Indian ADRs ended higher on Thursday. In the IT space, Wipro was up 2.96% at USD 10.1 and Infosys was up 2.24% at USD 53.91.
In the Banking space, ICICI Bank was up 4.23% at USD 42.9 and HDFC Bank was up 1.68% at USD 37.42. In the Telecom space, Tata Communication was up 5.25% at USD 8.22.
In the other space, Dr Reddys was up 0.4% at USD 32.35, Sterlite was up 2.2% at USD 6.98, while Tata Motors was down 3.13% at USD 24.41.
Mar 29, 2013, 10.55 AM IST
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download4u's March Madness sale brings Dark Souls, Need for Speed: Most Wanted at discounts
The headlining game for today is the unforgiven open-world RPG Dark Souls at a 30 percent discount, bringing its price down from Rs 1,499 to Rs 1,259.
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download4u's March Madness sale brings Dark Souls, Need for Speed: Most Wanted at discounts
The headlining game for today is the unforgiven open-world RPG Dark Souls at a 30 percent discount, bringing its price down from Rs 1,499 to Rs 1,259.
Day eight of download4u's March Madness sale is upon us, and this means new games on discount. The headlining game for today is the unforgiven open-world RPG Dark Souls at a 30 percent discount, bringing its price down from Rs 1,499 to Rs 1,259. Alongside Dark Souls, there are two Star Wars games up for grabs—strategy game Star Wars: Empire at War at a 40 percent discount, bringing its price down from Rs 699 to Rs 419, and third person action game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed at a 50 percent discount, which brings its price down from Rs 499 to Rs 249.There is also Obsidian's hack-and-slash RPG Dungeon Siege III at a 40 percent discount, bringing its price down from Rs 499 to Rs 299, and Need for Speed: Most Wanted is making a comeback in the sale at a discount of 40 percent, bringing its price down from Rs 1,799 to Rs 1,259. Other games up for grabs include Dead Block and Public Enemies: Bonnie & Clyde at discounts of 40 percent, which brings their prices down from Rs 99 to Rs 89 each, and Iron Storm at a 20 percent discount, bringing its price down from Rs 99 to Rs 79.
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Also Read: Q3 Balance of Payments: Key takeaways
Keki Mistry, vice-chairman and CEO, HDFC added that the actual current account deficit is higher than expected. "The current account deficit is caused by low exports and sluggish manufacturing due to high interest rates. I expect market's reaction to the deficit to be of no significance ."
Below is the edited transcript of the discussion on CNBC-TV18
Q: How can the government tackle the current account deficit in the short-term?
Sanyal: There is no quick fix to address the current account deficit. The government must ensure capital flows remain strong. Though NRI bonds could be used, the government does not favour of that medium. Some favourable tinkering of the withholding tax could provide further impetus to FII investment into debt.
At the moment India imports close to USD 60 billion of gold a year. So, if the government is able to introduce harsh measures to curtail gold imports, it could considerably reduce the current account deficit.
Q: Why has the current account deficit (CAD) now seem to be a run away problem with fewer options available with the government to control it?
Mistry: For a long time, the current account deficit has been one of India's biggest economic problems. The centre of the problem are various structural glitches. Exports are always going to be a problematic due to increased dependence on the West. The manufacturing sector is plagued by higher interest rates and operating costs that adversely impact the level of competitiveness.
Q: How will the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) react to the deficit at this level?
Mistry: It will impact the RBI's decision on cutting rates. My estimate of a 100 bps reduction in rates during the year- 0.25 percent in January, 0.25 percent in March, then a little bit of a halt to wait and see how the monsoons are and then another 50 basis points in the second half of the year, still stands.
Q: Do share the government's optimism that the CAD in Q4 will be lower?
Sanyal: I tend to concur with the government's view that the deficit at this particular level is clearly the peak and going forward, the deficit could be somewhat lower. But this will not be due to higher exports but due to a fall in gold consumption. Indian gold imports follow the trend in international gold prices.
