Market Cues: Asian stocks flat, gas allocation meet and more
"We've been thinking about cash very deeply. Frankly speaking, it's more than we need to run the company," Tim Cook Apple CEO told shareholders.
Asian shares traded flat on Friday despite a positive US employment data overnight. US stocks rose, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to the highest level sincde May 2008, amid better-than-estimated housing and jobs market reports. Stocks gained as applications for jobless benefits were unchanged at 351,000, the fewest since March 2008. However, rising oil prices curbed gains in Asia.
2G meeting
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has called an informal group of ministers meeting today on the legal options in the 2G licence cancellation case. A presidential reference may be opted for instead of filing a review petition. NDTV learnt that the government could seek some way to extend the 4-month period for spectrum auction as directed by the Supreme Court.
GoM
The Empowered Group Of Ministers meets later today to discuss gas allocation from the KG-D6 fields. Power firms who have been voicing their concerns over the acute shortage of gas are keenly awaiting the outcome of today's meeting for some respite. Even though the fertiliser sector remains the top priority sector for the EGoM's gas utilisation policy, power firms come only third in list of priority.
Mahindra Satyam gets relief
Mahindra Satyam said on Thursday that the Andhra Pradesh High Court has stayed the provisional order from the Income Tax Department to attach land and buildings of the company in the Rs 617-crore tax-demand case. After the tax department raised the demand, the company deposited a bank guarantee of Rs 617 crore in April 2011 with the I-T department as directed by the Supreme Court and the bank guarantee furnished was valid until December 31, 2011.
S&P on Vedanta restructuring
The proposed restructuring at Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Resources might not materialise soon as it may face obstacles in getting regulatory as well as shareholder approvals, ratings agency Standard and Poor's said today. The agency said the organisational restructuring could improve the holding company's debt service coverage as the residual cash flow required to service debt at the holding company would reduce.
UCO Bank and Vijaya Bank
Two state-owned lenders, UCO Bank and Vijaya Bank, said on Thursday that they propose to raise capital of about Rs 412 crore by issuing fresh equities to LIC. At the prevailing market price, UCO Bank would raise about Rs 265 crore by selling stake to the insurer. Vijaya Bank said it proposes to allot shares worth Rs 147 crore to LIC on preferential basis.
P&G announces job cuts
Procter & Gamble Company plans to cut a total of 5,700 nonmanufacturing jobs as part of a new plan to reduce costs by $10 billion by the end of fiscal 2016, Chief Executive Officer Bob McDonald said on Thursday. The world's largest household products company has about 57,000 non-manufacturing employees among its total workforce of about 129,000. P&G had already said it would cut 1,600 positions in the current fiscal year. On Thursday, it said it would cut another 4,100 jobs during fiscal 2013, which begins in July.The company expects to save a total of $800 million from the job cuts. In total, P&G aims to trim $10 billion of costs, including $1 billion in marketing costs and $3 billion in overhead costs.
