Hero MotoCorp: says open to acquiring companies

After stringing up a series of technology partnerships, Hero MotoCorp says it is open to acquiring companies, including full-fledged two-wheeler makers, as part of global expansion strategy.

“We have not stopped efforts to find technology partners, it is an ongoing process. We are open to acquiring companies,” Hero MotoCorp Managing Director and CEO, Pawan Munjal, told PTI.

In July, the company had picked up 49.2 per cent stake in US-based Erik Buell Racing (EBR) for $25 million, after entering into a technology sourcing pact last year.

It had entered into an alliance with Austria-based engine developer AVL to enhance capability in various segments last year, apart from roping in Italian two—wheeler design firm Engines Engineering as a partner to help develop next-generation product line-up.

Asked if HMC was open to acquiring a full-fledged two-wheeler company, Munjal said: “We are not aggressively scouting for one at the moment but if some target comes on the way, we will surely look at it.”

While he did not specify what kind of company would interest HMC, Munjal said it was about adding value to the company’s pursuit of technological prowess.

“Money is not an issue, it is about putting it to good use,” he said.

Currently, HMC has cash reserves of about Rs 3,500 crore.

The company has also been strengthening its R&D set-up after the Indian promoter of the two-wheeler maker, the B.M. Munjal family, agreed to buy out the entire 26 per cent stake of Honda in their erstwhile joint venture Hero Honda for Rs 3,841.83 crore in December 2010.

Having embarked on a solo journey, HMC has set ambitious targets, looking to expand in global markets. In August, it had announced plans to enter 50 new markets by 2020 with a target of 20 manufacturing facilities across the globe and an overall annual turnover of Rs 60,000 crore.

It had set a target of selling 100 million bikes cumulatively by 2020, after it had rolled out its 50 millionth bike. It has set a target of selling 1 million units annually by 2017 from its overseas markets that will be 10 per cent of its total sales.

The company in July announced its foray into the African continent with the launch of its brand and products in Kenya where it has also set up an assembly unit. A month later, it entered Peru with the launch of the ‘Hero’ brand and its range of two-wheelers in the Latin American nation.

Sensex nosedives 400 points on US budget impasse woes

With the threat of US Government shutdown looming large, global markets nosedived and this had a negative impact on the Indian bourses.

Global markets worldwide were circumspect ahead of the September 30 deadline for the US to increase its debt limit to fund government expenditure.

With the Democrats and the Republicans unrelenting on the Obamacare issue, the possibility of shutdown of the US Government has had a negative impact on the global markets.

What has added further to the uncertainty is the political turmoil in Italy where the survival of the Government is at stake.

The US Government appeared headed for a partial shutdown on Monday after the Republican-controlled Lower House approved a Budget Bill that Democrats in the Senate and the White House vowed to reject.

A Government shutdown would be the first since 1996 and would begin on Tuesday, the first day of the new fiscal year, unless lawmakers find a last-minute solution in Monday's session.

The Sensex plunged 400.36 points or 2.03 per cent at 19,326.91 and the Nifty shed 111.55 points or 1.91 per cent at 5,721.65.

Barring IT, all other BSE sectoral indices were trading in the red. Capital Goods, Banking, Metal and Realty indices succumbed to heavy selling pressure and were down 2.92 per cent, 2.84 per cent, 2.44 per cent and 2.09 per cent, respectively.On the other hand, IT index was up 0.06 per cent

Among major gainers, HUL was up 1.06 per cent at Rs 627.40, Sun Pharma 0.47 per cent at Rs 592.55, Infosys up 0.3 per cent at Rs 3,015.45, NTPC 0.27 per cent at Rs 148.20 and GAIL up 0.09 per cent at Rs 326.70.

Among the major losers were Tata Steel, BHEL, ICICI Bank, Coal India and L&T. Tata Steel was trading down by 7.03 per cent at Rs 267.70, BHEL lost 4.72 per cent to trade at Rs 137.15, ICICI Bank down 4.12 per cent at Rs 885.25, Coal India lost 3.71 per cent at Rs 295.65 and L&T 3.44 per cent at Rs 789.30.

US Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew in a follow-up letter to the Speaker, US House of Representatives, urged the Congress to allow an increase US borrowing capacity to fund its social security and healthcare expenditure.