Global gold prices have been tapering off in dollar and rupee terms. If that trend remains, a bit of relief can be expected . Next in magnitude of impact are oil prices. If oil demand remains pretty inelastic, some relief can come be expected in the subsequent quarters.
Q: How do you expect the rupee and market to react?
Sanyal: I would expect the impact on those two variables should be relatively limited.
Q: Do you believe that the street has factored this in and the rupee will not significantly react?
Mistry: I don't see the markets reacting violently. The government has to continue with the series of reforms that will continue to invite foreign funds and hope that global liquidity remains strong. The rupee might drop temporarily by 20-25 paisa on Monday morning.
"The Indian Hotels Company Limited (Taj Group) is pleased to confirm that it has received the consent from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) confirming renewal of the license for the Taj Palace Hotel, Sardar Patel Marg, New Delhi for a further period of 25 years effective from April 1, 2013," the company said in a statement.
Also read: Low demand hits room rates, profit: Hotel Leela's Nair
The Taj had originally entered into an agreement for the construction and license of the hotel with DDA for 30 years effective from April 1, 1983. The Taj will thus continue to operate the hotel till March 31, 2038, it added.
Commenting on development IHCL Managing Director Raymond Bickson said: "IHCL has enjoyed a very cordial and beneficial business association with Delhi Development Authority over the past three decades and this recent development will further strengthen our partnership with DDA in the years to come."
IHCL and its subsidiaries are collectively known as Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces.
The Office for National Statistics confirmed that gross domestic product dropped 0.3 percent in the October-December period compared with the previous quarter, dragged down by sharp falls in industrial production and exports.
Separate data showed Britain's current account deficit came in at 14.037 billion pounds ($21.3 billion) in the fourth quarter, overshooting forecasts.
For the full year, the gap between what Britain earns from trade and foreign investment and money flowing out of the country almost tripled to a shortfall of 57.679 billion pounds or 3.7 percent of GDP - the highest share of output since 1989. The pound slipped against the dollar after the two releases.
"The long-awaited rebalancing of the economy remains elusive. The consumer has once again bailed out underperforming exports and business investment," said Andrew Goodwin, economic adviser at Ernst & Young. "Prospects for Q1 remain on a knife edge," he added.
An economic contraction in the first quarter of 2013 would tip Britain into its third recession in less than five years.
Economists say that a long spell of cold weather may be adding to the chances of a new recession because snowfall in many areas probably curtailed shopping and may have disrupted some supply chains and staffing levels at companies. So far, however, voters have shown a slight preference for the Conservative-led government's economic acumen over those of the opposition Labour party.
CONSUMERS TO THE RESCUE
Wednesday's figures showed that the household saving ratio fell to 6.7 percent in the fourth quarter. Britons' disposable income shrank 0.1 percent in real terms, but household spending held up, rising 0.4 percent and boosting the economy. By contrast, the steepest decline in industrial output since early 2009 and a fall in exports weighed heavily on GDP.
Weak exports combined with resilient imports were behind the deterioration in Britain's current account position last year, which was also hit by a sharply smaller surplus on its net income account. "The current account figures ... make for very dismal reading," said Monument Securities economist Marc Ostwald.
"The UK is running a twin deficit of the same sort of order as some of the worst offenders in the euro zone, so the idea that sterling is a safe haven should be under a lot of question," he added.
Michael Saunders, economist at Citi, attributed the current account gap also to a switch by British investors out of higher-yielding, riskier bonds and into safer but lower-returning debt during 2012. A slowdown in many European economies also hurt income from Britain's foreign direct investment.
The first estimate of first-quarter GDP due on April 25 will reveal whether Britain is in another recession. Data from the first quarter of 2013 has been mixed so far: there was a sharp fall in manufacturing output in January but stronger survey evidence on the dominant service sector in February. The ONS is due to publish its index of services data for January on Thursday, helping economists to gauge the economy's performance at the start of the year.
