Mukesh Ambani planning to sell RGTIL

 Billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani is looking to sell Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure business, which is into building pipelines to carry natural gas, said a media report.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, has contacted bankers to help him sell the business.

"The process is at an early stage and a sale may not take place," the daily said.

Quoting two people familiar with the matter, the report noted that the privately-owned gas pipeline business, known as RGTIL for short, could be worth about USD 1 billion.

"RGTIL has a gas pipeline from the landfall hub of Kakinada across the country to Gujarat on the east coast, with various connections along the way.

"RGTIL started developing the pipeline in 2005 and sold bonds in early 2009 to help finance the project, according to the offer document for the bonds,"

Sensex flat on lack of global cues

The benchmark Sensex was quite in the opening trade today, tracking consolidation in global markets amid negative cues from Europe and negative US factory data.

But structurally, Jonathan Garner of Morgan Stanley said India should still underperform because it has worse than average macro & it needs to work-off the valuation premium.

"Our mid-year review suggests a stronger H2 for Asia & EM equities. We are reinvesting the cash raised last October and increasing equity weightage to 6% above benchmark," Garner said.

BPCL slipped 1% as crude oil prices jumped to USD 97 a barrel on NYMEX.

ONGC, HUL, Sterlite Industries, Reliance Infrastructure, Tata Steel, Hindalco, Jaiprakash Associates, SBI, PNB, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Power, Reliance Communications, Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto were witnessing selling pressure.

How black money comes back to India via Mauritius

The contrast was striking. After months of having been on the defensive over his government's inability to effectively combat black money, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, for once, had his questioners squirming.

The difference was that he was dealing with an international audience. A team from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, led by its secretary general Angel Gurria, in New Delhi to attend a tax conference, was put on the back foot when Mukherjee said slow international progress in dismantling banking secrecy laws hindered India's attempt to uncover money siphoned out of the country.

"It is a real impediment in many cases," agreed Gurr'ia. The unravelling of secrecy laws remains a distant prospect, putting many who may have siphoned out money out of the reach of Indian authorities.

Read: Let black money remain in Swiss banks

         Govt to quantify black money

        'Government evasive on black money'

Gold, copper to shine avoid crude and aluminium

Volatility in equity markets has seen investors shift from high risk assets to commodities. But is this the smart investment? Experts give their views on the hot commodities of the day.

Gold:Even though overall gold prices are sloping towards the negative, in the short term, there are some positive factors coming in. “Any dip to Rs 21700-21725 is an opportunity to buy,” says T Gnanasekar of Comm Trendz Research and Fund Management. His target price for Gold MCX with expiry in August is Rs 21825-21850.

Copper:Rajini Panicker, MF Global Commodities India recommends to go ‘long’ on August Copper on the MCX. Their buy levels are around Rs 416-418, with a stop loss of Rs 411. “Our target level is Rs 428-434,” says Panicker.

Aluminium:According to Anand Rathi Commodities, this metal is looking weak for the next couple of days. Kishore Narne has a ‘sell’ view for MCX July aluminium futures at Rs 112-111 levels with a target of Rs 107. His stop loss level is Rs 115.

Crude oil:Ashish Shah from Sushil Global Commodities says that he doesn’t expect to see any major changes in this counter as long as crude oil trades below Rs 4300. He recommends intra day traders to go ‘short’ at Rs 4270, with a stop loss of above Rs 4320. Their target is Rs 4150-4170.

Focus returns to US jobs

Equity markets have perked up in recent sessions on hopes that Greece's problems can now be dealt with swiftly by international lenders.

Attention this week, however, will return to more conventional economic matters - particularly the US labour market and Friday's non-farm payrolls report.

More News From Financial TimesOutlook: Focus falls on manufacturing data 
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Positive data fail to lift Wall Street 
Economic Outlook: Fed's next move awaited

May's reading was un­expectedly weak - just 54,000 jobs were created in the US during the month - against the backdrop of fiscal woes in Europe, revolutionary violence in the Middle East and supply chain slowness following Japan's earthquake.