“If we have insufficient cash on hand, it would be impossible for the United States of America to meet all of its obligations for the first time in our history,” Lew said.

Referring to the US credit rating downgrade in 2011, he said: “If Congress were to repeat that brinksmanship in 2013, it could inflict even greater harm on the economy.”

Rajesh Agarwal of Eastern Financiers said that the HSBC manufacturing and services PMI and auto sales numbers would set the tone for this week’s market movement.

MCX shares hit lower circuit limit

Shares of Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) today fell 5 per cent to hit its lowest trading permissible limit for the day, after index provider Morgan Stanley Capital International excluded the company from its small cap indices.

After making a weak opening, the scrip further lost 5 per cent to Rs 382.05 — its lower circuit limit on the BSE. On the NSE, the scrip fell 5 per cent to touch its lower circuit limit of Rs 381.10.

“MCX shares will be deleted from the MSCI global small cap indices with effect from Wednesday,” Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) had said on Friday.

MSCI is a leading provider of benchmark indices globally.

Geometric trades higher on the bourses

Geometric is currently trading at Rs. 76.15, up by 0.60 points or 0.79% from its previous closing of Rs. 75.55 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 75.20 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 76.85 and Rs. 75.20 respectively. So far 4221 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 125.50 on 08-Oct-2012 and a 52 week low of Rs. 61.40 on 02-Aug-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 79.55 and Rs. 74.20 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 482.27 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 37.17% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 2.90% and 59.94% respectively.

Geometric, a leader in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Global Engineering Services and Intellectual property led solutions, and Anark Corporation, a leading provider of automated 3D CAD visualization solutions, has announced the expansion of their strategic partnership with an equity investment by Geometric’s wholly owned subsidiary, Geometric Americas, Inc.

The agreement will further extend the companies’ capabilities to deliver a world class Model Based Enterprise (MBE) authoring and publishing solution, Anark Core MBEWeb, which is powered by Geometric’s Glovius, an easy to use and customizable viewer application that enables downstream users to view high fidelity 3D data from anywhere, anytime.

The companies plan to expand their global sales and marketing collaboration and jointly target enterprise manufacturers within the aerospace, defense, automotive and industrial sectors. This will be achieved through development of a joint product roadmap that will focus on market needs and deliver a highly effective and cost efficient solution for publishing and consumption of 3D documents by users in manufacturing, inspection, and purchasing.

Glenmark gets USFDA nod for skin infections cream

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals today said it has received approval from the US health regulator for its generic Hydrocortisone Butyrate cream used for treating a variety of skin infections.

Glenmark Generics Inc USA, the subsidiary of Glenmark Generics Ltd, has received the nod for its Hydrocortisone Butyrate Cream USP (0.1 per cent), abbreviated new drug approval (ANDA) from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said in a statement.

The company is entitled to 180 days of exclusivity with respect to the product as it is the first generic company to file an ANDA for the product, it added.

“In April 2011, Glenmark had entered into a royalty-bearing licence agreement with Triax Pharmaceuticals, Astellas Pharma Europe BV and Astellas Pharma International BV to settle a patent infringement suit against commercialisation of generic version of Locoid Lipocream and agreed to launch it near the end of CY 2013,” Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said.

According to IMS Health sales data for the 12-month period ending June 2013, Hydrocortisone Butyrate Cream garnered annual sales of nearly $34 million, it added.

The company’s product is a generic version of Triax’s Locoid Lipocream.

“Hydrocortisone Butyrate cream is indicated for the relief of the inflammatory and pruritic manifestations of orticosteroid-responsive dermatoses in adults and the treatment of mild to moderate atopic dermatitis in patients three months to 18 years of age,” Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said.

The company’s current portfolio consists of 90 products authorised for distribution in the US market and 53 ANDAs pending approval with the USFDA, it added.

Shares of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals were today trading at Rs 533.05 per scrip in afternoon trade on the BSE, up 1.95 per cent from its previous close.

Oct 31 deadline for e-filing audit reports of tax returns

The government today extended the last date for uploading audit reports of income tax returns by a month to October 31.

The due date, which was earlier September 30, has been extended in the wake of difficulty in uploading the report of audit electronically as prescribed under the sub—rule (2) of Rule 12 of the IT rules for the assessment year 2013—14.

