Market cues: Asian markets rally, small savings rates hiked and more
Dinesh Thakkar, chairman and managing director at Angel Broking says that more than liquidity, inflation is matter of concern for the markets.
Asian markets rose on Tuesday as they reversed a two-day losing streak. The MSCI Asia Pacific index and the Japanese Nikkei index rose 1 per cent each as weak Asian currencies benefit export oriented Asian economies. Overnight in US, share prices rose after US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said that more jobs gains would need more robust demand from Americans and businesses. The street considers this as a signal to keep short-term interest rates near zero.
Kingfisher pays
Kingfisher Airlines, the troubled carrier, has made a payment of Rs 44 crore to the Income Tax Department, sources told NDTV. The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal in Bangalore had given Kingfisher time till Monday to make the payment.
Swiss account holders
Some persons with accounts in a Swiss bank have paid taxes amounting to around Rs 180 crore so far, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said in Parliament. He did not disclose any name. Mukherjee said the government has received information from France and Germany under Double Taxation Avoidance Convention.
Small savings rate hiked
The Union Government on Monday announced an upward revision of interest rates for small savings accounts in various schemes. The maximum hike in rates is in the one- and two-year time deposits which rose to 8.12 per cent from 7.7 per cent, 8.3 per cent from 7.8 per cent, respectively. The hike is an indicator that interest rates are unlikely to be cut sharply by Reserve Bank of India.
Warburg sells Kotak Bank stake
Warburg Pincus exited Kotak Mahindra Bank by selling a 3.6 per cent stake for Rs 1,400 crore ($280m), according to a source. Kotak Institutional Advisers advised the sale and the average sale price was Rs 530 per share. This is the second time in as many months that Warburg has sold its stake in the bank. On February 2, it sold about 17.5 million shares of Kotak Bank through stock market deals, raising about $170 million.
Gammon gas Rs 934 crore order
Gammon Infrastructure Projects bagged a Rs 934.93-crore contract from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for four-laning a national highway in Haryana. The concession period of the project is 22 years, including a construction period of 2.5 years, it added.
Oil rises
Crude oil traded near a 3 day high in New York. The easy liquidity policy of US central bank is set to boost crude prices. The decline in US dollar is also likely to push commodity prices higher. NYMEX crude prices hovered above $107 a barrel and it headed for second straight quarterly gain.