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Maruti Suzuki India has reported 27.4 per cent dip in car sales during the month of November this year. While the company had sold 64,885 units in the corresponding month last year, it sold 47,103 units during November, 2008. Total vehicle sales during the month were also down by 24.4 per cent at 52,711 units compared to 69,699 units in the corresponding month last year. Sale of compact cars, comprising Alto, Zen Estilo, Wagon R, Swift and A-Star,was also hit as the company witnessed a 26.6 per cent decline in this segment.While the company sold 34,976 units in the reporting month, it had sold 47,641 units in November last year. The sedans - SX4 and Dzire however bucked the trend as the sales in this segment grew by 40.3 per cent at 5,975 units compared to 4,260 units last year. While exports for the company grew grew by 11.7 per cent at 5,007 units from 4,483 units last year, the domestic sales were down by 26.9 per cent.  Domestic sales for November, 2008 stood at 47,704 units compar

The Sensex opened with a negative gap of 138 points at 8,889. The index, thereafter, exhibited range-bound movement for most part of the trading day. Some short covering in late noon deals, owing to the derivatives expiry, saw the index spurt to a high of 9,158 - up 269 points from the day's low. The Sensex, however, pared gains towards the close and finally ended with a gain of 66 points at 9,093, even as the security personnel continued to combat the terrorists in southern Mumbai. The BSE IT index surged 3.7% to 2,559. The Auto index was up 1.4% at 2,331. The market breadth was marginally negative - out of 2,092 stocks traded, 1,109 declined and 919 advanced today. TCS soared nearly 6% to Rs 558. BHEL surged 4.8% to Rs 1,361. Infosys and Mahindra & Mahindra rallied 4.5% each to Rs 1,241 and Rs 282, respectively. HDFC moved up 3.3% to Rs 1,464. Satyam, Sterlite and Bharti Airtel gained 2.5% each at Rs 243, Rs 237 and Rs 671, respectively. Tata Power advanced over 2% to Rs 669.

The Sensex opened 73 points higher at 8,768. The index after extending gains in opening trades soon slipped into red and touched a low of 8,659. The index, thereafer, exhibited lacklustre movement for major part of the trading day. Renewed buying interest in late noon trades helped the index recover and rally to a high of 9,062 - up 403 points from the day's low. The Sensex finally ended with a gain of 331 points at 9,027. The BSE Bankex surged 6% to 4,625. The Oil & Gas index rallied 4.4% to 5,648, and the Metal index gained 3.7% at 4,420. The market breadth was negative - out of 2,228 stocks traded, 1,222 declined, 938 advanced and the rest were unchanged. Sterlite zoomed nearly 13% to Rs 231. ICICI Bank soared 9.5% to Rs 351, and HDFC Bank surged 8.5% to Rs 907. NTPC rallied 7% to Rs 164. Reliance gained over 6% at Rs 1,137. DLF and Wipro moved up 5.5% each to Rs 199 and Rs 241, respectively. HDFC advanced 5% to Rs 1,417. Ranbaxy and TCS added 4.7% each to Rs 213 and Rs 527,

The Sensex opened with significant positive gap of 258 points at 9,161 on the back of positive cues from the US markets. The index soon touched a high of 9,183, and thereafter pared gains as the day progressed. Significant weakness in select energy, realty and banking stocks dragged the index into the negative zone. The index tumbled to a low of 8,649 - down 534 points from the day's high. The Sensex finally ended with a loss of 208 points at 8,696. Market breadth was extremely weak. Of the 2,524 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,442 stocks declined, 995 stocks advanced and 87 stocks ended unchanged. All the sectoral indices were bashed bar the BSE CD. BSE Oil & Gas led the slump falling by 3.86% for the session. BSE CG was down 2.56%, BSE Realty lost 2.51% and BSE Bankex dropped 2.01%. The remaining sectoral indices slipped by around 1-2% each. Of the 30 Sensex stocks, 23 ended in the red, with oil and capital goods stocks taking a strong beating. Among oil stocks, Aban Offshore pl

