Friday, January 15, 2010

Financial News Flash


Tata Consultancy Profit Rises 33%, Beating Estimate, as Clients Spend More Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., India’s largest software exporter, reported quarterly profit that beat estimates as the global economic recovery prompted customers to increase orders for computer services.

Spending Boom May Help Indian Stock Gain 15% This Year, India Capital Says Indian stocks may advance 15 percent this year, extending their best performance since 1991, as investors bet on a spending boom in the world’s second-fastest growing major economy, India Capital Management Ltd. said.

Reserve Bank of India Will Act Should Inflation Reach a Certain Threshold India’s central bank will use monetary policy to contain inflation when there is a need, K.L. Prasad, an economic adviser at the finance ministry, said after wholesale prices surged the most in more than a year.

Sensitive Index Declines, Lenders Fall as TCS Rises Ahead of Earnings Indian stocks fell, led by lenders, after a government official said policy makers may take steps to curb inflation. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. rose to a record ahead of its earnings report today.

Ashmore, PTC India to Start Fund for South Asia Power Projects by April Ashmore Group Plc, a U.K. money manager that focuses on emerging markets, and PTC India Ltd. will jointly start a fund to invest in the South Asian nation’s power projects by April.

Bonds Advances on as Record Debt Sales Near Completion, Bank Demand Firms India’s 10-year bonds rose, pushing their yield to the lowest level in almost two weeks, as the government nears completion of its record debt-sale program for the current fiscal year.

Foreign-Exchange Reserves Rise to $284.3 Billion in Week Ended Jan. 8 India’s foreign-exchange reserves rose $741 million to $284.3 billion in the seven days ended Jan. 8, the second weekly successive increase.

Foreign Direct Investment in Pakistan Declines 56.9% in First Six Months Overseas direct investment into Pakistan dropped 56.9 percent in the first six months of the fiscal year that started July 1, the central bank said.

Iron Ore Demand From China Drops After India Adds Export Tax, Group Says Iron ore producers in India, the world’s third-largest exporter, may offer lower prices as demand from Chinese buyers drops after the government imposed a tax, a trade group said.

MMTC, State-Run Companies Gain on Government's Plan Sell Engineers India State-owned Engineers India Ltd. MMTC Ltd. and Dredging Corp. of India Ltd. were the three best performers on the BSE500 Index today, after India approved a 10 percent equity sale by Engineers yesterday.

JPMorgan Earnings More Than Quadruple on Fees as Retail Bank Reports Loss JPMorgan Chase & Co., the second- largest U.S. bank, said profit more than quadrupled on higher investment-banking revenue. The bank lost money on consumer loans and increased provisions for future defaults.

Investment Bankers at JPMorgan to Get Average $378,600 in 2009 Pay, Perks JPMorgan Chase & Co., the second- largest U.S. bank, set aside $9.3 billion for compensation and benefits for investment-bank employees in 2009, enough to pay each worker in that unit $378,600.

Manufacturing in New York Region Grows More Than Forecast, Fed Index Shows Manufacturing in the New York region expanded in January faster than anticipated, indicating gains in production are giving the economy a lift, a regional report showed today.

Euro Drops Against Dollar as Stocks, Commodities Retreat; Treasuries Gain The euro slid the most in almost a month against the dollar on concern Greece’s struggles to cut its budget deficit will damage confidence, while U.S. stocks fell as JPMorgan Chase & Co. reported a loss in its retail bank. Treasuries gained and commodities declined.

Peugeot Said to Discuss Controlling Stake in Mitsubishi to Deepen Alliance PSA Peugeot Citroen and Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s managers met this week in Tokyo to negotiate a deal that may give the French carmaker a controlling stake in the Japanese company, two people familiar with the matter said.

BC Partners to Start Raising Biggest Buyout Fund Since Lehman's Collapse BC Partners Ltd., the private equity firm that has stakes in Office Depot Inc. and Foxtons Ltd., plans to start raising about 5.8 billion euros ($8.4 billion) for leveraged buyouts this year, the biggest test of investor appetite for such funds since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed in 2008.

Man Assets Fall as Flagship AHL Diversified Fund Incurs First Annual Loss Man Group Plc, the largest publicly traded hedge-fund firm, posted a bigger-than-expected decline in assets in the last three months of 2009 as its main fund logged its first annual loss. The stock tumbled as much as 7.3 percent.

source: Bloomberg