Latest forecasts by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, used by the government for its budget, showed last week that Britain will eke out a meagre 0.6 percent growth this year - half what it predicted only a few months ago.
Bleak euro zone economic data added to a sour tone in markets, driving demand for safe-haven assets. U.S. Treasuries debt prices jumped, with benchmark yields falling to their lowest levels in three weeks and German Bunds also gained. Gold rose above $1,600 an ounce.
At a debt auction on Wednesday, Italy paid more to borrow over five years than it has since October as lack of progress in forming a new government and worries about Cyprus hurt demand. Cypriot banks are due to reopen on Thursday.
Cyprus is putting the final touches on capital control measures to prevent a run on banks after the country agreed to a bailout deal that will wipe out some senior bank bondholders and impose losses on large depositors.
The worry among investors is that despite attempts by some officials to dismiss the idea, the plan could become a blueprint for any future euro zone bailout.
"The overhang of the Cypriot bailout, and especially its implications for euro zone-wide banking depositors, along with a dip in confidence and lacklustre Italian debt auctions, have upset the apple cart for U.S. investors determined to assault record stock market highs," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak + Co, LLC in New York.
U.S. stocks fell after a rally on Monday propelled the S&P 500 to within striking distance of an all-time closing high.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 41.51 points, or 0.29 percent, to 14,518.14. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 3.78 points, or 0.24 percent, to 1,559.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 5.28 points, or 0.16 percent, to 3,247.21.
MSCI's index of world shares, which tracks 6000 stocks in 45 countries, fell 0.3 percent to 358.38 points. European shares dropped 0.3 percent to 1,185.07 points.
Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury notes were up 16/32 in price to yield 1.854 percent.
The euro fell as low as $1.2750, the weakest since November 21, and last traded at $1.2782, down 0.6 percent on the day.
"Rising Italian borrowing costs and its political situation are both negatives," said Greg Anderson, G10 strategist at Citigroup in New York. "Investors are not overly short the euro, so there is plenty of scope for the euro to test the lows of the past cycle."
Data on Wednesday showed confidence in the euro zone's economy fell more than expected in March after four straight months of gains. Other reports showed a slump in Italian manufacturing and retail sales and contraction in France's economy at the end of last year.
The dollar slipped 0.1 percent to 94.36 yen, while the dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, rose to a more than seven-month high of 83.302. The index was last up 0.4 percent at 83.194.
German government Bund futures, an asset that investors value in times of increased tension, rose 75 ticks, their biggest jump since inconclusive Italian elections last month rattled markets.
Gold rebounded from early losses, with spot gold rising to $1,604.84 an ounce from $1,598.59 on Tuesday, as investors piled money into safe-haven investments.
Brent crude hovered around $109 a barrel in choppy trade and U.S. crude futures fell 31 cents to $96.03, pressured by rising crude stockpiles in top consumer the United States and festering worries over the euro zone.
The weakness in the euro eroded the attractiveness of oil priced in dollars.
"NLC intends to secure its thermal coal-requirement by acquiring coal blocks abroad, by entering into-long term coal supply agreement, by forming joint venture with coal mining companies, by acquiring equity stakes in coal mining companies," says the tender document of the company.
The state-owned firm has proposals for growth in power generation capacity and is expanding its activities not only at Neyveli, but also in other parts of the country.
It has entered into a JV with Uttar Pradesh to set up a 1,980 MW power station at Ghatampur, and the project is moving fast into the execution phase. NLC also has a proposal to establish a power plant with a capacity of 4,000 MW at Sirkali in Tamil Nadu. It is also planning to bid for ultra mega power projects (UMPP) of 4,000 MW under tariff based competitive bidding and other power Projects.
The company's coal requirement is likely to shoot up to 10 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) once all the projects are commissioned. The 'Navratna' firm operates four mines with a tota capacity 30.6 MTPA, and four thermal power stations of total capacity of 2,740 MW.
It is executing lignite-based projects such as the New Neyveli Thermal Power Station. Besides, NLC is implementing a 1,000 MW coal-based Thermal Power Project, NLC Tamil Nadu Power Ltd at Tuticorin.
