Markets News

HDFC Bank expects to see another round of domestic fuel price hikes by October due to rising crude prices, it said in a note on Friday.

Germany's Bundestag lower house of parliament approved a "bad bank" plan on Friday that aims to relieve banks by enabling them to shift billions of euros in troubled assets off their books.

The BSE Sensex shrugged off an early fall and rose 1.7 percent on Friday, as investors covered their short positions ahead of an updated budget on Monday and helped the market to post its second consecutive weekly gain.

The railway minister unveiled a mix of populist measures, including cheap tickets for the poor and no increase in freight or passenger fares, as well as steps to boost the sprawling system's efficiency and finances.

The government has no plans to sell stakes in Neyveli Lignite as of now, Coal Minister Shriprakash Jaiswal said on Friday.

JM Financial Asset Management has promoted its deputy chief executive officer Bhanu Katoch as chief executive, the firm's website showed on Friday.

The railway minister unveiled a mix of populist measures, including cheap tickets for the poor and no increase in freight or passenger fares, as well as steps to boost the sprawling system's efficiency and finances.

MUMBAI (Reuters) The BSE Sensex provisionally rose 1.75 percent on Friday on late short covering ahead of the budget on Monday.

Fifty one India-focused funds were among the world's top 100 performing stock funds in the quarter to June as domestic shares leapt by nearly half, recording their biggest surge in 17 years, data from fund tracker Lipper showed.

The Indian rupee recouped early losses to strengthen on Friday afternoon, tracking a recovery in local equities.

India plans to raise 18.54 billion rupees ($386 million) via sale of shares in two state-owned companies in the current fiscal year, the government said on Friday.

MUMBAI (Reuters) The BSE Sensex extended gains to more than 1 percent on Friday afternoon on short covering ahead the budget next week, traders said.

State Bank of India has offered a loan of up to $1 billion to Bharti Airtel to partly fund the Indian telecoms firm's planned stake buy in South Africa's MTN, two sources said.

The 2009/10 railways budget is a "competent" job, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Friday.

Indian Railways Finance Corporation, the financing arm of the railways, will borrow 90 billion rupees via bonds in the 2009/10 financial year, according to railways budget documents.

The government will keep its rail freight and passenger rates unchanged for the current financial year that began in April, Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Friday.

India will provide additional budgetary support of 50 billion rupees to its railways in 2009/10 and its financing arm Indian Railways Finance Corporation will issue tax-free bonds, the railways minister said on Friday.

India will put the railways' land to productive use along its freight corridor and will set up a 1000-mega watt power plant, minister Mamata Banerjee said on Friday.

Improving passenger amenities is a priority area for the Indian railways and it will set up a panel to look at innovative financing for unviable projects, its minister said on Friday.