“It has come to the notice of the CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) that many assessees who are required to file their income tax returns by September 30, 2013 are finding it difficult to upload the report of audit electronically.

“Therefore, the CBDT has decided to extend the time for furnishing the report of audit electronically till October 31, 2013,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

The statement, however added that, the assessees are required to file the report of audit manually with the jurisdictional Assessing Officer by September 30, 2013.

As per the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), there has been an unprecedented surge in number of returns being e—filed.

Sensex plummets 257 points on US budget impasse woes

Global markets worldwide were circumspect ahead of the September 30 deadline for the US to increase its debt limit to fund government expenditure.

With the threat of US Government shutdown looming large, global markets plunged and this had a negative impact on the Indian bourses with the Sensex trading down 257.31 points or 1.3 per cent at 19,469.96 and the Nifty trading down 73.85 points or 1.27 per cent at 5,759.35.

Barring IT, all other BSE sectoral indices were trading in the red.

Capital goods, metal, PSU and banking sector stocks succumbed to heavy selling pressure and were down 2.86 per cent, 2.8 per cent, 2.75 per cent and 2.48 per cent, respectively. Only IT sector stocks were up 0.58 per cent.

Among major gainers, HUL was trading at Rs 628.25, up 1.19 per cent, Wipro gained 0.96 per cent at Rs 479.70, Infosys gained 0.72 per cent to trade at Rs 3,028, Bajaj Auto up by 0.31 per cent at Rs 1,998.40 and Sun Pharma gained 0.18 per cent to trade at Rs 590.80.

Among the major losers were Tata Steel, BHEL, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank and ONGC. Tata Steel was trading down by 5.52 per cent at Rs 271.95, BHEL lost 5.35 per cent to trade at Rs 136.25, Coal India lost 4.07 per cent to trade at Rs 294.55, ICICI Bank down by 3.65 per cent at Rs 889.60 and ONGC shed 3.62 per cent to trade at Rs 264.55.

US Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew in a follow-up letter to the Speaker, US House of Representatives, urged the Congress to allow an increase US borrowing capacity to fund its social security and healthcare expenditure.

“If we have insufficient cash on hand, it would be impossible for the United States of America to meet all of its obligations for the first time in our history,” Lew said.

Referring to the US credit rating downgrade in 2011, he said: “If Congress were to repeat that brinksmanship in 2013, it could inflict even greater harm on the economy.”

Rajesh Agarwal of Eastern Financiers said that the HSBC manufacturing and services PMI and auto sales numbers would set the tone for this week’s market movement.

With the Democrats and the Republicans unrelenting on the Obamacare issue, the possibility of shutdown of the US Government has had a negative impact on the global markets.

What has added further to the uncertainty is the political turmoil in Italy where the survival of the Government is at stake.

Japan's Nikkei shed 262.99 points or 1.78 per cent to 14,497.10, Hong Kong's Hang Seng plunged 282.81 points or 1.22 per cent to 22,924.20 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 88.16 points or 1.66 per cent to 5,218.90.

Life insurance products to become more transparent from Tuesday

While product returns would be easier to understand, pending approvals may mean lesser insurance plans to choose from in initial few days

Beginning Tuesday, life insurance policies will not just be more transparent, but the returns from each plan will also be more easier to understand. From October 1, the new product guidelines for linked and non-linked insurance products will be implemented, which will disclose all benefits and fund value calculations upfront, to ensure that customer are buying products that they need.

Anup Rau, CEO, Reliance Life Insurance said that the new guidelines have categorised life insurance products into three broad categories- traditional insurance plans, variable insurance plans (VIPs) and unit-linked insurance plans. "New traditional products will have a higher death cover. For regular premium policies, the cover will be ten times the annualised premium paid for those below 45 and seven times for others. The minimum death benefit in case of traditional plan is at least the amount of sum assured and the additional benefits, if any," he added.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) had brought out new set of guidelines for life insurance products in February. While the minimum death benefit and surrender value have been altered for traditional product customers who stay invested in a policy for a longer period, in the case of Unit-Linked Products (Ulips), insurers will have to intimate customers about changes in the yield of the Ulip every month. Further, Rau explained that as per the new norms, variable insurance plans will guarantee a certain minimum rate of return at the beginning of the policy, though they are linked to an index.