"I can no longer be part of this government and I announce my resignation," Terzi said during testimony to the lower house of parliament. "My reservations about sending the marines back to India were not listened to."
Mario Monti's caretaker government on Friday reversed a March 11 decision not to send the marines back to face trial for the murder of two Indian fisherman during anti-piracy duty on a commercial tanker in February 2012.
Also Read: TN govt asks GAIL to stop laying pipeline on agri land
In the performance MoU the company signed with the government, GAIL committed to transmit 110 mmscmd of natural gas through its pipeline network, the company said in a press statement in New Delhi.
The MoU was signed between oil secretary Vivek Rae and GAIL chairman and managing director BC Tripathi in New Delhi on Monday. It provides for production target of 430,000 tonne of polymers and 1.3 million tonne of liquid hydrocarbons.
For 2013-14, "financial targets are pegged at Rs 49,155 crore of gross sales and a gross margin of Rs 6,160 crore," it said.
In addition to key physical and financial parameters, the company's performance will be assessed on the basis of various parameters related to core business streams.
The decision comes after the Delhi High Court order dated March 15, 2013. ILFC says that it is not late for India to recover positive perception in the international forum.
ILFC had leased 6 aircraft to KFA and though the move is a pragmatic approach is comes in an environment seen as to increasingly hostile to business by foreign investors.
The change in current policy in India towards lessors is a much needed reform and will help Indian airlines get continued, affordable aircraft finance.
Financiers have warned that failure to resolve the dispute could starve India of funds needed to develop its aviation industry.
In a response to CNBC-TV18, ILFC stated that it will not hesitate to take legal action if KFA goes to court. "If KFA is not in a position to pay penalties, then we will appoach its parent company and will pursue every legal avenue to ensure KFA pays penalties. The penalties were levied as KFA stopped making payments to ILFC. We expect to recover the rest of the aircraft within the next few weeks."
(With inputs from Reuters)
By Karolina Tagaris and Costas Pitas
NICOSIA (Reuters) - Dora Giorgali says she has to go back almost 40 years, when Cyprus was at war, to recall such a feeling of anxiety.
"I haven't felt so uncertain about the future since I was 13 and Cyprus was invaded," the 53-year-old unemployed nursery teacher said on a warm and bustling square in the capital, Nicosia.
"I have two children studying abroad and I tell them not to return to Cyprus," she said. "Imagine a mother saying that."
Hope mingled with a sense of dread on Sunday as leaders of this tiny Mediterranean island sought a last-minute reprieve from financial meltdown in talks in Brussels.
For Giorgali, these are the worst days since war with Turkey in 1974 split the island in two and displaced a quarter of the population.
In Nicosia, still a divided capital, Cypriots spilled into streets bathed in warm sunshine. The talk was of bailouts, Europe and betrayal.
"We had the impression that being part of Europe would be a good thing, that it would solve our problems," said Chris Kikas, whose business selling hand painted religious icons has seen better days. "Well, it's not like that at all," he said. "Where is the solidarity?"
The island of 1.1 million people, for years a haven for big offshore finance, rich Russians and sun-seeking British expats, has been stunned by the pace of the unfolding drama that has left them staring at the prospect of financial meltdown.
Only a month ago they elected conservative leader Nicos Anastasiades as president on a mandate to secure a bailout that would stave off default and shore up banks crippled by their exposure to Greece, the epicentre of Europe's stubborn debt crisis.
On Sunday, Anastasiades was locked in talks with Cyprus's partners in the 17-nation euro zone, still short of the billions of euros they want before signing off on a 10 billion euro rescue package to keep the island economically afloat.
Shops, traditionally closed on Sundays, were open in the hope of attracting enough customers to kickstart the slow trade of the last few weeks.
But with bank doors closed for a week already, one mobile phone store had pinned a sign in its window that read, "Cash only - until the financial situation is resolved."
