Nifty ends above 2800

MUMBAI: Equities witnessed a dull trade on Wednesday as investors chose to stay away in a directionless market. Metal and realty space ended higher while healthcare closed marginally lower.

National Stock Exchange’s Nifty ended at 2803.05, up 19.15 points or 0.69 per cent. The broader index hit an intra-day high of 2842.20 and low of 2780.70.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex closed at 9201.85 up 52.55 points or 0.57 per cent. The index touched an intra-day high of 9338.21 and low of 9164.16.

BSE Midcap Index was down 0.45 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index ended flat.

Tata Steel (5.15%), Zee Entertainment (5.01%), DLF (4.97%), Sterlite Industries (4.63%) and SAIL (3.87%) were the biggest Nifty gainers.

Mahindra & Mahindra (-2.61%), Suzlon Energy (-2.21%), Power Grid (-2%), HDFC Bank (1.37%) and Hindalco Industries (-1.34%) were the losers in the 50-share index.

(All figures are provisional)

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Panasonic cuts 15K jobs, 27 plants go

TOKYO: Japan's Panasonic Corp said it was cutting up to 15,000 jobs and closing 27 plants worldwide as it braces to fall deep in the red due to the global economic crisis.

The company tumbled to a loss for the fiscal third quarter as a global downturn squelched demand, gadget prices plunged and a strong yen eroded overseas earnings, the Japanese electronics maker said.

Panasonic, the world's largest maker of plasma display TVs, said it expects more red ink for the full year ending March 2009, which would be its first yearly net loss in six years. The company, which had previously forecast a full year profit of 30 billion yen, now expects to rack up losses of 380 billion yen ($4.2 billion).

The Osaka-based manufacturer of digital cameras, flat-panel TVs, cell phones and batteries reported a 63.1 billion yen ($709 million) loss for the October-December period. It had posted a 115.2 billion yen profit the same quarter the previous year.

Quarterly sales dropped 20 per cent to 1.880 trillion yen from 2.345 trillion, with overseas sales decreasing 29 per cent, and Japanese sales down 10 per cent.

The company blamed a global slowdown set off by the US financial crisis, the rapid surge of the yen and sudden price drops for the dismal results. Sales slid in a wide range of products, including flat-panel TVs, DVD recorders, microwaves, lamps and semiconductors, it said.

“The company's business conditions have worsened particularly since last October, due mainly to the rapid appreciation of the yen, sluggish consumer spending worldwide and ever intensified price competition,” Panasonic said in a statement.
The last time Panasonic reported a loss was for the fiscal year ended March 2002, when a global electronics slump and massive restructuring costs
contributed to 431 billion yen in red ink.

Since then, the company has been shedding money-losing businesses and focusing on key products such as plasma display TVs to turn itself around.

The company, formerly named Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, for its founder, also lowered its sales forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, to 7.75 trillion yen from an earlier 8.5 trillion yen.

Japan's other export-reliant electronics makers are also seeing their profitability sorely hurt, including Panasonic's longtime rival Sony Corp.

Sony is forecasting a 150 billion yen net loss for the fiscal year through March. The last and only time Sony reported a loss -- the fiscal year ending March 1995 -- the red ink came from one-time losses in its movie division, marred by box office flops and lax cost controls.

Hitachi Ltd, NEC Corp and Toshiba Corp are also all forecasting big losses for the fiscal year.

Source: http://infotech.indiatimes.com/News/Hardware/Panasonic_cuts_15K_jobs_27_plants_go/articleshow/msid-4074595,curpg-2.cms

Indian software industry to log $60bn revenue: Nasscom

NEW DELHI: The Indian software and services industry is expected to grow 16 percent this fiscal and log revenues of $60 billion despite the global slowdown, a top lobby for the industry said on Wednesday.

The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) said together with the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, the revenues are expected to top $71.7 billion with a growth of 17 percent.

Of this, the export of software and services will account for $47 billion, growing by 16-17 percent. The association also said that the domestic BPO industry would log a growth of as much as 40 percent this fiscal.

“The current financial year has been challenging for economies across the globe. But the Indian IT-BPO industry has exhibited a balanced growth,” said Ganesh Natarajan, chairman of Nasscom and global chief executive of Zensar Technologies.

“We have seen Europe, Asia Pacific and rest of the world grow more than US, reaffirming geographical diversification as an encouraging trend for this industry,” Natarajan told reporters, while releasing the association's report.


Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Software_Inc_to_log_60bn_revenue/articleshow/4074761.cms

Sensex up 156 pts in opening trade on firm global cues

MUMBAI: Continuing its upward trend for the second straight day today, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex moved up by another 156 points in opening trade on increased capital inflows by funds, driven by firming trends in global equity markets.

The 30-share index, which had gained 82.60 in yesterday's trading, gathered another 156.74 points, or 1.71 per cent to 9,306.04 in opening trade as all the sectoral indices were trading in positive zone with gains up to 2.66 per cent.

Similarly, the broader National Stock Exchange Nifty rose by 46.35 points to 2,830.25 in opening trade.

Marketmen said overnight gains on the US markets and firming trend in other Asian stock markets, sparked off buying on the domestic bourses.

They said a rise of up to six per cent in Indian companies ADRs on the US markets also influenced the trading sentiment.

Among major gainers which supported the Sensex were RIL by 1.19 per cent to Rs 1,318, SBI by 1.39 per cent to Rs 1,106.45, ICICI Bank by 1.99 per cent at Rs 399.50 and HDFC Bank by 1.37 per cent at Rs 911.25.

Among software exporters stocks, Infosys gained 0.71 per cent to Rs 1,291.50, Tata Consultancy by 1.54 per cent to Rs 507.60 and Wipro by 1.49 per cent to 227.40 but fraud-tainted Satyam's stocks fell 6.94 per cent to Rs 51.65.

Besides, Larsen and Toubro rose 1.38 per cent to Rs 667, BHEL by 1.15 per cent to Rs 1354.10, Bharti Airtel by 1.33 per cent to Rs 633.20, Sterlite Industries by 3.03 per cent to Rs 275.65 and Tata Steel by 2.02 per cent to Rs 174.15.

Meanwhile, US's Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.78 per cent higher yesterday, while Japan's Nikkei moved up 2.57 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 2.47 per cent in early trade today.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Sensex_up_156_pts_on_firm_global_cues/articleshow/4073560.cms