The Sensex opened 74 points lower at 8,841, after extending losses in the opening trades, the index soon rebounded and touched a high of 9,042. The index, however, could not hold on the gains and slipped back into red. Unabated selling in select frontline stocks saw the index slip to a low of 8,702 - down 340 points from the day's high. The Sensex, however, rebounded into the positive zone in the last hour of trades, but eventually ended with a loss of 12 points at 8,903. The BSE Realty index plunged 3.8% to 1,583, and the Bankex tumbled over 3% to 4,455. On the other hand, the Power index gained 2% at 1,619. The market bearth was negative - out of 1,382 stocks traded, 1,382 declined, 1,060 advanced and the rest were unchanged today. Satyam slumped 4.5% to Rs 230. ICICI Bank and DLF plunged nearly 4% each to Rs 323 and Rs 191, respectively. Mahindra & Mahindra, SBI and HDFC Bank shed around 3% each at Rs 300, Rs 1,147 and Rs 832, respectively. Ranbaxy and Grasim slipped 2.8% ea

Hyderabad-based infrastructure company IVRCL Infrastructure and Projects Limited (IVRCL) bagged orders worth Rs 529.7 cr including an engineering, procurement and construction contract valued at Rs 253.81 cr from the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Hyderabad.  The project is for transmission of 735 mn litre per day treated water from the water treatment plant at Maqdumpur pipeline through intermediate pumping stations at Mallaram and Kondapak.  The project is a part of the Package II of Godavari Drinking Water Supply Project (phase I). The company also secured Rs 178.9 cr order from the NTPC Electric Supply Company Limited for completion of rural electrification works in Bilaspur and Korba districts of Chattisgarh and Uttar Dinjapur in West Bengal.  This apart, a Rs 38.52 cr order was awarded to the company for execution of water supply schemes in Andhra Pradesh.

While the generator transformers for the first unit have to be delivered by February 2010, supplies for the fifth unit will completed by June 2011 Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) said on Monday that it has bagged a Rs2400mn contract by Coastal Gujarat Power Limited (CGPL), a Tata Power company, for their upcoming 4,000 MW (5x800 MW) Ultra Mega Power Project at Mundra in Gujarat. The order for 40 transformers with a cumulative capacity of 5,872 MVA includes five sets of India’s highest rating 930 MVA, three phase transformer banks. The order for busducts is also the first order in the country for 800 MW thermal sets. While the generator transformers for the first unit have to be delivered by February 2010, supplies for the fifth unit will completed by June 2011. BHEL said that it is the largest manufacturer of transformers in India, having supplied more than 4,000 transformers, aggregating to over 300,000 MVA in cumulative capacity for transmission and distribution networks, whi

NTPC: Buy Investors looking for a defensive play in the current market can buy the stock of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), trading at Rs 150 (price earnings multiple of 13). The stock has managed the market storm relatively better than many others. Compared to a fall of 43 per cent in the broad market (Sensex), it is down by 18 per cent only since mid-August. The market’s attraction for NTPC stems from three main factors — the large demand-supply gap for power, the company’s efficient operating profile and its emerging integrated business model with entries into coal mining and power trading. The power major’s plant load factor (PLF) of 87.5 per cent in the first half of this fiscal, though marginally lower than the same period last year, is still way ahead of the industry average. PLF, despite the addition of fresh capacity of 1,000 MW since the same period last year, was affected due to maintenance shutdowns at some of its stations and also fuel scarcity. While the compan

The Sensex opened almost flat at 8,447 - down four points. The index, however, moved up on the back of renewed buying in banking and technology stocks. Intra-day profit-taking saw the index pare gains and touch a low of 8,442. The Sensex soon rebounded and surged to a high of 8,988 towards the fag end of the day. The Sensex finally ended with a gain of 464 points at 8,915 - thereby breaking its seven-day losing streak wherein the index had slumped almost 20% (2,085 points). However the market breadth was negative. Of the 2,566 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,293 stocks declined, whereas 1,177 stocks advanced. Ninety six stocks ended unchanged. All the sectoral indices notched up significant gains. BSE Power was the biggest gainer and soared 6.21% followed by BSE Oil & Gas (up 5.69%), BSE CG (up 5.59%), BSE Teck (up 5.22%), BSE PSU (up 5.04%) and BSE IT (up 4.85%). Among the 30 stocks in the Sensex , 26 ended at higher levels. Reliance Infrastructure led the upsurge and flared by 14.07

