Page 2014 - Business Finance

Global Markets: Asian shares fall on trade, Fed rate hike fears, pound hits 2-week top

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian stocks were hammered on Monday as fears of faster rate hikes in the United States and uncertainty around the Sino-U.S. trade war dented risk sentiment, while sterling jumped to two-week highs on hopes of an orderly Brexit.

Axis Bank, ONGC in focus after Q2 results

Net profit of Axis Bank rose 82.62% to Rs 789.61 crore on 15.5% rise in total income to Rs 15959.37 crore in Q2 September 2018 over Q2 September 2017. The result was announced after market hours on Friday, 2 November 2018.

Market may open lower

Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could fall 53 points at the opening bell.

Vying for Vuitton: China's e-commerce rivals seek luxury stranglehold

PARIS (Reuters) - China's online giants Alibaba and JD.com are taking their battle for relevance in the lucrative luxury goods market to a new level, as they aim to crack e-commerce tie-ups with top brands that usually shun selling through third parties.

Oil prices fall as U.S. grants Iran sanction waivers to eight importers

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Monday as the start to U.S. sanctions against Iran's fuel exports was softened by waivers that will allow some countries to still import Iranian crude, at least temporarily.

Fuel prices continue to witness fall

Fuel prices continued to witness a decrease on Monday, with petrol and diesel prices now being sold at Rs 78.56 per litre and Rs 73.16 per litre respectively in the national capital.Compared to Sunday, petrol and diesel prices saw a fall of 22 paise and 20 paise respectively in Delhi.Meanwhile, in Mumbai, petrol and diesel prices are being retailed at Rs 84.06 per litre (decrease by 22 paise) and Rs 76.67 per litre (decrease by 21 paise) respectively.Fuel prices had earlier witnessed a relentless hike in the country, burning a hole in the commuter's pocket.In this regard, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had on October 4 announced a reduction of Rs 2.50 per litre on both petrol and diesel prices after curbing excise duty on the commodity by Rs 1.50 per litre and urged respective state governments to slash the same amount at their end.

India on the move: Naidu tells diaspora in Malawi

Praising the Indian community in Malawi for making "significant contribution" in economic activities, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu Sunday said India is on the move and global organisations like the World Bank and the IMF have also appreciated the country's economic progress. Naidu reached here earlier in the day on the last leg of his six-day three-nation tour to Africa, which aims at deepening India's strategic cooperation with Botswana, Zimbabwe and Malawi. "India is on the move. It is not Naidu which says so but World Bank and IMF also say so," the Vice President said while addressing the Indian community here. Not only banks but rating agency Moody's has also given good ratings to India, Naidu said, adding this is a happy news for the country. Citing the success of the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, Naidu said in October the GST collection crossed record Rs one lakh crore. "That is how transformation is happening...One tax one slab throughout the country, .

JPMorgan spreads its urban development money to Paris

NEW YORK/PARIS (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, said on Sunday that it has selected impoverished areas around Paris as the first foreign focus of an urban economic development strategy it started four years ago in Detroit.

Cuba lowers economic growth forecast as trade continues to drop

HAVANA (Reuters) - Communist-run Cuba's economic growth will come in at around 1 percent this year, compared with the 2 percent previously forecast, due to a fall in exports and tourism revenue, state-run media reported over the weekend.

Road projects worth Rs 22k cr underway in Assam in FY19: Sarma

Assam PWD Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said road projects to the tune of over Rs 22,000 crore are being implemented across Assam during the 2018-19 fiscal. Sarma said the state government has begun repairing some of the national highways (NH), as it takes "inordinate delays", due to the "bureaucratic procedure" in sanctioning such work by the Centre. "For NH, everything has to be done through Delhi. When one paper goes there, it takes three months. It takes too long while following all the bureaucratic procedure. That is why, we have started repairing many sites with our own funds," he said. In total, Assam will be spending Rs 22,160 crore on road projects during the current financial year, he said during a press conference here. Out of these, projects of Rs 13,960.72 crore are currently being carried out, while new work amounting to Rs 8,200 crore will be taken up soon, Sarma informed. He said the existing state projects are related to construction of ...

