Gold prices snaps 2-day rally, slips on reduced offtake

Gold prices on Friday snapped two days of gains, falling by Rs 10 to Rs 32,400 per 10 gram in the national capital, on reduced offtake at existing higher levels amid a weak global trend.

Weak global trend, as investors weighed speculation that the US Fed will delay a reduction in stimulus against signs of reduced demand in world's biggest consumer - China, also influenced the sentiment, traders said.

Gold in Singapore, which normally sets price trend on the domestic front, fell by 0.5 per cent to $1,340.44 an ounce and silver by 1.2 per cent to $22.42 an ounce.

On the domestic front, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity slipped by Rs 10 each to Rs 32,400 and Rs 32,200 per ten gram, respectively. It had gained Rs 785 in last two days.

Sovereign held steady at Rs 25,300 per piece of eight gram.

Similarly, silver ready dropped by Rs 750 to Rs 49,450 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 350 to Rs 49,650 per kg. The white metal had surged by Rs 1,190 on Wednesday.

On the other hand, silver coins continued to be asked at last level of Rs 88,000 for buying and Rs 89,000 for selling of 100 pieces.

Ford CEO 'denies' comment on Microsoft top job speculations

 
Alan Mulally, the man who has led Ford Motor Co's turnaround from near financial ruin, continues to keep mum on whether he has talked to Microsoft about the CEO job at the software giant.

Ford is set to report its fifth-straight profitable year under Mulally. The No. 2 US automaker reported a $1.3 billion third-quarter net profit.

He has held the top post since 2006, when he was hired from aviation giant Boeing to rescue the company. Mulally, 68, repeated that there's no change in Ford's plan for him to stay as CEO through the end of 2014.

"We don't comment on the speculation," he said on Thursday in response to a question from The Associated Press on the company's third-quarter earnings conference call.

Mulally said nothing has changed since last November, when Ford announced that he would stay through 2014 and that veteran executive Mark Fields would take over day-to-day business as chief operating officer.

Fields ran the company's Americas operations for seven years, turning them into a profit machine. His appointment as COO is a strong indication that the board favours him to replace Mulally.

Washington-based Microsoft Corp is reportedly considering Mulally as a replacement for CEO Steve Ballmer, who intends to step down in less than a year.

Mulally on his part hasn't denied reports that tech giant is courting him. His name surfaced shortly after Ballmer said in August that he would retire. The two are friends, and Mulally still has a home in the Seattle area. Ballmer even spoke with Mulally over coffee about a wide-ranging reorganization that Microsoft announced in July.

A management expert said the Ford CEO's no-comment indicates that he has some interest in the Microsoft job.

"His non-denial denial means that he's either talking to them or that he wishes he were talking to them," said Yale University management and law professor Jonathan Macey, who has written a book on corporate governance.

Microsoft beats forecasts as Q1 profit jumps 17 per cent

Microsoft Corp cruised past Wall Street's quarterly profit and revenue forecasts, helped by strong sales of its Office and server software to businesses, sending its shares up 6 per cent after hours.

For the first quarter, the technology giant posted a 17 per cent increase in profit to $5.2 billion, or 62 cents per share, up from $4.5 billion, or 53 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue rose 16 per cent to $18.5 billion, helped by rising sales of its Office software.

Analysts had trimmed profit estimates for Microsoft over the past three months, concerned by the launch of an ambitious reorganisation by retiring Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and the pricey acquisition of Nokia's handset business, even as the company's core personal computer market ebbs away.

"The earnings report will positively surprise the market, especially in the context of the soft expectations going in and the dismal report last quarter," said Todd Lowenstein, a portfolio manager at fund firm HighMark Capital. "Beating on revenue and earnings handily will boost confidence that the reorganization is pivoting them in the right direction."

Technology is proving one of the most resilient sectors in an uncertain US economy, with 84 per cent of tech companies beating analysts' earnings estimates for the latest quarter.

Microsoft, the world's largest software company, is the latest tech firm to surprise investors with a powerful performance, coming the same day as Amazon.com Inc eased past average revenue forecasts.

As part of its reinvention as a "devices and services" company, Microsoft now reports under two main groups - one covering its devices and consumer business, and one its commercial business.

The commercial side was the stronger in the quarter, posting a 10 per cent increase in revenue, chiefly from selling Office and server software to businesses. The consumer and hardware group's revenue rose a more modest 4 per cent, held back by another poor quarter for the Windows system as sales of personal computers continue to decline.

According to industry research firm Gartner, PC shipments fell 8.6 per cent last quarter, confirming a worldwide trend towards tablets that has benefited Apple Inc and Google Inc but hurt traditional PC stalwarts Microsoft and Intel Corp.

PC sales have been sliding for the last 18 months, although Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said on Thursday that there were "signs of stabilisation".

Microsoft said nothing on Thursday about the board's search for a new CEO after Ballmer announced in August that he plans to retire within 12 months.

Its shares rose to $35.65 after hours, after closing at $33.72 on Nasdaq.

Ratan Tata meets Anand Sharma post FIPB nod for airline venture

With the FIPB giving approval to the Tata-Singapore Airlines joint venture to start a full-service carrier, Tata Group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata on Friday met Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.

Tata was accompanied by Singapore Airlines (SIA) CEO Goh Choon Phong and Tata SIA Airlines Chairman Prasad Menon.

While Tata declined to comment, sources in the ministry said the meeting was a courtesy call.