(New York Times) After a yearlong slide in stocks and a giant bank rescue from Washington, even some pessimists had hoped that the worst might be over. But now, after the Dow Jones industrial average fell below 8,000 on Wednesday, the financial crisis and the bear market it spawned seem to be taking a new, painful turn. Once again, investors’ confidence in the nation’s financial industry is draining away. And once again, people are rushing for ultra-safe investments like Treasuries. Many analysts agree that the short-term outlook seems grim now that the Dow has fallen below 8,000, a level that had lured buyers again and again in recent weeks. Big banks like Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase all of which, like Citigroup, have received billions of dollars from the government — fell more than 10 percent. Goldman Sachs, the former employer of Henry M. Paulson Jr . , the Treasury secretary, sank to its lowest level since it went public in 1999. Analysts predicted that Goldman, the most profit

The Sensex opened 34 points higher at 8,971 on the back of recovery in global markets. Smart pullback in Reliance and metal stocks helped the index extend gains in morning trades. The index rallied to a high of 9,236 - up 299 points from the previous close. However, weakness in capital goods, banking and technology stocks cut short the upmove. A sudden bout of buying in mid-noon trades dragged the index into the negative zone. The index, therafter, tumbled to a low of 8,727 - down 509 points from the day's high - at the fag end of the day. The Sensex finally ended with a loss of 163 points at 8,774. The BSE Capital Goods index plunged 3.5% to 6,397, and the Bankex dropped nearly 3% to 4,597. On the other hand, the FMCG index gained 1.5% at 1,866. The market breadth was fairly negative - out of 2,573 stocks traded, 1,715 declined, 779 advanced and 79 were unchanged today. Jaiprakash Associates slumped 6% to Rs 64. Hindalco and Reliance Communications plunged over 5% each to Rs 50 an

The Sensex opened with a significant negative gap of 9,084 - down 207 points - on the back of negative cues from the US markets. The index languished in the negative zone throughout the day amid some volatility. Initially the  index recovered partially and touched a high of 9,169, only to fall back sharply lower to 8,872. The Sensex finally ended with a loss of 354 points at 8,937. The BSE TECk index shed 5% at 1,935. The Power, Bankex, PSU and Metal indices shed around 4.5% each at 1,572, 4,732, 4,532 and 4,516, respectively. The market breadth was fairly negative - out of 2,566 stocks traded, 1,830 declined, 662 advanced and the rest were unchanged today. Wipro slumped nearly 9% to Rs 230. NTPC plunged almost 8% to Rs 139. ACC and TCS tumbled around 7% each to Rs 405 and Rs 483, respectively. ICICI Bank and Maruti shed 6.7% each at Rs 361 and Rs 513, respectively. Bharti Airtel and Jaiprakash Associates dropped 6.3% each to Rs 623 and Rs 68, respectively. Mahindra & Mahindra and

Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) has secured a Rs 1,325 crore order from  Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGenco) for setting up a 600 MW thermal power generating unit at Kakatiya Thermal Power (Project Stage-II) at Bhoopalapally in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh. A BHEL release said that  scope of work in the contract includes design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of steam turbines, generators, boilers, associated auxiliaries and electricals, besides state-of-the-art controls and instrumentation. The unit is slated for synchronisation in the next 42 months. APGenco had placed a similar order with BHEL for setting up a 500 MW thermal power generating unit at the Stage-I of the same power station.

Suzlon Energy on Monday said it is foraying into solar energy. “We are exploring the solar energy sector as India has enormous opportunity in solar and wind power,'' Suzlon Energy Chairman and Managing Director Tulsi R Tanti told reporters on the sidelines of the India Economic Summit. The company has established sites for developing solar power plants. “We have identified sites in Gujarat and Rajasthan,'' he said, adding that roughly 10 acres of land is required for one MW solar power generation. He, however, declined to give other financial details. The current order book of Suzlon Energy stands at Rs 10,000 crore for projects worth 2,500 MW. Amid the global economic slowdown, the company may defer its recruitment plans till the end of the current fiscal. The company's net profit declined by 95.22 per cent to Rs 16.98 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, over the corresponding period a year ago. The company had a net profit of Rs 355.56 crore in the se

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) said on Monday that it had won a Rs 700 crore refinery order from HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd, a joint venture of Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd and Mittal Energy Investments.

