Yuan as new global currency? It can bode well for India

The fact that World Bank President Robert Zoellick has said that China’s yuan may become the global reserve currency over the next 15 years assumes significance not just for the world but also for India. It has the potential to make Indian goods relatively more competitive as the Chinese currency today is highly controlled.

This is not the first time Zoellick has spoken of such a possibility and the buzz about China trying to position the yuan as a reserve currency of the future has been on for some time now. This is not a situation that will occur in the short or medium term, but surely a prospect over the time frame that Zoellick is talking about. With bilateral trade between the two Asian giants estimated at around $41 billion in 2008-09, China has now become India’s largest trading partner. The trade, however, continues to be lopsided. Exports from India are valued at about $9.7 billion while imports are as high as $31.33 billion.

Nuclear deal, trade top Canada PM’s India mission

New Delhi, Nov 15: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s three-day visit to India from Sunday will be dominated by talks over a nuclear deal and new trade pacts in a bid warm a relationship that turned frosty when Ottawa cut off atomic trade after New Delhi’s 1974 nuclear test.

Accompanied by Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon, International Trade Minister Stockwell Day and Parliamentary Secretary Deepak Obhrai, Harper lands in Mumbai on Sunday night from Singapore after attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) summit. He will meet top Indian industrialists at a luncheon at the Trident Hotel in Mumbai on Monday before leaving for New Delhi. Harper will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on a range of bilateral issues including trade and investment and prospects of civil nuclear cooperation besides the global financial crisis as well as climate change.

The two sides are likely to talk about a Canada-India Free Trade Agreement or other incremental steps to lower trade barriers between them. A slew of agreements are expected to be signed, including a foreign investment protection agreement and on energy and farming cooperation in a bid to expand bilateral trade now languishing below $5 billion.

Sensex falls 22 points on weak global cues

MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share index fell by 22 points at 1015 hours on Friday in sustained volatility caused by approaching expiry of futures & options contract.

Weak global cues and negative FII activity weighed on market sentiment.

The BSE barometer was quoted lower at 16,763.34 at 1015 hours, down 22.31 points or 0.13 per cent from its last close.

The broader 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also dropped by 10.50 points or 0.21 per cent to 4,978.50 at 1015 hours from its previous close.

Key stocks such as DLF were down 1.86 per cent, ICICI Bank 1.54 per cent, Reliance Infra 1.52 per cent and SBI 1.16 per cent in early trade.