On Thursday, Tata along with Phong had also met Finance Minister P Chidambaram after the FIPB cleared the venture.

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) gave its green signal to Singapore Airlines to start a full-service airline in partnership with Tata Sons entailing an initial foreign investment of $49 million.

This is Tatas' second venture in the aviation sector after its tie-up with Malaysian carrier Air Asia in February for a low cost passenger air service.

Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram had stated that there were no riders set for the joint venture.

While Singapore Airlines plans to invest $49 million, Tatas would be contributing remaining amount of the total planned $100 million investment in the joint venture.

The joint venture needs other government approvals before it can start operations.

To be called Tata SIA Airlines Ltd, the venture would be headquartered in Delhi.

The two had assured the government that control of their proposed venture would always remain in Indian hands, while seeking approval to offer full-service passenger airways on both domestic and international routes. Of the six directors, four would be nominated by the Tatas.

Wockhardt Q2 net dips 69 per cent to Rs 138 cr

Wockhardt has reported a 69.46 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit for the second quarter ended September 30.

The pharma major posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 138.50 crore for the quarter under review against Rs 453.55 crore in the July-September period of 2012-13.

In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Wockhardt said net sales during the second quarter stood at Rs 1,196.97 crore against Rs 1,347.44 crore in the year-ago quarter.

The company also said its Board of Directors have declared an 100 per cent interim dividend of Rs 5 per share for the financial year 2013-14.

Shares of Wockhardt closed 0.98 per cent down at Rs 455.35 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday.

Deutsche Bank sees Sensex at a record 22,000 by Dec end

 
A day after the market benchmark sniffed at life-time high, German brokerage Deutsche Bank on Friday raised its year-end Sensex target to a record high of 22,000 points, saying investor pessimism earlier this year is receding amid positive developments like the good monsoons.

"We are raising our December Sensex target from 21,000 to 22,000 premised on our expectation that the pace of negative news flow over the country and excessive investor pessimism may be receding," Deutsche Bank said.

The Sensex hit an all-time high of 21,206.77 on January 1, 2008, while during intra-day on Thursday, it had scaled 21,039.42. While on January 1, 2008, the Sensex was trading at 28.12 times its PE, on Wednesday it was 18.89 times.

The bank said currency stability, lowering gold imports, rising exports and taper postponement have imparted considerable legitimacy to the government's commitment to contain CAD - the main pain-point for the economy.

In addition, the best monsoon in 15 years is expected to lay the foundation for an accelerated recovery in the rural economy which accounts for 56 per cent of total income and 64 per cent of total expenditure.

While stating it is not expecting any imminent turn in private sector investment momentum and remains cautious over near term monetary policy action, the brokerage has based its optimism on macroeconomy, likely withdrawal of extraordinary liquidity tightening measures by RBI, a synchronised global growth recovery and a US Fed that is expected to stay 'looser for longer'.

"At our target the Sensex will trade at a PE multiple of 15 times, in line with its past five trading average," the brokerage said.

The benchmark BSE Sensex fell 0.2 per cent, or 42.45 points, to end at 20,725.43 on Thursday.

On its preferred stocks/sectors, it replaced IT services which it holds as 'neutral' with banks as the biggest portfolio overweight followed by metals, citing receding concerns over tight liquidity and higher short-end interest rates.

"Our top picks include Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, Bharat Forge, Coal India, Godrej Consumer, ITC, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Maruti, RIL, Tata Steel and Zee.

"We have raised banks as the top overweight in our model portfolio as we believe that excessive concerns over tight liquidity and elevated short-end rates are behind us, and fears of sharp margin compression and treasury losses have waned," it said.

However, it said the three key themes investors will be playing out will be currency stabilisation, rural demand recovery and global growth.

Stating that the overall scene is not as bad as it appeared earlier, it said following fears over the Fed taper in May and the sharp currency depreciation, investors had feared a vicious economic cycle for the country and a protracted return to normalcy.

It also noted that contrary to prevailing pessimism during the currency crisis, the Q2 earnings so far have been above street expectations, assuaging investor concerns over an accelerated earnings downgrade cycle.

Gold, silver prices zoom on seasonal demand

Gold prices surged by Rs 305 to Rs 31,930 per ten gram in the national capital on Wednesday on brisk buying by stockists and jewellers to meet the rising seasonal demand amid strong global trend.

Silver prices too zoomed by Rs 1,190 to Rs 50,200 per kg on increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers for coming festivals led by Diwali and ongoing marriage season.

Silver and gold coins, which are normally used for pooja on Diwali and gifting purpose during marriage celebrations, remained in keen demand.

Firm global trend after payrolls in the US climbed, increasing speculation the Federal Reserve will maintain monetary stimulus to boost the economy, also influenced the sentiment, traders said.

Gold in New York, which normally sets price trend on the domestic front, climbed 2 per cent to $1,342.60 an ounce, nearing the highest level since September 30. Silver also climbed 2.3 per cent to $22.79 an ounce.

On the domestic front, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity surged by Rs 305 each to Rs 31,930 and Rs 31,730 per ten gram, respectively, while sovereign held steady at Rs 25,300 per piece of eight gram.

In a similar fashion, silver ready surged by Rs 1,190 to Rs 50,200 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 700 to Rs 50,000 per kg. However, silver coins held steady at Rs 87,000 for buying and Rs 88,000 for selling of 100 pieces.