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Market cues: Asian shares rise, ONGC divestment and more

"It is one of the most irresponsible petitions. You want to destroy the institution and want to make it dysfunctional," a bench headed by Justice Aftab Alam said.

Ford at the Delhi Auto Expo in January, 2012
Ford at the Delhi Auto Expo in January, 2012

Asian shares rose on Friday following gains on the Wall Street overnight. Market players are wary that profit-taking ahead of the weekend could curb gains. US stocks rose on Thursday, moving back to 2008 highs, after a jump in bank shares and further upbeat data on the labor market. Steady declines in applications for unemployment aid pointed to another strong month of hiring in February.

LIC saves ONGC auction

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee called ONGC divestment of 5 per cent stake through an auction a success. Sources told NDTV Profit that LIC has picked up most of the shares on offer. LIC's bid was for over 40 crore shares out of the 42.77 crore shares on offer.

Oil prices weigh

Brent crude futures surged above $128 a barrel to the highest level since 2008 in the US post-settlement trading, This revived concerns about the effect of higher oil prices on consumers and businesses. US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke warned on Wednesday about a potential rise in inflation as a result of rising fuel prices.

Government files review petition

The Department of Telecom (DoT) on Thursday filed a Clarification Application with the Supreme Court, seeking an explanation on the court’s 2 February decision to cancel 122 telecom licences. The government also plans to file another petition tomorrow seeking review of its order on the appropriateness of a policy it followed for the allotment of 2G licences in 2008. The DoT has asked the court what the new date for auction of the licences should be.

Telecom saga

After Telenor, UAE-based Etisalat met Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal to discuss its future course of action following the Supreme Court judgement quashing its 15 licences. After meeting top officials of Etisalat on the sidelines of ongoing Mobile World Congress, Sibal said, "They do not have any intention of opting out but they would definitely like to see everything and the final outcome of the recommendations," Sibal said.

Government hikes reference rate for gold

In the wake of rising global prices of precious metals, the government on Thursday hiked the tariff value of gold and silver to $573 per ten gram and $1145 per kg, respectively. The tariff value, which is released fortnigthly, is the base price on which the customs duty is determined to prevent under-invoicing. During February, the tariff value of gold stood at $556 per ten gram and of silver at $1,067 per kg. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) issued a notification in this regard.

MCA on DLF

The Corporate Affairs Ministry has ordered inspection into the books of accounts of realty major DLF in view of complaints received from investors regarding company's accounts. Under section 209 of the Act, companies are required to maintain "at its registered office proper books of account" and the MCA has the power to call and scrutinise those books.

Zenith Infotech

Zenith Infotech, embroiled in a court case following default on FCCBs worth $ 83m, may now have to provide the details of the company's valuation report conducted by Ernst & Young, the Bombay High Court has said. Zenith's cloud computing business has been valued at Rs 598 crore. The move was triggered after bond holders alleged that there has a deliberate default on the part of Zenith Infotech in spite of having sufficient cash on its books.