MARKETS: Sensex, Nifty rise; Bharti, ICICI Bank fall
India's benchmark indices closed with nearly 0.5 per cent gains after seesaw trade Wednesday. The Sensex rose 84.87 points to 17,707 closing nearly 100 points off the day's high while the broader Nifty index advanced 33 points (nearly 30 points lower from the intraday high) to 5,368.15. (Read More)
Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, ONGC were the big losers while Reliance Infra was the top gainer followed by Hindalco, Jaiprakash Associates, Gail India, Reliance Power and DLF.
TELECOM: Bharti Airtel net profit declines to Rs 1,011 crore, stocks plunge 6.5%
India's biggest telecom operator Bharti Airtel has reported a decline in sequential profit. Consolidated net profit in the third quarter declined to Rs 1,011 crore against Rs 1,027 crore in the second quarter. Profits declined despite the company hiking prices this quarter. Analysts attributed the poor numbers to flat growth in traffic. (Read More)
OIL & GAS: ONGC Q3 net profit falls 4.8% to Rs 6,741 crore
State-owned energy giant Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) has reported a 4.8% (year-on-year) fall in net profit in the third quarter. Net sales declined 2.5% to Rs 18,123.84 crore against Rs 18,586.41 CR (YOY). Subsidy burden nearly doubled to Rs 12,536 crore YoY. (Read More)
IT: TCS, Mitsubishi sign deal to provide IT services in Japan
India's biggest software services exporter, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Japanese major Mitsubishi Corporation today announced a new joint venture, Nippon TCS Solution Center Ltd for the Japanese market. The joint venture will develop & operate enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and offer cloud computing services. (Read More)
"The JV will be set up with an initial investment of $5 million, which will be raised in a phased manner," TCS CEO and managing director N Chandrasekaran said. (Watch Video)
IT-BPO revenue for FY-12 to cross $100 bn: Nasscom
Fiscal 2012 promises to be a watershed year for the industry, as Nasscom, the IT industry body, said estimated aggregate revenues from the sector are likely to cross $100 billion this year. Of this, about $69 billion will come from exports alone, which clocked a growth percentage of 16.3 per cent over the previous fiscal. Nasscom on Wednesday projected an 11-14 per cent growth in IT exports revenue for fiscal 2012-13. (Read More)
BANKING: Temasek to halve stake in ICICI Bank, shares fall
Allamanda Investments, a unit of Singapore state investment company Temasek Holdings, is likely to sell more than half of its 3.46 per cent stake in ICICI Bank Ltd. The stake sale, which is likely to take place via a block-deal, is being managed solely by Goldman Sachs Group. The deal size is expected to be about Rs1, 470 – Rs1, 490 crore and will entail the sale of 1.59 crore shares in ICICI Bank (Read more)
SC declines to quash FIR against Kotak Mahindra, bank's top execs
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to quash an FIR against Kotak Mahindra Bank and nine of its top executives in a case relating to alleged criminal conspiracy to cheat a liquor manufacturer on the pretext of settling debts.
The FIR was lodged in Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh against the Kotak Mahindra Bank and its directors Anand Mahindra, Pradeep Kotak, Cyril Shroff, Shivaji Dam and Asim Ghosh, executive directors C Jayaram and Dipak Brijmohandas Gupta, part-time chairman Shankar Nath Acharya, and executive vice-president and managing director Uday Suresh Kotak.
(Read More)
AUTO: Mahindra's Xylo gets a facelift; Car sales rise 7.19% in January says SIAM
Auto maker Mahindra & Mahindra has introduced new features in its multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) Xylo. Its price has also been raised by Rs 15,000. (Read More)
Meanwhile, passenger car sales in the domestic market rose 7.19 per cent to 1, 96, 013 units in January compared with 1, 82, 852 units in the same month last year, according to data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). (Read more)
Mahindra Xylo In Pics
INFRASTRUCTURE: NHAI bonds list strongly at 4.41% premium
Two bonds issued by the National Highway Authority of India on Wednesday listed at a 4.11 per cent premium. They received strong demand from institutional investors and high net-worth individuals, with total subscriptions reaching 2.5 times more than the issue size of Rs10,000 crore. (Read More)
Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock, three directors stepping down
Yahoo! chairman Roy Bostock announced Tuesday he was stepping down from the board of the struggling Internet company along with three other directors. Bostock said he had decided not to stand for re-election at Yahoo!'s next shareholders meeting, along with board members Vyomesh Joshi, Arthur Kern and Gary Wilson. (Read More)