Page 2716 - Business Finance

Malaysia seeks deepening of trade ties with India

Malaysia today pitched for deepening its economic engagement with India and said that achieving the trade target of USD 15 billion annually by 2020, which the two countries had set, looks "promising". Malaysia's High Commissioner to India Hidayat Abdul Hamid, while addressing an interactive session on 'Doing Business with Malaysia' here, said India was an important trading partner for Malaysia and both the countries needed to work closely in order to deepen bilateral trade relations. "Our bilateral trade performance has strengthened to USD 14.3 billion in 2017, marking an increase of over 21.8 per cent from USD 11.8 billion in 2016. From January to June this year, the two-way trade has reached USD 7.7 billion," he said at the event organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and the Malaysian High Commission. Noting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak had set the annual target of trade at USD 15 billion by ...

Shell to buy French firm Total's stake in Hazira LNG terminal

Anglo-Dutch oil multinational Royal Dutch Shell's Indian arm on Monday said that it will acquire French oil major Total SA's 26 per cent stake in the Hazira liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Gujarat.

World stock index at highest in over 5 months on NAFTA hopes

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An index of major world stock markets rose to its highest level in more than five months on Monday following signs of progress on a U.S.-Mexico trade deal and reassuring comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve chief.

SpiceJet operates India's first flight partially powered by bio-fuel (Roundup)

Budget passenger carrier SpiceJet on Monday successfully operated India's first test flight partially powered by bio-fuel.

Mukul Deoras appointed as Colgate-Palmolive India Chairman

FMCG major Colgate-Palmolive India (CPIL) today said its board has appointed Mukul Deoras as Chairman of the company with effect from September 1, 2018. He replaces Vinod Nambiar whose resignation as Chairman was announced earlier by the company in a regulatory filing on August 1. The Board of Directors of the company, through a circular resolution passed on August 27, 2018, has appointed Mukul Deoras as a member and the Chairman of the Board of Directors with effect from September 1, 2018, Colgate-Palmolive India said in a filing to BSE. Most recently, Deoras served as Chief Marketing Officer of Colgate-Palmolive company since August 2015, CPIL said. Shares of Colgate-Palmolive India (CPIL) today closed at Rs 1,157.80 on BSE, down 0.95 per cent from the previous close.

Bus service to Tirupati from Bengaluru airport

The state-run public transport corporation on Monday launched a non-stop luxury bus service to connect the holy Hindu town Tirupathi in Andhra Pradesh and Bengaluru airport.

Tata Power arm raises Rs 2,700 cr

Tata Power today said its wholly-owned arm Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd has raised Rs 2,700 crore via issuance of non-convertible debentures on private placement basis. The proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes of Coastal Gujarat Power, including refinance of foreign currency debt, funding of hedge unwinding costs relating to refinancing of foreign currency debt, capital expenditure, and augmentation of working capital, Tata Power said in a BSE filing. Coastal Gujarat Power Limited (CGPL) issued and allotted the non-convertible debentures (NCDs) in two series {Series I NCOs amounting Rs 1,700 crore for a tenor of 5 years and Series II NCOs amounting Rs 1,000 crore for a tenor of 1O years), the filing said. "The NCDs have been rated AA (SO) by CARE Limited and India Ratings Limited. The Series I NCDs will carry a coupon rate of 9.70 per cent and the Series II NCDs will carry a coupon rate of 9.90 per cent, both payable annually," it said. The debt obligations of CGPL under .

Diesel prices at record level; petrol nears all-time high

Diesel prices touched record high levels across metro cities on Monday, barring Mumbai, and prices of petrol too inched nearer their all-time peak across major cities.

Total to exit Hazira LNG, sell 26% stake to Shell

French energy giant Total SA will exit the Indian LNG venture by selling 26 per cent stake to its partner Royal Dutch Shell, the two companies announced today. Total had in March 2004 picked up 26 per cent stake in the 2.5 million tonnes a year Hazira liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Gujarat. The terminal capacity was later doubled to 5 million tonnes. Hazira LNG terminal was commissioned in 2005 and expanded to 5 million tonnes in 2013. Shell holds the remaining 74 per cent stake in Hazira LNG. "Total has signed a binding Letter of Intent (LOI) with Shell for the sale of its 26 per cent minority equity stake in Hazira LNG regasification terminal in India," the company said in a statement. The transaction remains subject to the approval of regulatory authorities. Shell in a separate statement said its subsidiary, Shell Gas BV has entered into an agreement with Total Gaz Electricit Holdings France to acquire its 26 per cent equity in the Hazira LNG and Port venture ...

Oil rises to $76 as OPEC+ committee sees production increasing

LONDON (Reuters) - Brent oil prices rose to near $76 a barrel on Monday as a committee monitoring a deal on oil output curbs between OPEC and non-OPEC producers saw production rising while a U.S.-China trade dispute capped gains.