"CYPRUS NOT FOR SALE!"
Retailers say they are running low on stock, unable to make bank transfers or meet cash-on-delivery demands from suppliers.
"All we can do is wait and hope for the best," said Yorgos Papapavlou, who has been unable to restock his popular textile shop because he cannot pay suppliers by bank transfer.
"People are out today to let off steam," he said. Unsold textile rolls, a metre for one euro, were stacked high outside on the cobbled street. Papapavlou said business was down 90 percent.
Cyprus has escaped the bouts of angry street violence that frequently erupt in Greece. But peaceful protests have become a daily occurrence. On Sunday, around 200 bank workers, some of whom face losing their jobs, gathered outside the presidential palace chanting "Troika out of Cyprus!" and "Cyprus not for sale!"
'Troika' has become a dirty word in the euro zone's debt-laden southern states, referring as it does to the trio of lenders - the EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund - demanding strict austerity in return for economic salvation.
Many Greeks, Italians or Cypriots say the medicine is worse than the sickness.
Cypriots were outraged last weekend to learn that they would have to take a hit on their personal bank deposits to raise 5.8 billion euros in return for the country's 10 billion euro bailout. They besieged bank machines.
"The banks will reopen on Tuesday, but will there be any money left in them for people to withdraw?" asked Vlasa Cyprian, a 35-year-old petrol pump attendant. "I don't think so," he said, "and if there is, there'll be little, very little."
The proposed levy, thrown out by lawmakers panicked by the visceral reaction of their voters, now targets big savers over 100,000 euros, many of them Russians and other foreigners who squirreled their money away in the country's over-sized banks on the kind of favourable terms unseen elsewhere in the EU.
Cyprus now faces a Monday deadline to seal the bailout, or the European Central Bank says it will sever emergency funding to the island's stricken banks. Talks in Brussels were set to drag on late into the night.
Whatever the outcome, Cypriots will see little reason for cheer. Giorgali, the unemployed nursery teacher, joked that her family was so glued to the television news that there was a deep dent in the sofa.
"I think a solution will be found," she said, "but it won't be in the best interests of our country."
(Writing by Karolina Tagaris; Editing by Matt Robinson and Giles Elgood)
REUTERS - Following are the top 10 movies at North American box offices for the three-day weekend starting March 22, led by "The Croods" at No. 1, according to studio estimates compiled by Reuters.
1 (*) The Croods..........................$44.2 million
2 (*) Olympus Has Fallen..................$30.5 million
3 (1) Oz the Great and Powerful...........$22.0 million
4 (2) The Call............................$ 8.7 million
5 (*) Admission...........................$ 6.4 million
6 (-) Spring Breakers.....................$ 3.5 million
7 (3) The Incredible Burt Wonderstone $ 4.3 million
8 (4) Jack the Giant Slayer...............$ 3.0 million
9 (5) Identity Thief......................$ 2.5 million
10 (6) Snitch..............................$ 1.9 million
NOTES: (*) = new release
"Spring Breakers" did not place in last week's top 10. CUMULATIVE TOTALS: Oz the Great and Powerful.................$ 177.6 million Identity Thief............................$ 127.7 million Jack the Giant Slayer.....................$ 59.1 million The Croods................................$ 44.7 million Snitch....................................$ 40.3 million The Call..................................$ 30.9 million Olympus Has Fallen........................$ 30.5 million The Incredible Burt Wonderstone...........$ 17.4 million Admission.................................$ 6.4 million Spring Breakers...........................$ 5.4 million
"The Croods" was produced by Dreamworks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp .
"Oz the Great and Powerful" was released by Walt Disney Co . "Olympus Has Fallen" was distributed by privately held FilmDistrict.
"Admission" was released by Focus Features, a unit of Comcast Corp's Universal Pictures.
"The Call" was distributed by Sony Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp <6758.T> .
"The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" and "Jack the Giant Slayer" were released by Warner Bros, a unit of Time Warner Inc . "Snitch" was distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment .
