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Profit cues: Asian shares gain, rupee slump and more

If you missed our coverage, here are the top 10 stories of the day.

Former Olympus president and chief executive Michael Woodford.
Former Olympus president and chief executive Michael Woodford.

Asian shares gained ground to move off lows as hopes grew that Europe would embark on fresh action to address its debt crisis while promoting growth. Global stocks rebounded on Monday and riskier assets such as oil also rose, partly on expectations China will undertake further stimulus as it makes maintaining expansion a priority. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.6 percent, having recovered some ground the previous day after plunging to a 2012 low on Friday. Japan's Nikkei stock average opened up 1 percent.

RBI imposes curbs on currency futures

Net overnight rupee open position limit for Indian banks shall not include positions taken in the currency futures and options segment, the Reserve Bank of India said on Monday. Positions taken in the futures and options markets cannot be netted or offset by undertaking positions in the over-the-counter market and vice-versa, the RBI said in a statement. The position limit for banks for trading currency futures and options shall be $100 million or 15 percent of the outstanding open interest, whichever is lower, the central bank said. Banks are advised to bring down their positions to the above limits within June 30, the RBI said.

ONGC, GAIL to foot 40% fuel subsidy bill

State-run upstream oil firms will bear nearly 40 percent of the Rs 1,38,000 crore cost of retail fuel subsidies for the 2011/12 year, a government source said on Monday. Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Oil India and GAIL (India) sell refined products and crude oil to state fuel retailers at a discount. Government also provides a cash subsidy to cover some of their losses. State-run upstream firms will give a total discount of about Rs 55,000 crore to Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum, the source said. The subsidy payout and additional compensation from government would allow the fuel retailers to post profits for the January to March quarter, said the source, who was not authorised to speak to media.

Mistry, Srinivasan to join Tata Steel board

Cyrus Mistry, who is set to succeed Ratan Tata as chairman of Tata Sons in December, has been appointed as an additional director on the board of Tata Steel, the company said on Monday. The company has also appointed Mallika Srinivasan, chairperson of Tractors and Farm Equipment (TAFE), on its board as an additional director, it said in a filing to the BSE.

Hero Group to restructure family holding firm

Brij Mohan Lall Munjal-led Hero Group is undertaking a restructuring of family shareholding in two promoter firms of the country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp. Post this transaction, all the three brothers will have 23.88 per cent stake each in Hero Investment PL or HIPL. Private equity firms BC India Pvt Investors II and Lathe Investment Pte Ltd will continue to own 19.81 per cent and 8.56 per cent stake respectively in the investment firm. HIPL and BCIPL hold 43.33 per cent and 8.67 per cent stake in Hero MotoCorp respectively.

Banks call for tighter supervision of debt restructuring process

Bankers have called for a tighter oversight of the debt restructuring process, saying corporate debt restructuring should be need-based and analytical instead of being just for promoters’ benefit. At a meeting of bankers in Mumbai on Monday to discuss the issues, lenders said interest rates following a CDR should be aligned to base rates or current market rates. Extension of loan tenure as well as the cap should be decided on an individual case basis rather than being a uniform rule for all corporates, they said. Lenders will also insist on higher promoter contribution from current 15 per cent to 20-25 per cent as well as ask them to pledge shares.