BackOpening Bell | Asian markets open mixed; HPCL, NTPC in news
In other news, Urjit Patel succeeds Raghuram Rajan as new RBI governor
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US stocks ends lower; Asian markets open mixed
US stocks closed lower on Friday, as investors digested hawkish rhetoric from Federal Reserve officials and kept an eye on oil prices. The Dow Jones industrial average closed 0.24% lower, at 18,552.57 points. The S&P 500 fell 0.14%, to close at 2,183.87 points, while the Nasdaq fell 0.03%, to end at 5,238.38 points.
The South Korean market led losses in early Asian trade on Monday, in a mixed session, with traders likely holding their horses ahead of a speech from Fed chair Janet Yellen at Jackson Hole on Friday. The Kospi was down 0.54%. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 traded up 0.16%.
Union Budget may be advanced by a month to 31 January
The finance ministry is considering a plan to advance the presentation of the Union budget by a month to 31 January instead of the usual practice of presenting it on the last working day of the following month, reports Mint.
Urjit Patel succeeds Raghuram Rajan as new RBI governor
Urjit Patel has been named as the 24th governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Patel will take over from Raghuram Rajan when the latter leaves office after his term ends on 4 September. The choice of Patel will ensure continuity at the RBI since he has been the deputy governor in charge of monetary policy.
SBI board clears merger with associate banks
The board of State Bank of India (SBI) cleared the proposed merger of five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) with itself, taking one step closer to creating the first Indian lender to rank among the world’s top 50. Read more.
Sunil Mittal to take home over ₹ 30 crore in annual pay package
Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of India’s largest telecom firm Bharti Airtel, will take home a higher annual pay package of over ₹ 30 crore, excluding perquisites, for this fiscal. Mittal, who has been re-appointed as the chairman of the company for another five years, will get a fixed pay of ₹ 21 crore per annum and performance-linked variable pay of ₹ 9 crore.
HCL-Geometric deal gets CCI green signal
Competition Commission has cleared IT company HCL Technologies’s equity swap deal to buy the business of Geometric. The deal excludes Geometric’s 58% stake in 3DPLM Software Solutions Ltd, a joint venture with Dassault Systems. Read more.
Remediation at Ranbaxy units time consuming: Sun Pharma
Sun Pharma sees the remediation process at erstwhile Ranbaxy facilities as a “time consuming" process even as it aims to bring at least one of the plants to conform to current good manufacturing practice regulations in the current fiscal.
Gail India to partner US firm for new gas power generation technology
State-owned Gail (India) Ltd will tie up with California-based closely-held firm Bloom Energy Corp. on Monday to pursue natural gas-based fuel cell power generation, a new technology. Read more.
Fortis to demerge diagnostics biz
Fortis Healthcare Ltd has decided to demerge its diagnostics business, including the business of its majority owned subsidiary SRL Ltd into its another listed entity, Fortis Hospitals Ltd. Following the demerger, the business of SRL will be merged with the Chennai-based Fortis Malar as part of the composite scheme.
Thomas Cook to buy 24% stake in Sita World Travels Lanka
Thomas Cook Lanka Pvt. Ltd. has entered into a share purchase agreement for acquiring 24% stake in Sita World Travel Lanka Pvt. Ltd. Read more.
Godrej group scouts for acquisitions in developing nations
Godrej Group is scouting for acquisitions in consumer businesses that include personal and household care segments. Acquisitions will be explored “mainly" in the “developing" economies of Asia, Africa and South America. Read more.
Earnings corner
Allcargo Logistics, HPCL, NTPC and Shree Renuka Sugars are among the companies that will be announcing their June quarter earnings today.
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