Turkey: We can't be excluded from Mediterranean resources

Turkey's president says he will not permit what he called the seizing of natural resources in the eastern Mediterranean. Speaking at a naval ceremony Sunday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would never accept such attempts "excluding our country and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus." Turkey and the Greek Cypriot government in Cyprus -- who do not have diplomatic relations -- are both planning hydrocarbon research in the Mediterranean Sea for natural gas reserves. A Turkish ship began explorations for oil and natural gas this week off the coast of southern Antalya province. The first drilling location is not within disputed territories near Cyprus. Off the divided island of Cyprus, Turkish Cypriots in northern Cyprus, who are supported by Turkey, say any offshore resources that Greek Cypriots tap into must be shared.

Israel announces new oil and gas exploration round in eastern Med

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel will tender off 19 new offshore blocks to oil and gas companies, its energy ministry said on Sunday, hoping to rebound from a disappointing bidding round a year ago.

NDMC launches QR-enabled fridge magnets for digital payment of bills

The New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) on Sunday launched a "smart" initiative wherein it will distribute quick response-enabled smiley fridge magnets to its consumers to facilitate digital payment of utility bills.

New 50-pound note to feature famous UK scientist: Governor

Bank of England governor Mark Carney has announced that the new 50-pound note will feature a prominent British scientist, and the public have been asked for nominations, the media reported on Sunday.

Emirates seeks Rolls-Royce A380 engine deal, nothing finalised

DUBAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Emirates is edging towards a deal with Rolls-Royce to power its latest Airbus A380 superjumbos but has not yet reached a final agreement, the Dubai-based airline said on Sunday.

Chinese co LiuGong to invest Rs 2.5 bn in India, make country sourcing hub

LiuGong India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China-based infrastructure heavy equipment maker Guangxi LiuGong, is planning to invest Rs 250 crore to strengthen operations and make Inda a global sourcing hub, an official has said. "We are committed to make in India. Planning to make India as a second global sourcing hub after China for some products for certain international markets," Liugong India director (sales and marketing) Nischal Mehrotra told PTI. LiuGong has 20 manuafcturing plants, of which 17 are in China, one each in Poland, Brazil and India. Mehrotra said the company believes in India's growth story in the long run despite recent crises like IL&FS default which led to an abrupt slowdown in project execution besides impacting demand for the last two months. He said going by the vision of the Indian government, a lot of action waiting to happen in the infrastructure and mining space. The Chinese outfit has invested about Rs 300 crore in its existing ...

Deutsche's DWS to buy stake in Dubai-based digital investment firm

DUBAI (Reuters) - DWS Group, Deutsche Bank's asset manager, has entered into a binding agreement to acquire an equity stake of 15 percent in Dubai-based Neo Technologies, the companies said on Sunday.

Central governments underspending on health, education: Tharoor

Emphasising on the need for a social security buffer, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said the successive governments at the Centre have been underspending in the health and education sectors.

HSBC facilitates blockchain-based intl trade transaction for

In a first for India, British banking major HSBC has executed a trade finance transaction involving an export by Reliance Industries to an American client using the blockchain, which massively reduced the time taken for processing the documents. The blockchain-enabled letter of credit transaction facilitated a shipment between Reliance and the US-based Tricon Energy, a joint statement issued by HSBC India and Reliance said. "The use of blockchain offers significant potential to reduce the timelines involved in exchange of export documentation from the extant seven-ten days to less than a day," RIL joint chief financial officer Srikanth Venkatachari was quoted as saying in the statement. The blockchain platform was integrated with the electronic bill of lading (eBL) platform to issue and manage an electronic bill of lading, it said, adding this allows a digital transfer of the title of goods from the seller to the buyer in the underlying trade. The statement claimed that

Pawan Hans staffers forum alleges irregularities in

Pawan Hans Ltd's staffers body PHJEF has alleged irregularities in the company's ongoing disinvestment process and has urged the civil aviation ministry to "re-fix" the bidding norms/ eligibility criteria. In a letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu last week, Pawan Hans Joint Employees Forum (PHJEF) has also requested the government to ensure the interest of the company and its employees do not get compromised in the the process. The forum comprises both officers and employees union of PHL. In Pawan Hans, the government holds 51 per cent stake through the Civil Aviation ministry while the rest 49 per cent stake is with oil and gas behemoth ONGC. "We express our serious concern on a major flaw/deviation in the ongoing disinvestment process of the company.... "the bidders who are eligible (financial and otherwise) for only half of the company's total stake, full stake of the company is now being offered. This will not only result into bestowing undue ...