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| Ecuador sees higher 2004 oil output at 523,288 bpd QUITO, ECUADOR, Dec 25: Ecuador’s oil production will finish the year at 523,288 barrels per day, more than 25.......more Edible
oils remain NEW DELHI, Dec 25: Edible oil prices moved down to register losses in the local wholesale oils and oilseeds market......more Sembcorp
of Singapore SINGAPORE, Dec 25: Sembcorp engineers and constructors (sembe c) has been appointed project manager by India’s....more NASIK, Dec 25: Onion prices at major Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC), especially at Lasalgaon have.......more |
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India changes the food testing requirements KATHMANDU, Dec 25: In response to the request of the Nepalese Government, Indian Government has changed the.........more CHENNAI, Dec 25: Equities maintained a bullish trend on good buying support and ended with gains during the week....more Forex
reserves up MUMBAI, Dec 25: Backed by strong trade inflows and portfolio investments, India’s foreign exchange reserves rose by.....more Japan’s
NEC Elec TOKYO, Dec 25: Japan’s Nec electronics corp is likely to miss its operating profit forecast for the year to March by 40........more |
Ecuador sees higher 2004 oil output at 523,288 bpd QUITO, ECUADOR, Dec 25: Ecuador’s oil production will finish the year at 523,288 barrels per day, more than 25 percent higher than in 2003, but slightly below the official target, state producer petroecuador said on Friday. Citing preliminary figures, the company said in a statement the increase over 2003 was due to the performance and investment of the 14 private oil companies that operate oil fields in the Andean nation. Of the projected 2004 total, 62 percent would be produced by these private companies, while 38 percent would come from petroecuador, which said it had suffered financial and operational problems this year. Petroecuador’s 2004 production would be 197,260 bpd — 3.5 percent less than last year. The total national production would fall just short of the official output target of 528,493 bpd set for this year. Petroecuador said its total income in 2004 would reach just over 4 billion — 20.5 percent more than last year — thanks to higher world prices for its oil exports and sales of oil products in the internal market. (AGENCIES) |
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Edible oils remain in negative zone on increased supply NEW DELHI, Dec 25: Edible oil prices moved down to register losses in the local wholesale oils and oilseeds market during the week ended December 25 as there was limited demand amidst ample supplies due to good prospects for oilseeds crops to be harvested next summer. Castor and palm fatty oils, in the non-edible section, also showed a weak trend on poor offtake by consuming industries. The market remained closed on Thursday as traders observed bandh to protest Government’s move to introduce VAT from the next fiscal. Marketmen said there were sufficient oil supplies and litte buying support during the week due to off-marriage and festive season, which led prices to decline. They said expectations that the Government was considering changes in qualitative norms governing import of palm oil also drove the market downwards as this could lead to a further rise in imports and higher supplies. Lower Chicago and Malaysian palm oil markets too dampened the trading sentiments here, they added. Groundnut mill delivery oil remained in weak form for the major part of the week and prices fell sharply by Rs 150 at rs 4800 per quintal. Groundnut solvent refined also turned weak and traded Rs 10 down at Rs 855-880 per tin of 15 litre. (PTI) |
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| Sembcorp of Singapore bags
Indian construction contract SINGAPORE, Dec 25: Sembcorp engineers and constructors (sembe c) has been appointed project manager by India’s Hooghly Mills Co Ltd to manage the construction of three commercial and residential projects in Kolkata. The projects comprise a new Rs 1.275 billion residential development called Garden Reach, a 100,000 sq ft commercial building named park street mall, and the refurbishment of an existing commercial building called magnet house electronic mall. The three projects have a total value of Rs 1.455 billion. The appointment is the latest success in sembe c’s strategy to refocus on engineering projects higher up the value chain. Earlier this month, the company announced that it had secured EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contracts valued at 660 million Singapore dollars for the restart of an Indian oil refinery located at Vadinar, Gujarat. The company also recently revealed that it had been awarded various process engineering contracts in the west Asia for the petrochemical industry. Construction work on all three projects will commence in 2005, and will require between 9 and 36 months to complete. The appointment boosts the total number of construction management projects secured by Sembe C in India this year to 10. (UNI) |
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NASIK, Dec 25: Onion prices at major Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC), especially at Lasalgaon have declined following heavy arrival of ‘pol’ variety of onions at the market yards, according to Lasalgaon APMC sources here. Sources said hundreds of tractors, bullock-carts loaded with the onion have been arriving at the market for auction and farmers were getting prices of Rs 250 to 300 per quintal creating financial problems for onion growers. According to sources this week prices declined from Rs 25 to Rs 75 per quintal. According to some onion growers present prices could not meet the production expenses and since the product is perishable we have to sold it at any available prices. (PTI) |