The Sensex opened 12 points higher at 9,397, touched a high of 9,436, and then soon slipped into the negative zone. Aggressive selling in banking and realty stocks dragged the index below the 9,000-mark to a low of 8,957 - down 479 points from the day's high. Selective buying at lower levels helped the index cut losses towards the close. The Sensex finally ended with a loss of 94 points at 9,291. The BSE Realty index plunged over 5% to 1,908, and the Bankex tumbled nearly 4% to 4,956. The Consumer Durables and the Metal indices slipped over 3% each to 1,877 and 4,723, respectively. The market breadth was fairly negative - out of 2,539 stocks traded, 1,799 declined, 680 advanced and the rest were unchanged today. HDFC and Satyam tumbled nearly 4% each to Rs 1,498 and Rs 252, respectively. Hindalco dropped 3.5% to Rs 55, and Tata Power slipped 3% to Rs 724. ITC and Mahindra & Mahindra declined 2.7% each to Rs 166 and Rs 322, respectively. ICICI Bank and TCS dropped over 2% each t

Idea Cellular: Buy Investments with a two-year horizon may be considered in the shares of Idea Cellular (Idea), given the telecom operator’s strong pace of subscriber additions, entry into circles with higher realisations and synergies possible from Indus Towers. Pressures on near term margins and earnings due to entry into new circles and high capital expenditure have seen the stock’s valuation being beaten down to a moderate 13 times forward earnings (estimated 2008-09). At Rs 48, the stock offers a good investment option for investors who are willing to look beyond the next few quarters, for appreciation over a 3-4 year time frame. Once Idea’s capex in new circles tapers off (likely by mid 2010), its overall profitability would start to expand. Mobile number portability, on the anvil for 2009, may also work in Idea’s favour. Idea’s profit margins over the last couple of quarters have come under strain, due to the capex for network rollout in Mumbai and Bihar, heavy rentals for tower

A heavy bout of selling in Reliance dragged the index in negative zone. The index, thereafter, tumbled to a low of 9,267 - down 569 points - as weakness spread to some other stocks. The Sensex finally ended with a loss of 151 points at 9,385. In the process, the index was down 579 points for the week. The BSE Capital Goods and Auto indices dropped over 4% each to 6,951 and 2,440, respectively. The Metal and Consumer Durables index slipped over 3% each to 4,873 and 1,940, respectively. The market breadth was negative - out of 2,592 stocks traded, 1,589 declined, 929 advanced and 74 were unchanged today. The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 263 points at 9,799 on the back of positive cues from the US markets. The index touched a high of 9,836, but soon pared gains owing to weakness in technology stocks. ACC slumped 9% to Rs 419. Tata Motors tumbled 8.5% to Rs 137, and Tata Steel shed 6.5% at Rs 173. HDFC plunged nearly 5% to Rs 1,558. Jaiprakash Associates and Reliance Infrastructure

Reliance Petroleum, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, is likely to commission only half of its refinery’s capacity at Jamnagar by December-end as demand for fuels such as naphtha and fuel oil has dropped across the world. The company is likely to produce 31 kilo tonne per day (ktpd) of diesel, 25 ktpd of petrol, sulphur, pet coke and naphtha by December-end. It will, however, put off production of fuel oil and polypropylene till February-end, company officials said.

Asian and Pacific markets following USA market and are in negative territory Thursday as investors came to terms with the likelihood that a long and deep recession is on the horizon. Japan's Nikkei average was off 4.4 percent Thursday, while the KOSPI index in Seoul was down 5.4 percent. In Australia, the All Ordinaries lost 4.3 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped. 5.5 percent.

USA stocks tumbled on wednesday after USA Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. said the government is shelving its initial plans to buy banks'  toxic assets and is instead focusing on injecting capital into banks and companies that lend to households and businesses.  That news, along with a steep drop in oil prices and fresh evidence of a severe slump in consumer spending, drove the three USA major indexes down  more than 4 percent in the market's third straight day of losses. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 4.73 percent, or 411.30 points, at 8282.66, its lowest level since Oct. 27. The broader Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 5.19 percent, or 46.65 points, to close at 852.30. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index closed down 5.17 percent, or 81.69 points, at 1499.21.

