Sensex ends flat in high volatility

MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share bellwether ended flat on Thursday after high volatility as investors booked profits in the last 30 minutes.

The market alternatively moved in positive and negative terrain throughout and fell sharply at the fag end even as inflation rose marginally to minus 1.21% and European markets slipped in early trade after a three-day surge.

Fluctuating in a range of 14,493.10 and 14,169.58, the BSE barometer ended the day at 14,250.25, showing a fractional downside variation from its previous close.

Initially, the market hit an intra-day high on the back of firm Asian cues and positive FII activity.

Asian indices ended the day higher by about 0.5% to 1.0% on encouraging US manufacturing data.

Foreign institutional investors turned net buyers after their massive pull-out in the initial two weeks of July. They bought shares worth Rs 342.69 crore on July 14 and 15, as per provisional data on the NSE.

Smallcap and midcap stocks, however, closed in the green with the respective indices gaining 0.39% and 0.24%.

Brokers, however, said the market is still bullish and expected to surge on the flow of corporate earnings. Infosys Technologies and HDFC Bank so far have announced encouraging first-quarter results.

Soruce:TOI

Maoist attacks could force government to review strategy

NEW DELHI, July 13: The killing of 29 policemen in Chhattisgarh, the epicentre of Maoist violence, has been the deadliest attack mounted by the rebels this year, demonstrating how they have expanded their grip in vast swathes of the State and beyond. With 13 policemen, who were pressed into combing operations, still missing after Sunday’s attacks, the security establishment in New Delhi has been shaken by the assault and is again re-examining the government’s approach in dealing with left-wing extremism.

Pruning VIP security: A tough call for government

NEW DELHI, July 12: The government has been quick to decide on not upgrading Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Varun Gandhi’s security cover to the Z plus category, but is yet to take a call on whittling down or even dispensing with the bodyguards of a majority of the 395 VIPs in the capital.

Over 9,000 personnel, mainly from Delhi Police, supplemented by hundreds of paramilitary personnel drawn from forces like the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), provide security to the VIPs.

The number of armed bodyguards has often been seen as a status symbol in the capital, the major reason why VIPs are so reluctant to have their security cover reduced. Appraisals of all the people protected that the Home Ministry periodically reviews after receiving inputs from the Intelligence Bureau have revealed that many of them do not require security as the threat perception simply does not exist.

Chemicals sector attracts highest foreign investment

NEW DELHI, July 12: Despite the global slowdown, the chemicals sector witnessed the highest growth in foreign investment in 2008-09, says a report by an industry lobby. The report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) released on Sunday said the chemicals sector (other than fertilisers), attracted $749 million last fiscal as compared to the $229 million it attracted the previous year - an increase of 227 per cent.

The telecom sector, too, saw higher foreign investment, attracting $2,558 million in 2008-09 as compared to the $1,261 million the year before. This was an increase of 103 per cent. Similarly, despite global trends, the automobile sector recorded a 70 per cent growth in foreign investment, growing from $675 million in 2007-08 to $1,152 million last fiscal.