Showing posts with label Finance. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

The Federal Shutdown Enters Second Week!

Washington: The federal shutdown is passing through the second week and the financial situation of United States is getting worse by each passing day. The all time low rates on US Dollar and other American shares are a state of worry for the country. The shutdown, second in the history of USA, after 17 years is really coming at a great cost.

The recent survey shows that Republicans have lost their approval among the countrymen and it is still the Democrats that is getting favored, which is also making the recovery tough. Through the second week, thousands of employees continue unemployed and hence without pay. A recent Washington Post-ABC News survey found that 70 per cent of Americans disapprove of the way Republicans are handling budget negotiations, up from 63 per cent last week, with 24 per cent approving.

At the same time President Barack Obama's approval rating on budget matters ticked up slightly over the same time period from 41 per cent to 45 per cent ¿ but 51 per cent disapprove, the poll said.

Earlier in the day, Obama ruled out any negotiations with the Republicans unless they reopen the government.

"We're not going to negotiate under the threat of further harm to our economy and middle-class families. We're not going to negotiate under the threat of a prolonged shutdown until Republicans get 100 per cent of what they want," he said.

The White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, said Obama is ready to negotiate with Republicans but not under threat.

"He is ready to do that, just not under threat of shutdown, not under threat of default."

The republicans continue to hold their stance and The Speaker of the US House of Representatives, John Boehner, alleged that Obama is putting the economy at risk by refusing to negotiate with the Republicans over spending and the debt ceiling.

"The president's refusal to negotiate is hurting our economy and putting our country at risk," he said on the floor of the House.

The reports continue that the Obama government is now working on discussing with the Republican party to agree to a long-term USD 1 trillion debt-limit increase.

Photos & Inputs: Indian Express

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- Unknown Updated at: Tuesday, October 08, 2013

Friday, September 20, 2013

JP Morgan Fined a Whooping $920m For London Whale Scandal

Investment bank JP Morgan has been fined a record $920m (£570m) for its conduct in the 'London Whale' trading scandal.

The company lost around $6bn as it failed to "keep watch" over its traders as they overvalued their portfolio to hide large losses.

The bank will pay four different banking regulators, including $220m to the UK's Financial Conduct authority.

This is the second largest fine imposed in banking history.

Emma Simpson reports.

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- Unknown Updated at: Friday, September 20, 2013

Rajan Surprises, RBI Increases Repo Rates by .25%

New Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan, in a surprise move, raised the repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.5 per cent as he presented his first monetary policy review after taking over earlier this month.

With this, the reverse repo rate, or the rate at which the RBI sucks out liquidity, stands revised at 6.5 per cent.

The central bank also revised the Marginal Standing Facility - the rate at which banks access funds for emergency needs - by 75 basis points to 9.5 per cent. Former governor D. Subbarao had raised the MSF by 200 basis points in July as part of slew of cash tightening steps aimed at rescuing the rupee.

The cash reserve ratio, or the portion of deposits banks have to maintain with the central bank, stands unchanged at 4 per cent.

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- Unknown Updated at: Friday, September 20, 2013

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Sensex Hits 20k And Drops 116 Points

MUMBAI: The S&P BSE benchmark sensex on Thursday dropped 116 points in late morning trade after hitting the 20,000 level after fresh selling in banking, auto, IT, tech and metal stocks.

The BSE 30-share barometer sensex opened higher at 20,046.05 points and advanced further to 20,052.05 on initial buying in view of persistent foreign capital inflows.

However, it declined afterwards to 19,834.17 before quoting 19,881.04 points at 1030 hours, showing a loss of 116.41 points or 0.58 per cent from its last close.

The NSE 50-share index Nifty also moved down by 39.50 points, or 0.67 per cent, to 5,873.65 at 10.30am.

Major losers were — Hero Motocorp (2.91%), Sesa Goa (2.36%), HDFC Bank (2.25%), ICICI Bank (1.94%), HUL (1.72%), Hindalco (1.57%) and M&M (1.33%).

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 586.50 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Most Asian stock markets saw modest gains in their early trade with energy stocks offering a bright spot after an increase for oil futures, though Japanese shares lagged.

Key benchmark indices in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, South Korea and Singapore rose by 0.05 to 0.6 per cent while indices in Indonesia and Japan fell by 0.26 to 0.47 per cent.

Shared From Times Of India

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- Unknown Updated at: Thursday, September 12, 2013

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Air Fares Expected To Be Raised By 10-15% Following Jet Fuel Price Hike

Air fares are likely to increase by 10-15% from current levels in the immediate future following a steep hike in jet fuel prices, according to travel industry players.