"Identity Thief" was distributed by Universal Pictures, a unit of Comcast Corp .
"Spring Breakers" was distributed by A24 Films. (Reporting By Lisa Richwine)
Schmidt spoke to CNBC-TV18 at an event in New Delhi where Indian and international experts came together to brainstorm about what the Internet has meant for India and the significant opportunities it offers.
Also Read: BlackBerry CEO says Android and Windows Phone are not mobile computing platforms
Below is an edited transcript of the show on CNBC-TV18
Q: Over the last decade, you built Google from a start-up to one of the most admired companies of all time. What is your verdict on your last 10 years at Google?
A: I could not be happier with what Google has achieved. It is a source of pride for me personally and for people at Google in general. The power of information is so dramatic and you really do touch people's lives when you give them the answers to the things they care about. I cannot think of a better way to spend a decade.
Q: What would you say your biggest failures have been?
A: We made money but we also had to make some trade-offs. Probably the biggest mistake that I made was not in seeing the social media revolution early on. I think we have realised it now but I would take responsibility for that mistake.
Q: Will that in the future affect search as well which is your biggest source of revenue? Will companies like Facebook and Amazon be able to map users better to offer enhanced services while you remain a passive search engine?
A: I would disagree that we are going to remain a passive search engine. We have a product called Google Plus which is doing extraordinarily well.
Q: But as compared to Facebook?
A: Facebook has been around longer than Google Plus. The Google Plus link graph which tracks the sort of people that you interact with is an important future signal on our search ranking. So I think we will be fine. I am not worried about it. I think it is just important that Google be a participant in all of the important Internet technologies.
Q: What and from where is the threat to the Gang of Four- Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple- going to come from?
A: The Gang of Four is in reference to the presence of four network-scalable platforms in the industry that are driving huge shareholder value and impact on partners and the competition. The threats to each of them are many. In Apple's case, the threat is from the Android.
Amazon faces the threat of increased forays into the e-commerce space. Facebook has a a competitor in Google Plus and Google faces competition from Microsoft. So it is key for each of these companies to maintain or increase the rate at which they can continue to innovate to solve problems that really matter to the end-user.
The industry that was largely driven by the Microsoft monopoly structure and PC hardware manufacturers has been completely broken down now by the emergence of tablets and smartphones offering many different choices.
Q: Who do you see as the Google of today? Where Google was when search started? Which companies do you give the best chance of coming in and knocking you off?
A: I certainly hope it is Google. A new competitor to Google is unlikely to be a direct rival to our core business, but rather likely to compete from the side such as solving a problem in a new way, a way that we missed. We worry about that because that's typically how incumbents compete and all leading companies face that competition.
Also Read: YouTube targets Indian marketers, revamps site
The data centre in Maiden, North Carolina, which supports Internet storage and Apple's service-hosting iCloud product, produces 167 million kilowatt-hours - the power equivalent of 17,600 homes for one year - from a 100-acre solar farm and fuel cell installations provided by Silicon Valley startup Bloom Energy.
They are the largest, non-utility power-generating facilities of their kind in the United States, Oppenheimer told Reuters.
"We switched over to these new energy sources in December," he said. "And we are committed to generating 60 percent of the electricity that the data center will use by making power on site. We are now achieving that goal."
Apple purchases the rest of the green power needed at the facility.
Apple and other technology companies - such as Amazon and Microsoft - that build and run computer server farms have come under criticism for their high consumption of electricity and other resources. These data centers cater to an explosion in Internet traffic, streaming content through mobile devices and hosting of services to corporations.
Apple has switched many of its corporate facilities to fully operate on green power, including those in Austin, Texas; Cork, Ireland; and Sacramento, California, Oppenheimer said.
The company is building another 20-megawatt solar farm at its Maiden facility with solar panels supplied by SunPower Corp .
Overall, Apple said it has increased the proportion of renewable energy used throughout the company to 75 percent. Eventually, the company aims to use only renewable energy at all its facilities around the world.
