holders.

Anna's right to recall idea impractical

Terming as "impractical" Anna Hazare's suggestion for right to recall an elected MP, Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi on Wednesday said such a move would lead to "destabilising" the entire system.

"Right to recall in a big country like ours is impractical. It is not easy in a country where candidates are voted by lakhs of voters," he told reporters on the sidelines of the IIMC convocation function in New Delhi.

He feared that if the right to recall was put in place, "elections will go on happening and the entire system will destabilise".

Quraishi felt the emphasais should be rather on cleansing the election system, barring criminals from contesting elections and encouraging more and more people to come out and vote for the best candidates.

He also did not favour a suggestion for the right to reject candidates in elections saying it was a "difficult task" to implement.

The CEC had earlier said the right of people to reject candidates required a "bit of debate" because a situation of majority of the people rejecting all candidates also must be considered.

Asked about EC's preparation for the forthcoming elections in Gujarat, he said it had not yet come into their "radar" as polls in the western state were due only next year.

With exit polls already banned, the CEC also recommended banning opinion polls as they affected poll prospects of political parties.

ICICI Prudential MF Launches Regular Gold Savings Fund

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund has launched ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund, an open ended Fund of Funds scheme.  The primary objective to generate returns by investing in units of ICICI Prudential Gold Exchange Traded Fund.

The New Fund Offer (NFO) open for subscription from September 20, and will close on October 4, 2011. The new issue price for the scheme is Rs 10 per unit.

The scheme offers growth option and dividend option. Dividend option will have dividend payout and dividend reinvestment facilities.

The minimum investment amount is Rs 5000 and in multiples of Rs 1 thereafter. Additional investment amount is Rs 1000 and in multiples of Rs 1 thereafter. Though SIP route, investors can begin investment with as low as Rs 1000.

Entry load charge - nil. Exit load 2% of the applicable NAV, if the amount sought to be redeemed or switched out is invested for a period of upto one year from the date of allotment.

The scheme would allocate 95% to 100% of assets in units of ICICI Prudential Gold Exchange Traded Fund and upto 5% of assets in Debt & Money Market Instruments (including cash & cash equivalent and Liquid/Debt Funds).

The scheme' performance will be benchmarked against the domestic price of gold.

The Fund Manager for the scheme will be Mr. Chaitanya Pande.

World stocks, euro drift lower before Fed

World stocks drifted lower on Wednesday and the euro also slipped ahead of the Federal Reserve's closely-watched policy meeting, with concerns about a possible Greek default weighing on investor sentiment.

Persistent concerns about Greek sovereign debt limited any excitement ahead of the Fed, with Greece and international lenders yet to reach a deal to allow Athens more funds despite some progress.

The Fed is expected to announce at 1815 GMT plans to shift its portfolio in favour of longer-dated bonds and so push long-term interest rates -- already near historic lows -- even lower in a move known as Operation Twist.

However, it is not clear how effective such new measures would be in significantly bolstering U.S. growth, given that the economy is still slowing down after its $600 billion bond buying programme that ended in June.

"The market expects that the Fed will come up with some new plans to stimulate the economy. Investors will be extremely disappointed if the Fed does not announce a plan to rebalance its portfolio," said Philippe Gijsels, head of research at BNP Paribas Fortis Global Markets in Brussels.

"But if it does, we might see limited reaction as it is already priced in."

The MSCI world equity index was down 0.2 %on the day, staying around 4% above its one-year low set earlier in September.

U.S. stock futures were up around 0.2%, pointing to a firmer open on Wall Street later.

European stocks fell 0.5% while emerging stocks lost 0.3% on the day.

London Brent oil was up 0.2% at USD 110.79 a barrel.

Bund futures were down 4 ticks.

Titan Industries to enter Indonesia

Titan Industries , part of the Tata group, is looking to enter Indonesia in six months through a distribution tie-up, Bhaskar Bhat, managing director, told reporters on the sidelines of the Indian Retail Forum on Wednesday.

"The idea is to expand to one new country every year. Last year we forayed into South Africa, this year we are looking to enter into Indonesia in the next six months," he said.

RDB Rasayans IPO opens

The initial public offering of RDB Rasayans , a packaging material manufacturer, has opened for subscription today. The company offers 45 lakh equity shares through the issue.

It aims to raise around Rs 32.4-35.55 crore at price band of Rs 72-79 a share. The issue will close on September 23.

Bids can be made for a minimum of 80 equity shares and in multiplies of 80 equity shares thereafter.

RDB is engaged in the business of manufacturing and selling of FIBC (jumbo bags) and woven sacks and various woven polymer based products like container liners, protective irrigation system, canal liners, etc. These products use fertilizers, cement, polymers, chemicals, textiles, machinery, automobiles and steel industry etc. Its manufacturing facility is located in West Bengal.

Issue proceeds are proposed to be used for enhancing the manufacturing capacity by 7450 MTPA by establishing the Unit -II for Jumbo Bag Liners.

Earlier the company increased its manufacturing in March 2009 to total 6050 MTPA (5400 MT for extruder and 650 MT for liners) from 1800 MT (for extruder).

Chartered Capital and Investment Ltd is the book running lead manager to the issue.