Govt to pump Rs. 947 cr into Canara Bank

The Board of Directors of Canara Bank at a meeting held on Monday approved the proposal of issuing equity shares on a preferential basis to the Government in lieu of the capital infusion.

Canara Bank on Monday said that the Government will infuse an equity capital of Rs. 947 crore in the state-run bank. 

The Board of Directors of Canara Bank at a meeting held on Monday approved the proposal of issuing equity shares on a preferential basis to the Government in lieu of the capital infusion.

“Based on the letter received from the Government on infusion of capital funds, the Board of the bank, at its meeting held on 31st August 2015, has considered and approved the proposal regarding raising of capital amounting to Rs.947 crore by way of preferential allotment of equity shares in favour of the government,” the bank said in a filing to the stock exchanges.

Earlier this month, the Government had decided to infuse a total of Rs. 20,088 crore in 13 public sector banks, including SBI, Punjab National Bank, IDBI Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and Union Bank of India

Dow records worst monthly fall in more than 5 years

Lingering worries about China’s slowing economy, ongoing tension over Greece and the uncertainty over the timing of a rate increase by the Federal Reserve weighed on investor sentiment during August.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended August with the biggest monthly fall in more than five years, while the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite index recorded their largest monthly declines since May 2012.

Lingering worries about China’s slowing economy, ongoing tension over Greece and the uncertainty over the timing of a rate increase by the Federal Reserve weighed on investor sentiment during August.

The Dow was down 6.6% in August, its steepest percentage decline since May 2010 while the S&P 500 index recorded a 6.3% drop last month, its worst fall since May 2012.

The Nasdaq Composite index shed 6.9% in August.

China's Shanghai Composite index slid 12.5% in August while the Stoxx Europe 600 index posted their worst monthly drop since 2011.

Sun Pharma announces successful completion of Opiates business acquisition in Australia

Sun Pharma now offers a rich basket of Opiates product line in addition to a large API portfolio and dosage formulations covering a broad range of chronic and acute prescription drugs.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd begins the integration of its Opiates business in Australia following the successful completion of this acquisition from GSK (announced in March 2015). This acquisition fortifies Sun Pharma’s global position with two Opiates manufacturing facilities in Port Fairy & Latrobe (both in Australia) complementing its current API manufacturing footprint globally.

Sun Pharma now offers a rich basket of Opiates product line in addition to a large API portfolio and dosage formulations covering a broad range of chronic and acute prescription drugs. The acquisition also brings a specialized team to drive business growth.

The Opiates acquisition allows Sun Pharma to:

• Significantly expands its narcotics raw material (NRM) market share.
• Enhance Opiate Alkaloids portfolio and depth in Global opiates market.

Strengthen its strategic position in the global Opiates business.Welcoming the Opiates team in Australia, Anil Kumar Jain, CEO – API Business, Sun Pharma said, “The successful completion of this acquisition enables us to leverage our unique position in the global Opiates business by capitalizing our global footprint and global ranking in the specialty generics market. Sun Pharma stays committed to uncompromised product quality, 100% compliance and innovation.”

Over the last few months, the Opiates & Sun Pharma teams put together a transition plan to oversee the implementation of the functional integration of Opiates business. The transition process will emphasize on aligning best functional requirements and leveraging employee talents in this business. 

Govt bonds in high demand; BSE auction over-subscribed

The auction was held at the BSE’s ebidxchange platform for allocation of foreign institutional investors’ investment limits in government debt securities.

Indian government bonds attracted bids worth Rs. 987 crore from the foreign investors on Monday as against Rs. 561 crore worth of securities put on offer.

The auction was held at the BSE’s ebidxchange platform for allocation of foreign institutional investors’ (FIIs) investment limits in government debt securities.

At the end of a two-hour auction on Monday evening, 29 bids were declared successful.

Total investments, including limits acquired by FIIs through the auction route, stood at Rs. 1,23,876 crore till 6th August, which is 99.5% of the total permitted investment limit of Rs. 1,24,432 crore in government debt.

Earlier this month, the NSE conducted an auction for government debt securities worth Rs. 556 crore, which attracted bids worth Rs. 974 crore.

ITC to launch ghee products by end-September

ITC has set up a milk processing unit in Munger (Bihar), and also plans to set up similar dairy processing facilities in other parts of the country.

ITC is all set to foray into the dairy business and the FMCG major will mark its entry in this segment by introducing ghee products by the end of September.

“We will bring our first dairy product into the market with ghee by the end of the current quarter,” Sanjiv Puri, President of FMCG businesses at ITC told reporters in Mumbai on the sidelines of a conference.