Live mint.com 12th  Nov 2008 “Watches and jewellery maker Titan Industries Ltd sees firm consumer off—take across all segments and expects the wedding season to boost sales,” a top official said. The company’s expansion plans are on track despite the concerns over slowing demand due to the current financial meltdown. “In the jewellery business we want to be national by the end of the year and we want to open 80 stores by March and that plan has not changed,” Bhaskar Bhat, managing director, told television channel NDTV Profit. “Similarly in the watch business we are set to add 90 stores to the current 243,” he added However, Bhat admitted the trickle down effect from other sectors may hit Titan but said that the company was prepared to meet those challenges.

 Industry has registered a 4.8 per cent growth rate in September from a dismal 1.42 per cent in the previous month. It was, however, still behind the seven per cent growth recorded in September last year. For the first six months of this fiscal, industrial growth, as measured by Index of Industrial Production (IIP), stood at 4.9 per cent compared to 9.5 per cent a year ago. The figure for August was revised to 1.42 per cent against the provisional estimate of 1.3 per cent, which many policy makers had described as aberration. Manufacturing, which contributes around 80 per cent in the index, grew by 4.8 per cent in September from 7.4 per cent a year ago, while electricity generation grew by 4.4 per cent, more or less same at 4.5 per cent. Mining output, however, rose by 5.7 p er cent from 4.9 per cent in September 2007. For the first half, manufacturing grew by almost half at 5.2 per cent from 10 per cent a year ago, while electricity was drastically down to 2.5 per cent from 7.7 per ce

The index tumbled to a low of 9,377 - down 552 points from the day's high. Selective buying towards the end, helped the Sensex cut losses and finally settle with a loss of 303 points at 9,536. The BSE Realty index plunged 7.3% to 2,047. The Bankex tumbled 4.4% to 5,188, and the Metal index shed 3.7% at 5,042. The market breadth was negative - out of 2,595 stocks traded so far, 1,695 declined, 824 advanced and 76 were unchanged today. Jaiprakash Associates slumped over 9% to Rs 77. DLF and ICICI Bank plunged around 8.5% each to Rs 245 and Rs 398, respectively. Reliance Infrastructure tumbled 6.5% to Rs 541. Hindalco shed 5.8% at Rs 57. Hindustan Unilever and Sterlite slipped over 4.5% each to Rs 235 and Rs 237, respectively. Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro and Bharti Airtel dropped over 4% each to Rs 342, Rs 828 and Rs 631, respectively. SBI, Reliance and Tata Motors declined nearly 4% each to Rs 1,175, Rs 1,162 and Rs 150, respectively. ONGC and Tata Steel were down ov

JSW Steel Ltd, India's third biggest producer, said on Friday it will cut total steel production by 20 per cent from November "as per the current market conditions".

The Sensex tumbled below the 10,000-mark to a low of 9,799, and finally settled with a loss of 696 points at 9,840. The BSE Realty index slumped over 10% to 2,209. The Metal index shed 8.4% at 5,234, and the Power index plunged 7.7% to 1,769. The market breadth was fairly negative - out of 2,602 stocks traded, 1,766 declined, 759 advanced and 77 were unchanged. Jaiprkash Associates slumped over 12% to Rs 85. Sterlite and Tata Steel plunged 11% each to Rs 248 and Rs 191, respectively. Hindalco and DLF tumbled over 10% each to Rs 60 and Rs 268, respectively. BHEL shed 9.7% at Rs 1,367. Satyam dropped over 9% to Rs 269. ONGC and Tata Motors slipped around 10.5% each to Rs 735 and Rs 155, respectively. Wipro, Mahindra & Mahindra and ICICI Bank declined around 8% each to Rs 248, Rs 357 and Rs 434, respectively. Reliance dropped 7.5% to Rs 1,207. Bharti Airtel, Reliance Infrastructure and Tata Power were down around 7% each at Rs 658, Rs 578 and Rs 753, respectively.