These variable insurance products will be treated at par with Ulips, those products will follow the same commission package for Ulips. Agents who tend to sell shorter tenure products will now have to shift their sales strategy to longer tenure products, since commissions have now been linked to tenure of a policy. Higher the duration, higher is the commission.

However, industry officials said that the product mix, which is in heavily tilted towards traditional products will continue. Reliance Life, which has about 80% traditional plans and 20% Ulips, expects this trend to continue for some time. "The new regulations make the traditional products, like endowment and money-back plans, more transparent and customer-friendly due to larger life cover and higher flexibility. It will definitely make traditional plans a more compelling proposition," added Rau.

Customers, say industry experts will now be motivated to take a higher insurance cover. Niraj Shah, senior vice president and head-products, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance added that the new product regulations which will be applicable from October 1 include a higher level of insurance cover, more transparency and improvement in minimum surrender value for traditional products.

Shah also informed that Ulips continue to remain attractive due to the inherent advantages of transparency and flexibility to choose level of insurance cover, premium payment term, asset allocation.

Ulips are presently sold mandatorily with a personalised Benefit Illustration. V Viswanand, Director and Head Product  Solutions Management, Max Life Insurance said that this requirement is now being extended to other product forms. "The new guidelines have also provided for setting up a 'With Profit Committee', at the board level.  While personalized benefit illustration will provide for greater transparency, the With Profit Committee is likely to lead to better and more transparent governance in the administration of Participating policies," he said.

While customers will have a clearer idea of their policy with the new guidelines in place, there could be lesser number of products to choose from, for a new customer. With the approval process still on at the regulator's office, estimates suggest that each insurance company would only start off with 6-8 products. There is also a fear that some smaller life insurers may not have any product to sell on the first day, that is tomorrow, and would only be able to have products approved in next few weeks.

Effective today, corporate bonds can be used as collateral on exchange

To be considered part of non-cash component of liquid assets

Entities trading on the stock market can now use corporate bonds as collateral, expanding the pool of securities which included government securities and open-ended mutual funds

The National Stock Exchange implemented the move effective from Monday, according to an exchange circular.

“Corporate bonds shall be treated as part of the non-cash component of the liquid assets of the clearing member and shall not exceed 10% of the total liquid assets of the clearing member,” said the note dated September 20.

The collateral will be to the tune of up to 90% of the value of the bond or with the application of a 10% haircut to its value. The bonds are to be valued everyday on the basis of its closing price of in the cash or debt segment of the exchange, added the note.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India(Sebi) had come out with a circular in March expanding the pool of securities which can be used by foreign institutional investors(FIIs) to meet collateral requirements.

“FIIs are permitted to offer the following collaterals - government securities, corporate bonds, cash and foreign sovereign securities with AAA ratings, for their transactions in both cash and F&O(Futures and Options) segments. In this regard, the stipulations specified by Sebi and RBI(Reserve Bank of India) with regard to the acceptance of various collaterals shall be adhered to,” said the Sebi circular.

MRF plans to invest about Rs10bn

Report said that the expansion would provide employment to over 1,000 people.

India's leading tyre maker MRF reportedly said that it will invest about Rs 1,000 crore to double its capacity at a facility located near Hyderabad.

Last week, MRF approached Andhra Pradesh industries ministry  to double capacities.
Report said that the expansion would provide employment to over 1,000 people.
MRF has about 32% market share in the Rs 41,000-crore domestic tyre industry.
MRF has Rs 2,853 crore of reserves and surp
lus in its books by the end of 2011-12,

Indian IT to benefit from uptick in outsourcing demand

Accenture's FY14 revenue growth guidance of 2-6% suggests IT behemoth is facing competitive pressure in outsourcing, where Indian players are strong

Analysts in India believe that key factors that impact the profitability of Indian software services exporters, namely uptick in demand, a weak rupee and cost controls at home, have come together favourably for the sector. While a large part of this is true, the key growth markets for India’s IT exports, US and Europe, are not back to normal. In the first quarter, most players have reported healthy volume growth, but for any earnings upgrade analysts will look for more clarity.

To this extent, quarterly performance of Accenture shows a mixed picture. The company’s fourth quarter revenues for the fiscal year 2012-13 declined by 1.5% sequentially to $7.1 billion, but grew 3.7% year-on-year.