"Fare hike is imminent. The only question is who takes the lead. I would expect a 10-15% increase in fares in the coming days," said Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) immediate past president Ajay Prakash on Wednesday.

Prakash, who is the chief executive of Nomad Travels, said fares have already seen some traction in the last two days and "the trend is likely to continue."

Jet fuel (ATF) prices were hiked by a steep 6.9%, taking the rate to Rs. 75,031 per kilolitre (KL) from September 1. This comes on the back of two rounds of ATF price hike effected in July and August.

ATF prices were increased by 5.8% on July 1 and by another 6.3% on August 1.

"With the steep hike in air turbine fuel prices, the airlines are left with no option but to jack up the fuel surcharge to offset the increase," Travel Agents Association of India President Iqbal Mulla said.

Expecting an increase of up to 10% in domestic fares, Mulla said the sharp decline in rupee value against US dollar and high jet fuel prices will have multiple effects on ticket rates.

Airlines Air India, Jet Airways, SpiceJet and IndiGo did not respondent to queries on the issue.

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- Unknown Updated at: Wednesday, September 04, 2013

Raghuram Rajan Joins charge as new Governor for RBI amidst of Crisis

The rupee slid towards a record low against the dollar on Wednesday, providing the incoming governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with a test of fire as he takes over in the middle of a slump in confidence in the economy and its currency.

Raghuram Rajan, a suave, unflappable former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), takes over in a public ceremony today.

He enters office as the economy struggles with decade-low growth, a record current account deficit and a steep fiscal shortfall.

The worries about the sluggish economy, and a lack of confidence in how policymakers have addressed it so far, have pummelled the rupee. The currency fell as low as 68.62 on Wednesday, not far from a record low of 68.85 hit a week ago.

However, suspected intervention from the central bank, which was seen selling dollars, helped support the rupee somewhat, currency traders said.

"The rupee will be Rajan's first and key challenge. His IMF aura may help but he will need to win the market's faith by announcing something which helps bring in dollar inflows," said Vikas Babu Chittiprolu, a senior foreign exchange dealer at state-run Andhra Bank.

India's economy is reeling mainly from a dearth of investment and a slowdown in manufacturing activity and consumer demand.

Several banks, including Goldman Sachs this week, have cut their GDP growth forecasts to well below the decade low of 5% for the year ended in March.

Traders say the economy is being further hit by the extraordinary measures from the RBI under outgoing Governor Duvvuri Subbarao, which chose to drain cash and raise short-term interest rates in a bid to defend the rupee.

The big question is whether Rajan, who most recently was an advisor at the Finance Ministry, will take the helm of the RBI with a whisper or a bang, and whether he will dismantle any of the mishmash of current central bank measures.

Investors are showing little faith the government can push through substantial reforms, such as a hike in subsidised fuel prices, which could help revive confidence in the economy.

Singh, in a statement ahead of a trip to Russia to attend the Group of 20 nations' summit on Thursday and Friday, said India would also need a more stable global environment.

"The Summit comes at a time when we in India have introduced several reform measures and taken steps to strengthen macro-economic stability, stabilise the rupee and create a more investor friendly environment," Singh said.

"At the same time, a stable and supportive external economic environment is also required to revive economic growth.

Global markets are weakening after leaders of a US Senate panel said they reached an agreement on Tuesday on a draft authorisation for the use of military force in Syria, paving the way for a vote by the committee on Wednesday.

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- Unknown Updated at: Wednesday, September 04, 2013

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Finance : Finance Minister requests banks to cut down interest rates

NEW DELHI: Finance minister P Chidambaram urged state-run banks on Wednesday to lend money at cheaper rates as he looks to stimulate consumer demand, the main driver of a sluggish economy that has been pulled down by high inflation and interest rates.

The Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) has cut repo rates, the rate at which it lends money to banks, by 75 basis points since January this year, but most banks have not lowered lending rates.

"We have advised the banks to look at the base rate," Chidambaram told reporters after meeting the heads of state-run banks. "In my view, reduction of the base rate will be a powerful booster, will be a powerful stimulus to the credit growth."

India's economy grew at a decade low of 5% in the last fiscal year ending March.

Each bank was free to take its own decision, Chidambaram stressed. State-run banks, which operate with a considerable degree of autonomy from the finance ministry, account for 75% of bank loans.

Banks have been worried that a sharp cut in lending rates could affect their profit margins in the absence of strong domestic demand and impact on bank deposits. The average base lending rate of Indian banks is around 10%.

Chidambaram said the heads of the state banks had assured him during Wednesday's meeting that they would review their base lending rates by the month end.