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India changes the food testing requirements KATHMANDU, Dec 25: In response to the request of the Nepalese Government, Indian Government has changed the food testing requirements of the Nepalese export items. Agricultural and food products imported into India are subject to testing prior to clearance of consignments under the provisions of prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954 and other Relevant Acts. In response to the request of his majesty’s Government of Nepal, India has decided that tea, pulses and pulses products, and cereals and cereal products imported into india from nepal will henceforth be subject to 5-20 per cent random sampling, instead of the existing requirement of 100 per cent testing, Indian embasy said in a statement issued here today. This measure is expected to greatly benefit Nepalese exporters of tea, pulses and pulses products, cereals and cereal products and represents another step in Government of India’s continuing efforts to further facilitate Nepal’s exports to India. (UNI) |
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CHENNAI, Dec 25: Equities maintained a bullish trend on good buying support and ended with gains during the week ended December 24 on the Madras Stock Exchange. However, a few scrips, including software counters, met with resistance to finish with losses. Commencing on a better note, share prices recovered smartly on renewed buying and ended with smart gains on Monday and rose further on sustained buying support the next day. Share values turned weak due to selling pressure coupled with profit taking to end with moderate losses by midweek. However, led by Reliance, select scrips staged a smart recovery on the penultimate day and shot up on increased buying support towards the weekend and posted good gains. The MSE index spurted by 14.40 points to close at 4417.20 and went up further to 4429.80 the next day. But, it declined moderately to 4419.20 by midweek, before rallying again to end the week at 4443.80 compared to the previous week’s close of 4402.80, a net rise of 41 points. Reliance, L&T, Tisco, India cements, ACC, Hero Honda and Tata power were among the prominent gainers, while infosys tech, Hind Lever and Satyam Computer saw slight erosion. (PTI) |
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Forex reserves up by USD 924 mn MUMBAI, Dec 25: Backed by strong trade inflows and portfolio investments, India’s foreign exchange reserves rose by US dollar 924 million to cross US dollar 130 billion mark during the week ended December 17, 2004. The foreign exchange reserves during the period rose by USD 924 million to USD 1,30,621 million, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s weekly statistical supplement released here today. This surge in foreign exchange reserves comes after a dip of USD 1.02 billion for the week ended December 10. Foreign currency assets were also up by a USD 915 million to touch USD 1,24,666 million, the RBI said. The trade inflows, foreign institutional investments and revaluation of international currencies, including the US dollar, contributed to the spurt in reserves, analysts said. Gold reserves and special drawing rights remained static at USD 4,540 million and USD five million respectively, the RBI said. India’s Reserve Tranche Position with International Monetary Fund grew further by USD nine million to reach a level of USD 1,410 million, it said. The RBI said loans and advances to the Central Government showed a nil balance while that to State Governments rose by Rs 852 crore to Rs 1,368 crore. During the fortnight ending December 10, aggregate deposits went up by Rs 11,378 crore (0.7 per cent) to Rs 16,21,659 crore. Demand deposits rose by Rs 3,229 crore to Rs 2,31,168 crore while time deposits were up by Rs 8,149 crore to Rs 13,90,491 crore. Bank credit was up by Rs 7,057 crore to Rs 10,13,366 crore. Food credit rose by Rs 813 crore to Rs 43,193 crore while non-food credit went up by Rs 6,244 crore to Rs 9,70,173 crore. (PTI) |
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Japan’s NEC Elec could miss profit forecast: Paper TOKYO, Dec 25: Japan’s Nec electronics corp is likely to miss its operating profit forecast for the year to March by 40 percent due to sluggish demand for microchips, a Japanese newspaper said on Saturday. The poor earnings performance at Nec electronics, the world’s eighth-largest chip maker, is expected to force parent nec corp. To revise down its earnings forecast for the year, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily said. Nec electronics is the semiconductor unit of Nec corp, Japan’s third-largest electronics conglomerate behind Hitachi Ltd and Toshiba corp. No immediate comments were available from either company. Nec electronics is expected to post a group operating profit of about 30 billion yen ( 289.5 million) for the current business year, compared to its revised down forecast in October of a 50 billion yen profit, the paper said. The chip maker originally estimated its operating profit to come to 65 billion yen for the year, but slashed the prediction amid slower-than-expected demand for lcd driver chips, a key component of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) panels. Although nec electronics expected chip demand to recover early next year, orders are now likely to remain slow until at least the end of the current business year in March, the report said. Net profit at Nec electronics is estimated to total about 17 billion yen for the current business year, down 39 percent from its October forecast, it said. Nec corp, hit also by a slowdown in mobile phone demand in the domestic market, already slashed its operating profit forecast for the year to March by 32 percent to 150 billion yen in October. ( 1=103.61 yen) (AGENCIES) |
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Stocks to stay range-bound as