Interestingly, new order bookings for the quarter grew at an anemic 1.2% to $8.4 billion. This growth was largely driven by increase in outsourcing orders, which at 4.2% QoQ, while consulting declined by 2.6% QoQ.

What this implies is that the discretionary spending is not seeing any major revival but outsourcing is continuing to grow.  In contrast, outsourcing continues to grow, due to the cost efficiencies of most players (including Indian companies) and demand for business process outsourcing.  Edelweiss Securities believes that Accenture is facing stiff competition from Indian players, which is why it is struggling.  Infosys’ pronounced aggression in the market is making things even tougher. The brokerage says: “We continue to believe that Accenture has reaped the benefits of low hanging fruits and increasingly cost is becoming relevant which should benefit Indian IT companies.”

Analysts say that Accenture’s revenue growth guidance of 2-6% for the FY14 is the lowest in four years. The benefits of low-hanging fruits may be over for Accenture as Indian companies like Infosys getting into the race with aggressive pricing models and cost efficiencies.

India's forex reserves jump by $2 bn

 India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves jumped by $2.03 billion to $277.38 billion for the week ended Sep 20, the biggest weekly gain in nearly two years, on the back of concessional swap facilities offered to banks by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The forex reserve has increased sharply for the second consecutive week. It had jumped by $544.7 million in the previous week.

According to RBI's Weekly Statistical Supplement, the country's foreign currency assets, the biggest component of the forex reserves, increased by $1.97 billion to $249.22 billion for the week ended Sep 20.
The foreign currency assets, expressed in the US dollar term, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies held in reserve, such as the pound sterling, euro and yen.
Analysts say the concessional swap facilities offered by the RBI to banks was the main reason for such a sharp increase in the forex reserve. The RBI had announced the concessional swap facilities Sep 4, with a view to support the battered rupee.

Under the new facilities, commercial banks can swap dollars raised through foreign currency non-resident deposits and overseas forex loans with RBI at a discount to the market swap rate.
The special drawing rights (SDRs) increased by $38.3 million to $4.42 billion, while reserves with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rose by $17.4 million to $2.01 billion.
The value of India's gold reserves remained unchanged at $21.72 billion during the week under review.

SKS Microfinance completes Rs 321 crore securitization transaction

The transaction is possibly the first substantial securitization deal in FY14 in the microfinance sector.

SKS Microfinance Limited  announced the conclusion of a securitization transaction for Rs. 321 crore, rated A1+ (SO) by a leading rating agency, with a major public sector bank.

The transaction is possibly the first substantial securitization deal in FY14 in the microfinance sector.
“This fiscal we could complete the first securitization transaction in Q2 itself as against Q3 in FY13,” said S. Dilli Raj, Chief Financial Officer, SKS Microfinance Limited. “The present transaction generates liquidity of Rs. 321 crore for SKS Microfinance Limited, and enables the Company to extend micro loans to 4,75,000 rural women entrepreneurs. Notably, 29% of the pool is from loans extended to women entrepreneurs from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, 17% from minorities, 37% from Backward Castes and the remaining 17% from women belonging to the other castes. The entire pool thus qualifies for weaker section treatment for the bank."

Another significant aspect to be noted is that the transaction further corroborates the fact that securitization is emerging as a meaningful financial inclusion tool

RBI guv for conversion of co-op bank

RBI governor Raghuram Rajan has kind of a bee in his bonnet about financial inclusion and that is why he is more than ready to allow urban cooperative banks to acquire the status of scheduled commercial banks if they meet the criteria of minimum capital and deposit size.

The new governor seems bent on allowing a proliferation of small banks so the whole country gets banked. India has 88 scheduled commercial banks: 26 state-run banks, 20 private banks and 42 foreign banks.
Financial inclusion has of late become a major goal of the apex bank as a high 40% of India’s population does not take part in formal financial services.

RBI had introduced a three-year financial inclusion program in 2010 that saw 200,000 villages covered by banks.
RBI is working on a new financial inclusion plan to broaden access in the next years.
Sources say the RBI idea of allowing cooperative banks to transform themselves into scheduled commercial banks has thrilled the cooperative world.

Nifty opens below 5,800, Asian markets weigh

The Sensex has opened lower by 141 points at 19,594 mark and the Nifty slipped by 44 points at 5,789 levels

Markets have started the trading session on a lower note tracking weak Asian cues. The Sensex has opened lower by 141 points at 19,594 mark and the Nifty slipped by 44 points at 5,789 levels.

