Weekly News 1st November- 7th November 2010

ATF prices to be hiked by.299/kl in Delhi today

State-owned oil firms on Sunday hiked jet fuel prices marginally, in sync with a rise in global rates.

Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) rates were hiked by Rs 299 per kilo-litre to Rs 42,235 per kl in Delhi, with effect from midnight tonight, an official of Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer.

The hike comes on the back of a near 3% increase in rates effected on October 16.

ATF, or jet fuel, will cost Rs 43,553 per kl in Mumbai, home to the nation's busiest airport, as against Rs 43,242 per kl previously. No comment could be immediately obtained from airline companies on the impact of the latest price increase.

IOC and its sister public sector oil firms, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, revise jet fuel prices on the 1st and 16th of every month, based on the average international price in the preceding fortnight.

1st November 2010

Arvind Mills foreign plans

Arvind Mills, the country's largest denim manufacturer, is looking to set up facilities in Sri Lanka and South Africa to expand its manufacturing reach and retail presence in the country and abroad over 3-4 years.

The Sanjay Lalbhai-owned,3,500-crore textile major would invest around 1,000 crore in the programme.

1st November 2010

Industrial growth seen back on track, PMI rises to 57.2 in October INDUSTRIAL growth appears to be have picked up momentum again after

worrying signs of a slowdown in the last couple of months, giving the central bank flexibility to raise interest rates to counter high inflation.

The HSBC purchasing managers index (PMI) for manufacturing rose to 57.2 for October from 55.1 a month earlier.

PMI is a survey-based compilation of manufacturing sentiment, and is considered a good indicator of factory output. An index level above 50 indicates expansion, and higher the index above that threshold greater the increase in growth. A reading of less than 50 indicates a contraction in manufacturing.

The rise in PMI could possibly be reflecting increase in inventories be due to the festival season in India and abroad.

The increase in the PMI was primarily on account of sharp rise in output and a substantial rise in new order business. The note also reported a slight increase in manufacturing employment in October, the first time in the last five months.

The PMI for China moved up to 54.8 from 52.9 in one of the sharpest rises since the series began in April 2004.

2nd November 2010

India tops UAEs import list in 2010

India has topped Dubai imports list with 45 billion dirhams, which is 19% of the aggregate value, statistics revealed by Dubai Customs for the first eight months of 2010 have shown.

India was followed by China (29 billion dirhams) and the US (18.7 billion dirhams).

Germany and Japan scored 12 billion dirhams and 11 billion dirhams of imports values, respectively.

Dubai's non-oil trade continued to grow, as it reached 377 billion dirhams with a growth of 18% at the end of August 2010, as compared to 320 billion dirhams during the same period last year.

Re-exporting of non-oil products broke the records during the first eight months this year in comparison with the past five years. It grew by 20% to 93 b dirhams, as against 78 billion dirhams to the same period last year.

3rd November 2010

India second fastest growing investor in the US after UAE

India has emerged as the second fastest growing investor in the US after the United Arab Emirates thanks to pickup in overseas acquisitions by Indian firms, according to a study by consultancy firm Ernst & Young in collaboration with industry body FICCI.

During the first quarter of the current fiscal ended June 30, Indian firms completed 101 outbound acquisitions, of which about one-fourth were in the US, the report said.

Over the last two financial years, one out of every five outbound deals were those for US-based targets.

IT/ITeS, pharmaceutical and manufacturing accounted for around 60% of the deals in the last two years.

4th November 2010

Food inflation falls for third straight week to hit 12-mth low of 12.85% Inflation for food items stood at 12.85% for the week ended October 23,declining

from 13.75% in the previous week. The index for food declined by 0.2%,reflecting an actual decline of prices due to a fall in the prices of pulses, fruits and vegetables. The decline also has to do a lot with the base effect or the statistical impact of high prices prevailed last year.

The prices of fruits, eggs, meat & poultry continued to rise in week-on-week terms, reflecting to an extent the structural nature of inflation and demand-supply mismatches highlighted by the Reserve Bank of India, said Aditi Nayar, economist at rating agency ICRA.

High food prices had pushed up the WPI inflation to 8.62% in September from 8.51% in August. RBI raised key interest rates by 25 basis points this week to rein in prices, in the sixth increase this year. RBI governor D Subbarao hinted that the bank is unlikely to raise rates in the next three months.

RBI has already increased key rates six times this year to bring down inflationary expectations, but still remains cautious of structural constraints in food inflation.

The central bank expects overall inflation to ease to manageable levels by the end of the fiscal year to 5.5%.Earlier finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had said that inflation levels of 4-5 % were desirable.

The decline in food prices is expected to continue on account of good kharif harvests and expectations of a better rabi crop.

The index for primary articles was up 15.43%,compared to 16.62% a week earlier. Fuel inflation for the same period rose an annual 10.67%,coming down from 11.25% in the prior week purely on account of the base effect.

5th November 2010

BARACK NOTES IAF reaches agreement with Boeing to buy10 C-17 Globe master III military

transport aircraft: $4.1 b;22,160 US jobs

General Electrics contract for 107 F414 engines for Tejas light combat aircraft: $800 m;44,000 US jobs

Reliance Power MoU with US Ex-Im Bank: Banks willing to provide up to $5 b in financial support to Reliance Power

Harley-Davidson Motor Company announced plans to open a new plant in India for the assembly of motorcycles from US-built complete knock-down kits

7th November 2010