Page 1580 - Business Finance
ABB, Hitachi close in on power grids deal
(Reuters) - ABB is in talks with Japan's Hitachi about the Swiss engineering group's power grid business, which it may sell to focus on more profitable divisions.
Spain's Liberbank, Unicaja confirm deal talks, lifting shares
(Reuters) - Spain's Unicaja and Liberbank confirmed on Wednesday they had held talks about a potential deal, driving shares in both banks higher on expectations of a tie-up.
Wall Street climbs 1 percent on trade optimism
(Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose 1 percent on Wednesday, boosted by technology stocks, as a report about China planning to increase access for foreign firms added to optimism fueled by President Donald Trump's upbeat comments on trade.
Germany seeks to assist potential bank merger - Bloomberg
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany is holding high-level talks to facilitate a possible merger of the nation's two largest private banks - Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank - Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
Sebi eases norms for FPIs, startups; allows MFs to segregate distressed assets
In a series of reforms, capital markets regulator Sebi Wednesday eased norms for startup listings and allowed mutual funds to segregate distressed assets to safeguard investment returns. At a meeting held here, the Sebi board also approved a proposal to expand the offer-for-sale mechanism for reduction of stake in listed companies and relaxed clubbing of investment limit norms for well-regulated foreign investors. Besides, it cleared a proposal to allow custodial services in the commodity derivatives market to enable institutional participation. With regard to listing of startups, the regulator has relaxed norms for new-age ventures in sectors like e-commerce, data analytics and biotechnology to raise funds and get their shares traded on stock exchanges. Other measures included renaming the 'Institutional Trading Platform' that the regulator had created for such listings as 'Innovators Growth Platform'. The relaxation in norms follows tepid market response to the existing platform and
OPEC keeps forecast for Global Economic Growth in 2018 unchanged at 3.7 %: Report
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has not revised its forecast for global economic growth, and it remains at 3.7 per cent for 2018 and at 3.5 per cent for the next year, OPEC said in its Monthly Oil Market Report released on Wednesday."The global economic growth forecast remains unchanged at 3.7% for 2018 and at 3.5% for 2019," the report read.The growth in the United States and in the Euro-zone remains unchanged, standing at 2.9 percent and 1.9 percent for 2018, and at 2.6 percent and 1.7 percent for 2019 respectively.OPEC has slightly revised its forecast for Japan, decreasing it to 1.0 percent for 2018, while the forecast for 2019 remains unchanged and stands at 1.1 percent.India's and China's growth forecasts remain unchanged at 7.5 percent and 6.5 percent for 2018, and at 7.2 percent and 6.1 percent for 2019 respectively.Growth in Brazil also remains unchanged, standing at 1.1 percent for 2018 and at 1.8 percent for 2019.
RBI to consult with government, focus on bank sector
MUMBAI (Reuters) - The new head of India's central bank said on Wednesday he would consult more closely with the government on policy issues and meet heads of state-run lenders within hours to address problems facing the banking sector.
US Consulate General flags 'false' online ads
The US Consulate General here flagged "false" online advertisements that claimed sales of vehicles belonging to diplomats Wednesday, saying it does not sell vehicles online. In the last four months, the Consulate said, it has learnt of five such cases in which buyers have made payments upto Rs 30,000. "The U.S. Consulate General, Chennai, would like to inform the public of a fraud involving online advertisements falsely claiming to offer for sale vehicles belonging to U.S. diplomats," a statement said. The Consulate does not sell vehicles online, the statement said, urging buyers to contact the consulate to confirm such advertisements with it before making payments. "We have learned of five cases in the past four months in which victims have made payments of up to Rs 30,000 to view an advertised vehicle, only later to learn that the vehicle did not exist," it said.
Fitch hints rating downgrade if Centre scuttles RBI mandate
Reflecting foreign investor concern at the circumstances in which previous RBI Governor Urjit Patel quit office, Fitch Ratings on Wednesday said the resignation highlights the risks to the central bank's policy priorities and that its sovereign rating assessment of India could change if government influence pushes the RBI away from its mandate.
Sebi examining whistleblower complaint against Sun Pharma: Tyagi
Markets regulator Sebi Wednesday said it is examining the whistleblower complaint against Dilip Shanghvi-led Sun Pharmaceutical Industries. A whistleblower had last month approached Sebi with a document alleging various irregularities by the company, its promoter Shanghvi and others. "There is whistleblower complaint which we are examining. I have nothing more to add," Sebi Chairman Ajay Tyagi told reporters after its board meeting. Sources had told PTI last month that Sebi may reopen an insider trading case against Sun Pharma and as well as probe alleged lapses by some of its promoters and other entities in raising funds overseas. Following this, Shangvi, who is also the managing director of the pharma firm, had said it has not received any query so far from the markets regulator regarding the whistleblower complaint. "We are following highest levels of corporate governance at Sun Pharma," Shanghvi had said. In August 2017, Sun Pharmaceutical, Shanghvi and nine other entities settled
Ex-Guj minister derides RBI chief's educational qualifications
Gujarat BJP leader and former state minister Jay Narayan Vyas Wednesday took a dig at the educational qualifications of the new Reserve Bank governor Shaktikanta Das. Referring to the MA (History) degree of the RBI chief, Vyas said he hoped that the RBI governor did not make the central bank itself history. "The New RBI Governor Das's educational qualification is MA (History). Hope and Pray he doesn't make RBI also a History. May God Bless the New Arrival!!" Vyas tweeted. Vyas, who was health and family welfare minister in Gujarat till 2012, has been sidelined in the party now. He lost the Assembly elections in 2012 and 2017. Das, a former bureaucrat, was named the RBI governor Tuesday following Urjit Patel's sudden exit. Besides post graduation in history, Das has done an advanced financial management course from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and another in development banking and institutional credit from Pune's National Institute of Bank Management. He ...
