Business News: General

Continuing its losing streak for the fifth straight session on Tuesday, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex lost 164 points in early trade on heavy selling by funds in index-related stocks.

Platinum slipped more than 5 per cent on Tuesday to its lowest since mid-September last year, on waning demand from automakers and general weakness in precious metals that saw gold dip back below $800. Gold's fall after rising more than 1 per cent in New York shows the metal remains vulnerable to gains in the dollar.

Oil fell by more than $1 to below $112 a barrel on Tuesday as a weak economic outlook in the US weighed on prices.

TOKYO (AP) _ Japanese shares fell Tuesday following an overnight drop on Wall Street, as renewed concerns about the U.S. financial sector rattled investor sentiment.

SINGAPORE (AP) _ Regional carrier SilkAir, a unit of Singapore Airlines, said Tuesday that passenger demand grew from a year ago, a sign the economic slowdown in developed countries hasn't crimped Asian air travel.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Myanmar's natural gas sales soared nearly 25 percent to US$2.5 billion in the financial year through March, official statistics seen Tuesday said.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) _ Oil prices fell to near US$112 a barrel Tuesday in Asia, extending an overnight decline as Tropical Storm Fay avoided oil-producing infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico.

TOKYO (AP) _ Japan's central bank left its key interest rate steady Tuesday amid increasing nervousness about the country's slowing economy.

TOKYO (AP) _ Japanese shares fell in morning trade following an overnight drop on Wall Street, as renewed concerns about the U.S. financial sector rattled investor sentiment.

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ Australia should recruit its impoverished indigenous people to pick fruit in addition to its plans to offer work visas to Pacific Islanders to address a dire labor shortage on farms, an Aboriginal leader said Tuesday.

Bond yields snapped a three-day rise to end lower on Monday, as falling global oil prices raised expectations inflation may moderate from above 12% in coming weeks.

The unexpected slump in commodities prices seen over the last couple of weeks is having its fallout all across.

The Rs 950-crore mirror-mirror-on-the-wall market for fairness products will soon witness a major battle between swadeshi and videshi players.

As per directives of the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) has floated a separate company, which will handle currency futures trade in the country.

Promising expansion plans, decreased dependence on Bangalore location and productive alliance with Kempinski, luxury hotel group in Europe, will boost future revenues for Hotel LeelaVenture Ltd (HLVL).

Sowing of main cash crops namely sugarcane, cotton, pulses and groundnut continued to be down from last year even as kharif sowing entered the fag end.

Post the tanking of stock markets on 'global cues' and 'commodity price inflation', promoters of Indian companies are increasingly looking 'inwards'-into their deep pockets and stakeholders' confidence in their companies-to raise capital to part-fund their growth-cum-diversification plans.

India is likely to become the second largest consumer of rubber in the world due to an increased appetite for the commodity, while the rest of the world slows down on consuming rubber, experts speaking at the 'Rubber Summit' said.

Fund houses are increasing their exposure to banking sector stocks in the face of a tanking Sensex and bleak opportunities in equity markets.

Commodities across Asia and elsewhere rebounded on Monday as the dollar retreated against the euro from a six-month high and crude oil rose marginally prompting short-covering by traders.