Circuit City Stores, the  second-largest consumer electronics retailer in USA, said yesterday that tightened credit and rapidly declining consumer spending have forced it to file for bankruptcy protection, underscoring the perils facing retailers as they head into the crucial holiday season during the worst economic crisis in a generation. The retail industry in USA has been rattled over the past year as shoppers slashed their spending by the largest amount in nearly three decades. Sales in nearly every category have plummeted as Wall Street imploded and housing prices remained depressed. Holiday sales are expected to have their weakest growth in years. Circuit City was the latest in a long line of retailers to fall this year.

The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 191 points at 10,155. After touching a low of 10,096, the index began to move up on the back of unabated buying in metal stocks. Energy and Capital Goods stocks, too, witnessed aggressive buying today. The Sensex touched a high of 10,571 at the fag end of the day, and finally settled with a gain of 572 (5.7%) points at 10,536. The BSE Metal index surged 11% to 5,715. The Power index rallied nearly 8% to 1,917, and the Capital Goods index moved up 6.3% to 8,118. The market breadth was fairly positive - out of 2,622 stocks traded, 1,695 advanced, 854 declined and 73 were unchanged today. Sterlite and Tata Steel zoomed around 13% each to Rs 279 and Rs 214, respectively. Tata Power soared almost 12% to Rs 825. Reliance Infrastructure surged 11% to Rs 622. Hindalco and Jaiprakash Associates rallied over 10% each to Rs 67 and Rs 97, respectively. ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel gained over 9% each at Rs 471 and Rs 709, respectively. ONGC moved up 8.7% to

Goldman Sachs cut its growth forecast for India citing “larger-than-expected shock” to the financial sector over the last couple of months, and its knock-on effects on both domestic and external demand. The brokerage lowered its GDP growth numbers for FY09 to 6.7% from 7.5% and for FY10 to 5.8% from 7%, Goldman said in a research note on Monday. Goldman Sachs said the gathering financial crisis over the past several weeks has affected India’s financial sector significantly, with both domestic and external liquidity drying up. This has impacted the financing for corporates, loans for households, and trade credit for exporters. Goldman believes the large global and domestic financial sector shock will continue to slow activity across the board, in capex plans, exports growth, and consumption demand. According to the note, corporates will be hurt. This will in turn impact investment and external demands, and slow down consumption. On the production side, a significant slowdown in construc

Domestic passenger-car sales fell by 6.59 per cent in October to 98,900 units from 1,05,877 units in the same month last year. According to the figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), motorcycle sales in the country during the month was down by 18.17 per cent at 5,38,353 units, against 6,57,874 units in the corresponding month a year ago. Total two-wheeler sales in October also dipped by 14.52 per cent at 6,78,245 units, compared with 7,93,420 units in the same period last year. Commercial vehicle sales decreased last month to 28,027 units from 43,756 units in the year-ago period, a fall of 35.95 per cent, the SIAM said.

IVRCL Infrastructures & Projects Ltd said on Monday that it had secured an irrigation project worth Rs 893 crore from Andhra Pradesh government.

Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) said on Monday that a consortium with Malaysia's Scomi Engineering Bhd had won an order worth Rs 2,460 crore ($520 million). The order is from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority to the implement the city's monorail system. The project will be completed in 30 months, it said in a statement.

 China announced a $586 billion stimulus package Sunday in its biggest move to stop the global financial crisis from hitting the world's fourth-largest economy. Money would be  invested  in infrastructure and social welfare by the end of 2010.

Investors can consider accumulating the YES Bank stock at the current market price (CMP) of Rs 81.9. The stock has gained 49 per cent from its all-time low of Rs 55 on October 27, but remains a good investment option for investors with a two-three year time frame. At the CMP, YES Bank is trading at 10.4 times its trailing twelve-month earnings and 1.7 times its latest book value. The Price-earnings multiple is at a discount to that of bigger private sector peers such as ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank and is cheap for a bank which has high growth potential. Growth in advances While growth rates of the past two years may moderate on a larger base, healthy growth in corporate advances may result in above-industry growth rates for YES Bank. Its loan book is dominated by the wholesale business-corporate advances (58 per cent) and business banking (41 per cent). A high proportion of core ‘other income’ (43 per cent), negligible exposure to retail advances (0.15 per cent) where there are

Corus will cut its crude steel output with October-March by 30%. The output cut is to align production with European demand, it said. Earlier too, Corus had announced a 20% output cut for the period between October and December. 