market MUMBAI, Dec 25: Stock markets which repeated history by sending major indices to life-time highs on Christmas eve last week, may be seen in a narrow range during the week amid thin participation of foreign funds ahead of the year-end. Although all the fundamentals remained strong, including sharp drop in inflation, crude oil prices and optimism over third quarter results, market may take a breather in the week when many of the fund managers go on vacation, said Vijay Saraf, Chief Operating Officer at the Centrum Securities Ltd. The expiry of the December series of future contracts may also cause some mild volatility in mid-week even as brokers are optimistic of smooth rollover in view of the bullish market. Market will eagerly wait for the crucial board meeting of the Reliance industries on Monday and the outcome will have a bearing on the group shares. During the week ended on December 24, stock markets rewrote history with the key Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensex and the National Stock Exchange (NSE)’s Nifty scaling new peaks with the expectation of handsome Q3 results and robust foreign fund inflows lifting blue chips higher and higher. BSE-sensex crossed the psychological barrier of 6,500-mark to hit a life-time high of 6,507.94 points on Friday intra day trades, before ending at the highest ever closing of 6,498.06 points. It registered a gain of 151.58 points (2.39 per cent) during the week from previous week’s close of 6,346.48. (UNI) |
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Forex reserves up at USD 130.621 billion MUMBAI, Dec 25: The foreign exchange (forex) reserves of the country rose to USD 130.621 billion from USD 924 million during the week ended December 17, on robust foreign fund inflows and revaluation of non-US currencies. According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s latest weekly statistics report, the surge in foreign currency assets by USD 915 million to USD 124.666 billion during the week, was the major factor that pushed up the forex reserves, while the remaining USD nine million was contributed by the rise in reserve positions in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to USD 1.410 billion from USD 1.401 billion. The gold reserve and the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) remained unchanged at USD 4.54 billion and USD five million, respectively. Forex reserves, which had fallen by a whopping USD 1.02 billion to USD 129.697 billion during during the previous week, is now within a striking distance from its historic high of USD 130.717 billion touched on December 3. The huge foreign fund inflows at a record of USD 8.966 billion zoomed the stock markets where major stock indices hit life-time highs, driving the forex reserves up, dealers said. The higher valuation of euro and other major currencies after the dollar fell in international markets also contributed to the growth in forex reserves. During the week, the rupee had appreciated 82 paise (1.83 per cent) to 43.96 on strong foreign fund inflows and subdued import demand after dollar stayed weaker in global markets initially during the week. The loans and advances of the Central Government continued to be nil, while that of the State Governments rose by Rs 852 crore to Rs 1,368 crore during the same week. The aggregate deposits of the scheduled commercial banks spurted by Rs 11,378 crore (0.7 per cent) to Rs 16,21,659 crore during the fortnight ended on December 10, while the total bank credits rose by Rs 7,057 crore (0.7 per cent) to Rs 10,13,366 crore. Food credit moved up by Rs 813 crore to Rs 43,193 crore, whereas the non-food credit jumped by Rs 6,244 crore to Rs 9,70,173 crore. (UNI) |
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Sugar prices remain firm on hectic buying by stockists NEW DELHI, Dec 25: Rising trend in sugar prices remained unabated in the wholesale sugar market today on increased buying by stockists and retailers coupled with higher advices from millers and closed with further good gains. Marketmen said increased buying by stockists and local traders along with higher advices from millers’ mainly led to the rise in sugar prices. In wholesale market, sugar ready M-30 and S-30 prices strengthened further to Rs 1820-1870 and Rs 1800-1860 from the previous close of Rs 1790-1830 and Rs 1780-1820 a quintal on increased buying by stockists. Similarly, M-30 and S-30 prices also edged up further to Rs 1685-1770 and Rs 1675-1760 as compared to the previous level of Rs.1670-1735 and Rs.1660-1725 a quintal. Among mill gate section, Modi Nagar, Mawana and Titabi were quoted higher at Rs 1720, Rs 1730 and Rs 1720 instead of Rs 1715, Rs 1725 and Rs 1715 per quintal on increased enquiries from millers. Following were today’s quotations in Rs per quintal: sugar ready M-30 1820-1870 and S-30 1800-1860. Mill delivery M-30 1685-1770 S-30 1675-1760. Sugar mill gate prices (excluded duty): Sakoti N.A, Bijnor N.A., Bulandshaher N.A, Amroha N.A, Mozilpur 1560, Modi Nagar 1720, Baghpat 1685 and Daurala 1710, Chandpur 1505, Titabi 1720, Mawana 1730, Simbhawali 1570, Badaiu 1600, Sattha 1630, Ruderavilash 1625 Khatauli 1710 and Anupshar 1595. Sugar (duty paid), Shamali 1740. (PTI) Almond prices up on fresh demand NEW DELHI, Dec 25: Prices of almond and its kernel shot up in the local wholesale dry fruit market today, largely on holding back of stocks by importers, and closed with good gains. Other dry fruit prices continued to move in a tight range in limited deals and settled around previous levels. Marketmen said tight supplies following holding back of stocks by importers mainly helped almond California and its kernel prices to go up. Almond California and its kernel prices edged up to close at Rs 11,200 and Rs 385-390 as compared to the previous close of Rs 10,800 and Rs 381-382 respectively. Following were today’s quotations per 40 kgs bag: Almond (California) 11,200, Almond (Gurbandi) 4,900 Almond (Girdhi) 3,700, Almond Kernel (California) 385-390 Almond Kernel (Gurbandi) (kg) 380-400 and Abjosh Afghani 6,000-9,500. (PTI) |
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