S&P has raised Turkey’s credit ratings. The ratings agency also called Turkey’s banking system one of the strongest and least-leveraged in Eastern Europe with a well capitalised banking system and a low leverage of the household sector.

Read Article...

Indian markets pared early gains following a slump in RIL

Markets opened on a stronger note following positive cues from the centre. However, index heavyweight Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) reversed early gains. At the end of the day, the Sensex closed at 16,237, up 45 points from Friday’s close while the Nifty closed at 4,856, down 12 points. 

The market is expected to remain highly volatile this week with the focus being on the Railway Budget and the Union Budget 2010-11. Derivatives expiry on Thursday, 25 February 2010, is also likely to add volatility to the bourses. Tomorrow, we expect the market to remain in the green.

At 12:00 hrs IST, the Sensex was trading up 174 points at 16,366 from the previous day’s close. At 14:00 hrs IST, the Sensex was trading at 16,326, up 135 points.

At the end of the day, RIL fell 1% on reports that the company would raise its offer for bankrupt petrochemicals maker LyondellBasell to about $14.50 billion.

Flawless Diamond (India) has received an export order for polished diamond/designer jewellery worth Rs256 million from CALDAZ FZC, Dubai. The stock remained flat.

Sterlite Technologies has been awarded a letter of intent worth Rs800 crore by Power Finance Corporation for its East-North interconnection
mega-transmission project. However, the stock was down 1%.

Shree Renuka Sugars has entered into Definitive Agreements with Grupo Equipav for an investment of Rs1,530 crore leading to a majority, controlling equity stake in Equipav SA, one of the largest sugar/ethanol companies in Brazil. The stock shot up 4%.

MIC Electronics has bagged a three-year contract to supply video screens to the Parramatta Eels National Rugby League Club through its alliance with Sequity. The stock was up 2%.

During trading hours, president Pratibha Patil said that India’s economic growth will accelerate in the coming years after the global downturn. She said that the government will push policies to protect millions of poor Indians from the impact of food inflation. She also said that economic growth will rise to about 7.5% in the year ending March 2010. Mrs Patil said that the government is aiming for 8% growth in the year ending March 2011 (FY11) and 9% growth in the year ending March 2012 (FY12). She said that the government will focus on infrastructure, health, education, and agricultural development. The president said that rising rural incomes and high state-purchase prices have helped stoke food inflation. Mrs Patil said that the government accords highest importance to helping the common man on food prices. She further added that higher agricultural productivity reforms in the public distribution system and open market intervention are needed for ensuring food security.

In Asian markets, key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan rose between 0.01%-2.74%. However, China’s index slipped 0.49%.

On Friday, 19 February 2010, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 9 points while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were up 2 points each.

In premarket trading, the Dow was trading 36 points higher. 
 

IDBI Bank Ltd said that it has appointed Bharat Pal Singh as its whole-time director and deputy managing director. Earlier, Mr Singh was executive director on bank’s board.

Previously, Mr Singh has looked after various functions like corporate finance, rehabilitation finance, market research, information technology and human resources in the organisation.