The U.S. economy shed 240,000 jobs in October and the unemployment rate jumped sharply to 6.5 percent, a worse than expected. Businesses have been trimming payrolls since the start of the year, with 1.2 million positions lost over the last 10 months. The 6.5 percent unemployment rate -- up from 6.1 percent in September -- is the highest since early 1994, when the economy was pulling out of recession. More than 10 million people are now jobless, actively seeking work but unable to find it, a number that has spiked by 2.8 million over the last year.

Growth in the country’s infrastructure industries slowed to 5.1 per cent in September from 5.8 per cent a year ago, but bounced back from a dismal 2.3 per cent in August this year. The growth in six core industries - crude oil, petroleum refinery products, coal, electricity, cement and finished carbon steel - contracted also for the April-September period to 3.9 per cent from 6.9 per cent in the first half of the previous year. The infrastructure industries have a weightage of 26.7 per cent in the overall index of industrial production. Growth in core industries dipped in August, tracking the overall IIP, which dipped to 1.3 per cent. Although crude oil production declined by 0.4 per cent the performance in September is slightly better than the same month last year. Refinery products too showed a downward trend of 2.8 per cent from 6.9 per cent in September 2007. Finished carbon stee l also registered a lower growth of 5.8 per cent compared with 9.5 per cent. However, coal output showe

The country's largest automobile maker Tata Motors today said it will shut down its commercial vehicle plants in Pune and Lucknow for six days during this month due to slump in demand.    "There will be a block closure of our commercial vehicle plant in Lucknow on November 10-15 and that of Pune from November 21-26," a company spokesperson said.       The announcement comes after the company had announced shutting down of its heavy commercial vehicles hub at Jamshedpur for three days on November 6-8.       The spokesperson said employees at the Lucknow and the Pune plants will be on paid leave during the period of plant shut down.

The Sensex opened 103 points lower at 9,631 on the back of negative cues from the US markets. The index, however, soon rebounded into the positive zone and touched a high of 9,850. The index, thereafter, exhibited range-bound movement in the first half of the day. Renewed buying interest in the second half of the trading day, amid recovery in other Asian markets, saw the index move up to higher levels. The index rallied to a high of 10,065 - up 434 points from the day's open. The Sensex finally ended with a gain of 230 points at 9,964. The market breadth was positive - out of 2,616 stocks traded, 1,426 advanced, 1,114 declined and the rest were unchanged today. Reliance Infrastructure zoomed 11% to Rs 561. Hindalco soared 6.6% to Rs 60. Reliance Communications surged 5.5% to Rs 228, and TCS rallied nearly 5% to Rs 525. NTPC and Jaiprakash Associates moved up 4.7% each to Rs 151 and Rs 88, respectively. Reliance gained 4% at Rs 1,218. DLF, ITC and Sterlite advanced around 3.5% each

Ford Motor Co. says it lost $129 million in the third quarter as the struggling automaker burned up $7.7 billion in cash. The automaker also said Friday it will cut another 10 percent of its North American salaried work force costs as it tries to weather the worst economic downturn in decades. Ford says it lost 6 cents per share for the quarter, compared with a loss of $380 million, or 19 cents per share, a year ago.

The Sensex opened with a significant negative gap of 365 points at 9,755 on the back of weak cues from the global markets. Metal stocks witnessed aggressive selling today. The index plummeted to a low of 9,635 - down 485 points from the previous close. A pull-back in intra-day deals saw the index touch a high of 10,109. The Sensex, however, slipped back to lower levels in the last hour of trades and finally ended with a loss of 386 points at 9,734. The BSE Metal index plunged 8.5% to 4,993. The Oil & Gas index shed 4.8% at 5,817, and the IT index slipped over 4% to 2,618. The market breadth was fairly negative - out of 2,585 stocks traded, 1,633 declined, 869 advanced and the rest were unchanged today. Tata Steel slumped 13.7% to Rs 186. Sterlite plunged over 11% to Rs 238, and Hindalco dropped 7.5% to Rs 57. Tata Motors tumbled over 12% to Rs 159. Reliance shed 7.7% at Rs 1,172. Bharti Airtel and Wipro slipped around 6.5% each to Rs 639 and Rs 253, respectively. Infosys and HDFC d