Sainsbury's-Asda challenge regulator over deal probe
LONDON (Reuters) - Sainsbury's and Asda, the British supermarket groups that want to combine their businesses, will challenge a refusal by the regulator probing their 7.3 billion pound ($9.2 billion) deal to give them longer to respond to the latest evidence.
Carnival Corp's first LNG powered ship sets sail from Germany
(Reuters) - Carnival Corp on Wednesday launched its first liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered ship in Germany as the world's largest cruise operator tries to cut its carbon footprint.
Need to strengthen domestic resources for meeting global health targets: Nadda
Union health minister J P Nadda Wednesday stressed on the need for increasing domestic resources as, he said, 85 per cent cost of the global health targets can be met internally. Nadda said that the Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs set by the UN General Assembly estimate the costs of health related targets in 67 low and middle-income countries that account for 75 per cent of the world's population. "Under the ambitious scenario, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals health targets would require new investments increasing over time from an initial USD 134 billion annually to USD 371 billion, or USD 58 per person, by 2030," he said while speaking at the 2018 Partners' Forum here. He added, "The analysis shows that 85 per cent of these costs can be met with domestic resources. We therefore need to strengthen our approach to increasing domestic resources." Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remark about India's commitment to increasing health spending to 2.5 per cent ..
Pricol, Pointer Telocation to float joint venture
: Pricol, an automotive component manufacturing company, and Israel-based Pointer Telocation Ltd, a developer, manufacturer and operator of mobile resource management, signed a letter of intent (LoI) Wednesday for a joint venture to provide advanced telematics and IoT solutions in India and countries in South East Asia. The joint venture would enable both the companies become leaders in the Indian telematics market with Pricol providing a variety of telematics solutions to the customers for the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) and the aftermarket segments, a press release said. Also, Pricol would bring its robust manufacturing capabilities, strong sales and distribution network in OEM and aftermarket segment, the release said. On its part, Pointer would provide its capabilities in design and development of telematics solutions, and its strong sales network of telematics service providers, system integrators and mobile operators, the release said. Pointer would ...
Wall Street set for strong open on Trump's upbeat trade comments
(Reuters) - U.S. stock futures jumped 0.9 percent on Wednesday, joining a global equities rally, as President Donald Trump's encouraging comments fueled optimism over trade negotiations between the United States and China.
On debut, new RBI Guv Das promises to work closely with govt
Shaktikanta Das took charge as the 25th Governor of the Reserve Bank early Wednesday and promised to take all stakeholders, including the government, along on key policy issues to maintain growth while keeping inflation under check. Das was appointed Tuesday evening -- within a day after the sudden resignation of Urjit Patel following deep friction between the RBI and the government over a host of issues, including the central bank's governance, capital reserves and also certain regulatory policies like the PCA framework for half the state-run banks and credit concerns to some key vote-banks in the industry. "The government is not just a stakeholder, it also runs the economy and the country and manages major policy decisions. There has to be free, fair, objective, and frank discussions between the government and RBI," Das, the former finance secretary who oversaw the controversial note-ban exercise, told reporters in his maiden address at the RBI headquarters on Mint Road. Expecting ..
Govt prepared to take over Tvm airport& run it like CIAL; CM
: The Kerala government, which has opposed the Centre's plan to bring Thiruvananthapuram airport under the PPP mode, Wednesday said it was prepared to take it over and run its operations on the model of the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL). Chief Minister Pinararyi Vijayan stated this after inaugurating the renovated domestic Terminal (T-1) and also the enhanced solar power production capacity of Kochi airport. The terminal, which earlier handled international operations, was reconstructed as per global standards at a cost of Rs 240 crore to cater to the rise in footfalls of domestic travellers. Renovation works were carried out on the lines of the state's traditional architectural style 'Ettukettu'. Vijayan said the government has already conveyed its opposition against the centre's move to manage this airport, among six in the country, under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The government had also made it clear that it was ready to take over ...
Incoming Thyssenkrupp board member Merz favourite for chairwoman - sources
FRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) - Incoming Thyssenkrupp supervisory board member Martina Merz has emerged as favourite to become head of the steel-to-submarines conglomerate's supervisory board, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.
SEBI allows MFs to separate bad assets in portfolios
(Reuters) - Mutual funds in India can separate distressed and illiquid assets in their portfolios to deal with any potential credit crisis, the market regulator said on Wednesday.