Business News: General

Brazil's "bizarre" tax measures aimed at stemming the biggest currency rally and inflow of hot money into its capital market unnerved India's financial markets on Thursday.

After the initial joy expressed over the move by the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to allow the Indian stock exchanges to extend trading timings, the stakeholders are facing the reality of the situation and the verve has now faded.

By listing 31 profit-making public sector undertakings (PSUs) with 10% public floats, the exchequer will be richer by a handsome Rs 30,000 crore, according to FE analysis.

Private equity firms will need to become more like asset managers, offering buyouts as just part of their portfolio, or else focus tightly on specific sectors in order to prosper, industry participants said.

Food inflation rose to 14.55 per cent in the first week of November fuelled by higher prices of staple items like potatoes, onions and pulses.

The Indian rupee fell sharply by 35 paisa to 46.55 against the greenback in early trade on Thursday on strong dollar demand amid sluggish equity market.

The government on Thursday ruled out auctioning the rights to borrow money from overseas market (ECB) to corporates to check capital inflows and said that the surge in foreign money is not a matter of concern at present.

India gold futures edged higher on Thursday to hover near their all-time high boosted by a weaker rupee and stronger-than-expected US consumer prices stoking inflationary concerns, analysts said.

The rupee on Thursday depreciated by 18 paise to 46.38 against the US currency in early trade on expectations of capital outflows by foreign funds and dollar demand from importers.

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Thursday fell by around 70 points as funds and retail investors indulged in booking profits amid weak Asian markets.

You can count on Nandan Nilekani's entrepreneurial spirit to build a revenue model in a project that was originally believed would only add to the government's budget.

India's commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma said on Tuesday that from 2012 the country would be able to attract 50 billion dollars, annually.

Led by Reliance Industries and bank stocks, the benchmark Sensex soared 184 points to close above the 17,000-point level, joining a smart rally in other Asian and European markets.

Despite equity support from the government, the financial mess at Air India is unlikely to abate soon, as the cash-strapped carrier would not be able to bring in funds through disinvestment or an IPO for a period of at least five more years.

In the last one month, at the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Dollar Index has moved opposite to the bellwether Sensex, except for five days.

Indian equity indices throughout the trading session remained upbeat and ended the day with smart gains following strong cues from global markets, coupled with buying in the benchmark heavyweight.

The country's vegetable oil imports, including edible, non-edible and vanaspati in 2008-09 (November-October), touched an all-time high of 86.6 lakh tonne, up 37% from 63.1 lakh tonne in the previous year.

Cuba, Papua New Guinea, Iraq and Nigeria, first time participants in the 29th India International Trade Fair.

Dileep Rao, Ph.D., Forbes.com
You are starting a new company and need to find customers. An ad agency just presented you with a slick new campaign promising to do just that. Cost: $250,000. Good investment or bad?

Travel and hospitality firm Cox and Kings said it has fixed the price band between Rs 316 and Rs 330 for its maiden issue, that will see 29.08 per cent of the company's shares being offered to the public.