Thursday, December 17, 2009

Financial News Flash


India's Bourses Defer Extended Trading Hours After Backlash From Brokers Indian stock exchanges deferred plans for longer trading hours after a backlash from brokers and investors given only a day’s notice, hampering efforts to win back business lost to overseas bourses.

Nuclear Power Plans $6.5 Billion Borrowing to Build Reactors in India Nuclear Power Corp. of India, the nation’s monopoly atomic generator, plans to borrow as much as $6.5 billion to fund six new reactors as the second fastest- growing major economy grapples with power shortages.

Food Prices in India Climb Most in 11 Years; Central Bank May Raise Rates India’s wholesale food prices rose at the fastest pace in eleven years, making it more likely that the central bank will raise borrowing costs to curb inflation.

Sugar Production Declines in India on Drought Damages, Cane-Price Dispute Sugar output in India, the biggest grower after Brazil, fell 9.6 percent in the first two months of the season that began Oct. 1, said an official at the Indian Sugar Mills Association.

Maytas Infra Says It Doesn't Belong in U.S. Satyam Investor Fraud Lawsuits Maytas Infra Ltd., which Satyam Computer Services Ltd. sought to buy a month before touching off India’s biggest corporate-fraud inquiry, said it doesn’t belong in U.S. investor lawsuits against Satyam.

Sensex Index Declines; DLF, Reliance Infra, Maruti Suzuki Shares Retreat India’s benchmark stock index fell, led by DLF Ltd. after the nation’s biggest property developer said it will list a real estate investment trust when the markets are “right.”

China, India Demand May Boost Thermal Coal Price to $80/Ton, JPMorgan Says Demand for thermal coal from China and India may boost prices of the fuel to $80 a metric ton next year amid reduced supplies and lower inventories, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said in a report.

India's 10-year Bonds Halt a Two-Day Slide on Interest-Rate Speculation India’s bonds snapped a two-day slide on speculation the central bank will refrain from raising borrowing costs this month as quarterly corporate tax payments have drained cash from the financial system.

Time Warner to Purchase India's NDTV Imagine for $126.5 Million to Expand Time Warner Inc., owner of the HBO and CNN television networks, agreed to pay $126.5 million for India’s NDTV Imagine Ltd., operator of a Hindi entertainment channel, to increase its international programming.

Leading Economic Index in U.S. Climbed More-Than-Forecast 0.9% in November The index of U.S. leading indicators rose for an eighth consecutive month in November, a sign economic growth will extend into the first half of 2010.

Manufacturing in Philadelphia Area Expands as Sales, Employment Increase Manufacturing in the Philadelphia region expanded in December at the fastest pace in more than four years as sales and employment grew.

Dollar Rises, Stocks Fall Worldwide as Greek Downgrade Fans Safety Demand The dollar rose to the highest level in three months against the euro while stocks and commodities fell as Greece’s debt downgrade fanned concern that spiraling national debts may hamper the global economic recovery.

Tudor Jones Turns Away Investors as Hedge-Fund Industry Outflows Persist In a year when investors pulled an estimated $118 billion from hedge funds through November, Paul Tudor Jones was one of at least six managers who decided it was time to turn away cash.

Whitney Cuts Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley Earnings Estimates Through 2011 Meredith Whitney, the analyst known for predicting Citigroup Inc.’s dividend cut last year, reduced earnings estimates for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley through 2011 because customers are trading less.

Morgan Stanley Surrenders Five San Francisco Office Towers Bought at Peak Morgan Stanley, the securities firm that spent more than $8 billion on commercial property in 2007, plans to relinquish five San Francisco office buildings to its lender two years after purchasing them from Blackstone Group LP near the top of the market.

Greenspan Says S&P 500 Rally Cuts Stimulus Needs as Household Wealth Rises The biggest stock market advance in seven decades is reducing the need for additional government stimulus measures, according to former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

source: Bloomberg