Top cues: Asian shares fall, Cipla cuts drug prices
Sanjay Sinha, founder, Citrus Advisors, told NDTV Profit that concerns over the rupee and confusion over the implementation of the General Anti Avoidance Rules, or GAAR, are taking a heavy toll on the market sentiment. He is, however, hopeful that the Nif
Asian shares fell for a second successive day on Friday as another batch of lacklustre U.S. data stoked concerns that the recovery in the world's biggest economy is faltering.The euro was steady after a bumpy session on Thursday, when European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi gave a more upbeat assessment of the region's battered economy, reducing hopes of further monetary stimulus measures in the pipeline.MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.2 percent, with Australian shares down 0.3 percent.Tokyo markets were closed for a holiday. Wall Street stocks had fallen on Thursday after a survey showed tepid growth in the U.S. services sector.
Telco operators say new TRAI proposals would raise costs
Top mobile operators launched a broadside against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) sector regulator on Thursday, pressuring the government to reject proposals they say will add billions of dollars to their costs and threaten the survival of some players. In a rare show of unity, chief executives of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone's Indian unit and Idea Cellular, the country's top three carriers by revenue, lambasted the TRAI's proposals for a costly spectrum auction at a joint news conference in New Delhi.
Oil ministry sends notice to RIL
The oil ministry has sent a notice to Reliance Industries or RIL disallowing $457 mn of cost recovery for 2010-11 and $778 mn of cost recovery in 2011-12, sources said. RIL has already slapped an arbitration notice on the ministry saying the production sharing contract allows operators to recover 100% of the capital and operating expenditure on a field and it does not in any way link cost recovery to production.
Cipla cuts prices of generic cancer drugs
Drug major Cipla on Thursday slashed the prices of its generic drugs by up to 76 per cent. These drugs are used in treating cancers of brain, lung and kidney.The price of Soranib used for treating kidney cancer has been cut by 76 per cent to Rs 1,710 "for a month's therapy", from Rs 6,990, Cipla said in a statement. Brain cancer drug Temoside in 250 mg strength would be available at Rs 5,000 against Rs 20,250 earlier.
Finance executives say macroeconomic situation to worsen
Most of the senior finance executives surveyed feel that the country's macroeconomic conditions are likely to either worsen or remain the same in the current quarter, indicating weak business sentiments, says a study. The survey conducted among 500 chief financial officers (CFOs) noted that 86 per cent of the respondents expect the level of financial risks for the corporate sector would increase or remain at existing levels in the second quarter of calendar year 2012, as compared to the year-ago period.
Telcos add 8 m subscribers in March 2012
Telecom operators added 8 million mobile subscribers in March, taking the total telephone user base in the country to 951.34 million, according to data released by Trai on Thursday. The growth was led by the country's largest operator, Bharti Airtel, which added 2.5 million new subscribers, taking its mobile phone base in the country to 181.27 million in March.