MUMBAI, June 25 (Reuters) – Indian shares fell on Friday
with financials leading the losses in tandem with world markets
on expectations of tighter financial regulation ahead of the
weekend G20 meeting and uncertainty about the global economic
recovery.
By 11:21 a.m. (0551 GMT), the 30-share BSE Index .BSESN
was trading down 0.5 percent at 17,641.47 points, with
two-thirds of its components declining.
“The state of affairs overseas are pretty confusing. We do
not know if the worst is over for Europe,” Manish Sonthalia,
who manages $200 million of assets at brokerage Motilal Oswal.
Foreign funds have invested around $1.7 billion so far in
June and helped the BSE index rise 4 percent in the period, but
traders were wary about the outlook because of uncertainties in
the euro zone and elsewhere.
In May, foreigners had pulled out $2 billion in the wake of
fiscal troubles in Europe.
Differences among G20 leaders ahead of a summit in Toronto
over how to secure the economic recovery caused investor
concern, particularly with leading indicators reflecting a
slowdown ahead. [ID:nN24260273]
Leading lender State Bank of India (SBI.BO) dropped 0.9
percent, while rivals ICICI Bank (ICBK.BO) and HDFC Bank
(HDBK.BO) were down 1.7 percent each.
The financials were also weighed down after data on
Thursday showed food inflation in Asia’s third-largest economy
accelerated in mid-June, maintaining pressure on the central
bank to tighten monetary policy at a faster pace.
[ID:nSGE65N07G]
Energy giant Reliance Industries (RELI.BO), which has the
highest weight on the Sensex, was down 0.4 percent at 1,046.90
rupees.
IT bellwether Infosys Technologies (INFY.BO) shed 1.1
percent after rising 1.8 percent over two previous sessions.
Metal makers were trading lower as London copper futures
MCU3=LX fell.
Non-ferrous metals producer Sterlite Industries (STRL.BO)
and aluminium maker Hindalco (HALC.BO) dropped 2.2 percent and
0.9 percent respectively.
Tata Steel (TISC.BO), the world’s eighth-largest steelmaker
by output, declined 0.9 percent.
“On the domestic front, the situation is not worrying.
Monsoon is a bit below normal but hopefully things should
improve,” Sonthalia said.
Monsoon rains, vital to India’s trillion-dollar economy,
were 21 percent below normal in the week to June 23, reflecting
slow progress since the season began in June. [ID:nSGE65N03X]
Still, market participants are upbeat on the outlook for
the rest of the year because of a pick-up in economic growth.
The BSE index should gain 7 percent to 19,000 points by the
end of 2010 from Thursday’s close, the median estimate in a
Reuters poll of 20 market participants showed, while 17
forecast it rising over 18 percent by the end of June 2011 to
21,000. [ID:nSGE65L0GF]
In the broader market, losers almost equalled the number of
gainers on volume of 154 million shares.
The 50-share NSE index down 0.6 percent at
5,291.10.
STOCKS ON THE MOVE
* Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO) rose 0.6 percent to 264.75 rupees
after India’s top mobile operator said it would spend $150
million to improve its network in Zambia, as it challenges MTN
Group (MTNJ.J) for dominance in fast-growing Africa.
[ID:nLDE65N1YE]
* Suzlon Energy (SUZL.BO) was up 0.6 percent at 58.05
rupees after the wind turbine maker said it had received a
48.3-megawatt order from a Chinese wind power producer.
[ID:nBMA007896]
MAIN TOP 3 BY VOLUME
* Reliance Natural Resources (RENR.BO) on 5 million shares
* GTL Infrastructure (GTLI.BO) on 4.6 million shares
* Mahindra Satyam (SATY.BO) on 2.2 million shares
FACTORS TO WATCH
* For technical analysis double click on www.reutersindia.net
* Indian rupee report
[INR/]
* Indian bond report
[IN/]
* Yen near 1-month high vs dollar on quarter flows
[FRX/]
* Oil falls with equities; Caribbean storm brews
[O/R]
* Asia stocks dip ahead of G20, dollar steady
[MKTS/GLOB]
* Market sinks on fragile recovery fears
[.N]
* For closing rates of Indian ADRs
INADR
Twitter Gate: Congress will take action against Tharoor at the appropriate time: Tewari
New Delhi, Sep.18 (ANI): The Congress party on Friday said it would take appropriate action against Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor for his “cattle class” comments through the medium of Twitter at the appropriate time.
Addressing a party news conference in the capital, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said: “We will take appropriate action (against Mr. Tharoor) at the appropriate time.
Tewari further said that action against Tharoor was not ruled out.
He also justified Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s statement on Thursday seeking Tharoor’s resignation for what he called “irresponsible” comments on the social networking site Twitter.
“It was unfortunate and unbecoming on his part to make such comments. In my view he should tender his resignation as Minister,” Gehlot had said.
“To make such irreverent comments is all the more despicable when one is holding a responsible position as that of the Minister of State for External Affairs,” Gehlot told journalists at his official residence here after a “Roza Iftar” party on Thursday evening.
Gehlot had termed Tharoor’s references posted on the site such as “cattle class” and “holy cows” as unacceptable in Indian politics.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan also said Tharoor had no right to continue in the Union Cabinet.
“I believe that in a democracy, people are God. To refer to them as ‘cattle’ is an insult to them. And I believe that such a person has no right to be a Union minister,” he told reporters.
Tharoor, who is on an official visit to Liberia, had earlier apologized through the Twitter medium, saying he was “sorry” for hurting any sentiments and that his words had been misunderstood.
“To those hurt by the belief that my repeating the phrase showed contempt: sorry. It’s a silly expression, but means no disrespect to economy travellers, only to airlines for herding us in like cattle. Many have misunderstood,” Tharoor said.
The minister said that he had learned belatedly of the fuss “over my tweet and pointed out that the phrase “cattle class” was used in the query, which he just repeated. (ANI)