The Sensex opened with a significant positive gap of 300 points at 10,931 in line with other Asian markets amid the backdrop of the US elections The Sensex touched a high of 10,945 in opening trades, but soon pared gains and slipped into red. Aggressive selling, especially in Reliance, forced the index slip into red. Selling pressure intensified towards the end, and the Sensex tumbled to a low of 10,052 - down 893 points. The index finally ended with a loss of 511 points at 10,120. The BSE Oil & Gas index plunged 9.5% to 6,112. The Metal index dropped nearly 7% to 5,452. The market breadth was negative - out of 2,638 stocks traded, 1,566 declined, 998 advanced and the rest were unchanged today. Reliance slumped almost 13% to Rs 1,269. Tata Steel and Jaiprakash Associates plunged 10% each to Rs 216 and Rs 81, respectively. Reliance Communications tumbled 9.5% to Rs 227. DLF and HDFC dropped nearly 9% each to Rs 265 and Rs 1,751, respectively. Grasim, Sterlite and ACC slipped over 7%

After opening 33 points lower at 10,305, the Sensex slipped to a low of 10,116 - down 222 points - in early trades. The index thereafter recovered and displayed lacklustre movement for most of the noon session. However, a fresh round of buying in late noon trades saw the index rally to a high of 10,668 - up 552 points. The Sensex finally ended with a gain of 293 points at 10,631. The BSE Realty index surged over 12% to 2,402. The Bankex rallied 6.6% to 5,741, and the Power index gained 5.7% at 1,781. The BSE IT index, however, slipped 4.3% to 2,750. The market breadth was fairly positive - out of 2,655 stocks traded, 1,809 advanced, 777 declined and the rest were unchanged today. DLF zoomed nearly 15% to Rs 290. Ranbaxy and Jaiprakash Associates soared nearly 10% each to Rs 209 and Rs 89, respectively. Tata Power surged 8.3% to Rs 751. Reliance Communications and ITC rallied 7.7% each to Rs 251 and Rs 171, respectively. ONGC gained over 7% at Rs 761. ICICI Bank, SBI and Tata Steel adva

Global financial turmoil and recessionary tendencies in major economies have impacted India's export growth, which slowed to 10.4 per cent in September even as the country increased its imports by 43.3 per cent over September 2007. Outward shipments, which rose by 27 per cent in August, saw growth plunging to 10.4 per cent in September as the world bought less of Indian goods. Exports for September totalled $13.74 billion. According to the official data released on Monday, exports in rupee terms were up 24.7 per cent to Rs 62,541 crore. Imports jumped 43.3 per cent in September to $24.38 billion, more than one-third of which was accounted for by oil imports. With global oil prices soaring, the country paid 57.1 per cent more for oil imports at $9.09 billion. Non-oil imports saw 36.2 pe r cent growth to $15.28 billion. Trade deficit - surplus of imports over exports - more than doubled to $10.63 billion in September as opposed to $4.55 billion deficit in the same month the previous

The Sensex opened with a significant positive gap of 421 points at 10,209 on the back of rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) over the weekend. The RBI on Saturday announced a 100 basis points cut in cash reserve ratio (CRR), a 50 basis points cut in repo rate and also reduced the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) by 100 basis points. Some profit-taking in intra-day trades saw the index touch a low of 10,113. The index, however, moved back to higher levels led by solid gains in realty, capital goods and banking stocks. The Sensex touched a high of 10,363, and finally ended with a gain of 550 points at 10,338. In the process, the index has now surged over 34% (2,641 points) from its recent low (7,697) of 7,697 in just five trading sessions. The Sensex, however, is still down over 51% from its peak (21,207) touched in January. The BSE Realty and Capital Goods indices rallied over 8% each to 2,142 and 7,592, respectively. The Bankex gained 7.5% at 5,387. The market breadth was fairly