Gold to get costlier, duty raised

Gold to get costlier, duty raised

Employees work at a call centre on the outskirts of Srinagar

Software services provider HCL Tech has posted a 15.4% growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 572.7 crore in the quarter under review compared to Rs 496.7 crore in the previous quarter.

The IT major's revenues are at Rs 5,425 crore in the quarter ended December 31 2011, up 12.8% from Rs 4,651 crore in the year ago period.

An oil pump is seen on the shore near Santa Cruz del Norte, Cuba

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp is in discussions with US energy major ConocoPhillips for a business partnership but talks are at a "very nascent stage", the Indian explorer said on Tuesday.

It was reported earlier on Tuesday, quoting unnamed sources, that ConocoPhillips had signed a memorandum of understanding to buy stakes in multiple blocks of ONGC.

A shareholder fills a form before the Reliance Communications (RCom) annual general meeting in Mumbai

Chinese state banks stepped in to lend debt-laden Indian mobile phone carrier RCom $1.18 billion to repay overseas convertible bonds due for redemption on March 1, as the carrier struggles to sell its telecoms tower business.

India's No.2 mobile phone operator by subscribers, controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani, has been burdened by $6.5 billion in debt and battered by ferocious competition that has seen it post nine straight quarters of declining profit growth.

Labourers work at a steel manufacturing plant in Hefei, Anhui province

China's economy expanded at its weakest pace in 2-1/2 years in the latest quarter, with the sagging real estate and export sectors heralding a sharper slowdown in coming months and fresh pro-growth measures from the government.

Growth of 8.9% over a year earlier was slightly stronger than the 8.7% forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, but the data on Tuesday raised concerns about the immediate outlook and how much support China can offer a struggling global economy.

China's policymakers have unveiled a series of policy tweaks from tax breaks for small firms, to a cut in the proportion of deposits the country's banks must hold as reserves in a bid to boost corporate credit and money supply.