Stock Market News, Financial News - Feb 25, 2009

Indian Toners and Developers founder to receive 'Hall of Fame' award

By ANI

Mumbai, Feb 24 (ANI/Business Wire India): Sushil Jain, chairman and managing director of Indian Toners and Developers Limited (ITDL) will receive a Recharger Magazine Hall of Fame award at ReIndia Expo on March 5 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai.

Recharger's inaugural Hall of Fame was held last August at Recharger's World Expo in Las Vegas.

Eight industry members, including Jain, were inducted into the Hall of Fame, which recognizes those industry members who have built their businesses into industry powerhouses, which then create a positive image of the industry through leadership and/or example. (More ...)

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Global economy grim but Fed reassures markets

By Burton Frierson and Ross Finley

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - The global economy extended its grim run on Tuesday, but Wall Street rallied back from 12-year lows on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's assurances that he preferred to support banks without nationalizing them.

German business confidence hit its lowest level since reunification, while U.S. house prices posted a record plunge and consumer confidence in the world's largest economy slumped to its lowest ever.

"Confidence is deeply, deeply mired in recessionary territory, resulting in big declines in real consumer spending," said Steven Wood, chief economist at Insight Economics in Danville, California.

As U.S. President Barack Obama prepared to explain his plan for getting out of the current rut, Bernanke told senators that major U.S. banks had significant franchise value, which would be lost of they were owned by the government.

On Wall Street, shares ended 4 percent higher, based on the broad S&P 500 index. On Monday it posted its lowest close in 12 years. (More ...)

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S&P lowers India's rating outlook to negative

By ENS Economic Bureau

With India's fiscal position taking a turn for the worse, global rating firm Standard & Poor's on Tuesday lowered the outlook on the long-term sovereign credit rating on India to negative from stable. At the same time, Standard & Poor's affirmed its 'BBB-' long-term and 'A-3' short-term sovereign credit ratings on India.

"The outlook revision reflects our view that India's fiscal position has deteriorated to a level that is unsustainable in the medium term. We expect general government deficit, including off-budget measures such as oil and fertilizer bonds, to increase to 11.4 per cent in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009, from 5.7 per cent in the previous fiscal year," S&P said.

"The government has implemented various policies that increase stress on its fiscal position ahead of the general election, which is expected to be held in May 2009," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Takahira Ogawa. "These policies include debt relief for farmers and a pay hike for government employees - first time in 11 years." (More ...)

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Excise duty drops from 16% to 8% in one year

By ENS Economic Bureau

With almost 80 per cent of industrial output falling under the 10 per cent excise duty slab, the 2-per cent Cenvat cut announced by the government today would translate into good enough price cuts in consumer durables and non-durables. Bikes and commercial vehicles will cost less and so will IT hardware and a host of consumer durables and non-durables.

According to Vivek Mishra, Partner, Tax, Ernst & Young, almost 80-90 per cent of goods are in the 10 per cent slab. "The 4 per cent and 8 per cent excise slabs account for only a few goods," he said. The finance minister has kept the excise rates unchanged for goods that attract the 4 per cent and 8 per cent rates, respectively.

To get a sense of the relief India Inc has received in the last 12 months, excise duty have been halved from 16 per cent to 8 per cent now between just two budgets, translating into a massive relief for the industry. Many sectors including two-wheelers, automotive components and tyres, other consumer durables and textiles, etc. fall under this slab. One can look forward to price cuts in these businesses. Small cars are unaffected since the excise duty applicable has been retained at 8 per cent. (More ...)