Asian stocks fell on Monday on concern the US government is headed for a shutdown amid a budget stalemate. Key benchmark indices in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea fell 1-2%. China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.45%.

Nikkei falls 2% on global political concerns

U.S. stock futures and the dollar came under pressure on Monday as a shutdown of the U.S. government seemed increasingly likely, though the euro had political troubles of its own as the Italian government teetered on the edge of collapse.

The end result was a shift out of equities and toward safe havens including the yen, Swiss franc and some sovereign debt. U.S. Treasuries also benefited from a view that the economic damage done by a government closure would be yet another reason for the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low for longer.

"Weekend political dynamics in the U.S. and Italy are likely to keep markets on the defensive at the start of a busy week for data and policy events," Barclays analysts wrote in a note.

The damage was clear in U.S. stock futures where the S&P 500 contract shed 0.7 per cent, as did the E-MINI S&P.

Asian stocks followed, though markets in the region are often reluctant to be first to react to U.S. and European events that happen over the weekend.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.5 per cent. Japan's Nikkei fell 2 per cent and South Korean shares lost 0.8 per cent.

The air of risk aversion lifted the yen across the board. The dollar fell to 97.84 yen from 98.20 late in New York on Friday, while the euro sank to 132.01 yen from 132.78.

The euro also lost ground to the Swiss franc, hitting its lowest since early May at one point. Against the U.S. dollar, it was off a quarter of a cent at $1.3494.

The losses came as Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta said he would go before parliament on Wednesday for a confidence vote after ministers in Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right party pulled out of his government at the weekend.

Letta said he wanted to avoid elections under the current widely criticised voting system which he said would produce more stalemate, but it was not clear if an alternative majority could be found.

Meanwhile in Washington, it seemed increasingly unlikely that Republicans and Democrats could reach a deal on funding the government before the fiscal year ends at midnight on Monday.

If so, many government employees will be furloughed and the Labor Department will not issue its monthly employment report scheduled for Friday.

It would also set the stage for a far-more consequential fight to raise the federal government's borrowing authority. Failure to raise the $16.7 trillion debt ceiling by mid-October might force the United States to default on some payment obligations - an event that could cripple the economy and send shockwaves around the globe.

Markets have always assumed it would never actually come to default, given the grave repercussions. Indeed, U.S. government debt still seemed to be considered a safe haven with Treasury futures trading 9 ticks higher on Monday.

Investors also bid up Eurodollar futures on expectations that a drawn-out government shutdown and brinkmanship over the debt ceiling would keep the Fed from tapering its asset buying anytime soon.

The political bickering overshadowed data from Japan showing manufacturing activity expanded in September at the fastest pace since the earthquake and nuclear disaster of early 2011.

Also due later is the final September HSBC manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China, while the official PMI is out on Tuesday and HSBC services PMI on Friday.

"China data will provide confidence to investors who are consumed by the U.S. cues, but probably not enough to convince investors about risk-taking behaviour," said Samsung Securities analyst Kim Yong-goo.

In commodity markets, gold was a shade firmer at $1,339.91 an ounce, while copper futures fell 0.4 percent.

Brent oil for November dropped 73 cents to $107.90 a barrel and NYMEX crude lost $1.08 to $101.75 a barrel.

Japan’s industrial output down 0.7% in August

Japan’s industrial production edged down a seasonally adjusted 0.7 per cent in August from the previous month for the first drop in two months, the Government said on Monday.

The figure, which was slightly below the 0.4 per cent fall predicted by analysts surveyed by the Nikkei business daily, followed a 3.4 per cent rise in July.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry maintained its basic assessment, saying “industrial production shows signs of picking up at a moderate pace.” The index of production at factories and mines stood at 97.2 against a baseline of 100 for 2005, the ministry said.

General machinery, transport equipment and information electronic equipment industries contributed to the bulk of the fall in August, the ministry said.

Manufacturers surveyed by the ministry expected industrial output to jump 5.2 per cent in September and rise 2.5 per cent in October.

The index of industrial shipments edged up 0.4 per cent in August from the previous month to 96.0, and that of industrial inventories inched down 0.1 per cent to 108.6, the ministry said.