Turkey's economic pain felt as far as Tennessee

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Turkey's currency crisis has roiled emerging-markets investors far and wide, including the U.S. state of Tennessee, where the state's retirement system is the biggest institutional holder in a Turkey exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Modi govt putting 'pressure' to stop GSPC from being declared bankrupt: Cong

The Congress today claimed that public-sector Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) owes Rs 12,000 crore in loans to various banks, and accused the Narendra Modi government of trying to prevent the company from being declared bankrupt. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh claimed at a press conference that a Rs 20,000-crore scam has come to light in GSPC, 13 years after then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi announced in 2005 the discovery of a natural gas block in the Krishna-Godavari basin. He cited two reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that noted that GSPC took loans of Rs 20,000 core from 15 banks and gave contracts for drilling to "four-five companies". Money was spent but gas was not found and today GSPC is in a financial state that it needs to be referred to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, the Congress leader alleged. "Last year in August, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pressure, ONGC was forced to buy GSPC gas block and GSPC got a ...

Challenges to Indian economy mainly external: Arun Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said the challenges to Indian economy were mainly from external factors such as rising oil prices and the US-China trade war, but India's macroeconomic fundamentals were strong enough to overcome those challenges.

Nifty spurts to all-time high, up 135 pts

The NSE benchmark Nifty today surged by 134.85 points to hit an all-time high, breaching the 11,700-level for the first time boosted by all-round buying mainly in banking and IT sectors amid positive global cues after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's statement of 'gradual approach' to raising rates. Also, global markets reacted positively to the People's Bank of China announcement that it was tweaking its methodology for the fixing of the yuan's daily midpoint as part of efforts to stabilise the currency market. The Nifty 50 index rose 134.85 points, or 1.17 per cent, to end at 11,691.95 -- a record closing high. It rose by 143.85 points to the day's high of 11,700.95 in mid-afternoon trade. The index rose 38.50 points to the day's low of 11,595.60 in early trade. It saw an intra-day movement of about 105.35 points. On the sectoral front, PSU bank rose by 2.16 per cent, followed by private bank 1.66 per cent, IT 1.67 per cent, bank 1.54 per cent, metal 1.48 per cent, infra .

RAI to help boost retail sector in Andhra Pradesh

The Retailers Association of India (RAI) will help boost the fast growing retail sector in Andhra Pradesh especially in upcoming cities, besides promoting the state as an investment destination for retail and allied sectors, an official said on Monday.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in talks to invest up to $350 mn in Paytm

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is set to invest about USD 300-350 million in Indian digital payments major Paytm, according to sources. The investment, which values the Alibaba and SoftBank-backed One97 Communications at over USD 10 billion, is likely to be announced in the next few weeks, according to two people familiar with the development. They did not wish to be identified as the deal is still in the works. One of the persons said the deal would see Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway pick up 3-4 per cent share in One97 Communications, the parent firm of Paytm. An email sent to Berkshire Hathaway did not elicit a response, while a Paytm spokesperson declined to comment on the matter. The deal, if completed, would be Berkshire Hathaway's first investment in an Indian technology ecosystem. It will also add more muscle to Paytm's operations as it competes against rivals like PhonePe and Google's Tez. Paytm has also been aggressively diversifying its business into areas like ...

Turkey's battered lira tumbles again over outlook fears

The Turkish lira today lost over three percent in value against the dollar as the same concerns that have propelled the embattled currency to record lows failed to dissipate after a summer break. The lira has lost just under a third in value against the dollar over the last month, as anxiety over the coherence of domestic economic policy coupled with sanctions announced by the United States generated market panic. The currency was trading at 6.2 to the dollar, a loss of 3.1 percent on the day. It lost similar ground against the euro to trade at 7.2. Turkish markets reopened on Monday after a week off for public holidays and the coming week will be crucial for the lira as European markets become more active after the summer break. Analysts said that the same factors that at one point drove the lira above 7 to the dollar for the first time in history remain in place. The government has yet to convince markets with a comprehensive economic strategy to fight inflation of almost 16 ...

Wall Street opens higher on optimism around NAFTA progress

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened higher on Monday, with the benchmark S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq hitting record highs on optimism around news that the United States and Mexico were closing in on a trade deal.

Onam season liquor intake down by Rs 17 crore

Kerala, ravaged by floods, saw a drop of Rs 17 crore in liquor sales during Onam season compared to last year.

Gold slips but stays above $1,200 as dollar firms

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold inched lower as the dollar firmed on Monday, reversing some of the previous session's gains which came after the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman reiterated the central bank's intention to raise interest rates further, albeit at a gradual rate.