Other dairy products that ITC is looking to launch include: packaged milk, butter, cheese and chocolates.

A significant portion of the targeted investment of INR 25,000 crore for ITC over the next few years would be in foods, Puri told reporters.

ITC has set up a milk processing unit in Munger (Bihar), and also plans to set up similar dairy processing facilities in other parts of the country.

Wall Street's Worst Month in Three Years Ends on a Sour Note

Wall Street ended lower on Monday and wrapped up its worst month since 2012 after comments from a senior Federal Reserve official heightened fears among investors of a potential U.S. interest hike in September.

Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer on Saturday said U.S. inflation would likely rebound as pressure from the dollar fades, allowing the Fed to raise interest rates gradually.

Many analysts took Fischer's comments as a sign the Fed would raise rates in September, instead of December. That shook investors who were already jumpy after weeks of turbulence caused by concerns about a stumbling Chinese economy.

"What you see in the market today is caused by Fischer's comments over the weekend. If they move in September, it's going to cast a lot of doubt about where they will stop," said Stephen Massocca, chief investment officer at Wedbush Equity Management LLC in San Francisco.

Fischer's remarks at the global central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming suggested the Fed does not see the recent stock market drop and concerns about China as reasons that would keep it from raising rates.

A decade of near-zero interest rates has helped the U.S. stock market stage a spectacular bull run since the financial crisis and investors are worried those gains many end once rates start to climb.

The CBOE Volatility index, known as Wall Street's "fear gauge," rose about 9.14 per cent to 28.43, above its long-term average of 20. It spiked to as high as 53.29 last week.

Investors will keep a sharp eye on the Labor Department's monthly jobs report on Friday, which will be the last one before the Fed meets on Sept. 16-17.

"We can still expect to see some significant drops in the market until we get some direction from the Fed regarding a rate increase," said John DeClue, chief investment officer of U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.69 per cent to end at 16,528.03 points and the S&P 500 fell 0.84 per cent to 1,972.18.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.07 per cent to 4,776.51.

Nine of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower with the health index's 1.85 per cent fall leading the decliners.

The S&P energy index rose 1.05 per cent and was on track for its best four-day gain in seven years, boosted by ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66.

Crude oil prices jumped after data indicated surprise cuts to U.S. oil production and as OPEC said it was ready to talk to other producers about the recent drop in prices.

In August, the S&P lost 6.3 per cent, the Dow fell 6.6 per cent and the Nasdaq declined 6.9 per cent.

On Monday, Celgene fell 4.80 per cent, weighing the most on the S&P 500.

Phillips 66 rose 2.38 per cent after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a $4.48 billion stake in the oil refiner.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,724 to 1,339. On the Nasdaq, 1,432 issues fell and 1,380 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed one new 52-week high and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 24 new highs and 22 new lows.

Volume was lighter than in recent days. About 7.8 billion shares traded on U.S. exchanges, compared to an average of 10.7 billion in the past five sessions, according to BATS Global Markets.

Gold Gains as Equities, Dollar Retreat; Fed Hike View Caps Rise

Manila: Gold edged higher on Tuesday as equities faltered on mounting expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will likely go ahead with an interest rate increase this month.

Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said on Saturday that U.S. inflation will likely rebound as pressure from the dollar fades, allowing the U.S. central bank to raise interest rates gradually.

Fischer's comment sent Wall Street lower overnight and U.S. stock futures stretched losses on Tuesday, with Asian shares also falling, led by China. The dollar similarly weakened as risk aversion favored the euro and yen.

"We are seeing some general risk-off moves in the Asian timezone and some buying of gold would be consistent with that," Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney.

Spot gold was up 0.5 per cent at $1,139.60 an ounce by 0153 GMT, after an uneventful session on Monday.

Bullion ended August 3.5 per cent higher as worries over China's slowing economy sparked safe-haven bids, although the metal has since come off a seven-week top.

Growing indications that the Fed could lift rates on its next policy meeting on Sept. 16-17 could limit gold's upside potential.

Spooner said only another "fear-based" deep rout in global equities like that seen on Aug. 24 following a slump in Chinese stocks would "dissuade the Fed from easing."

"And I think if we did see a very strong number in the nonfarm payrolls this week, it would certainly give them an opportunity ... to make their move in September," he said.

But Spooner said there is a chance that the U.S. rate hike - which would be the first since 2006 - could induce profit-taking in the dollar and potentially buoy gold.

U.S. gold for December delivery rose 0.6 per cent to $1,139.20 an ounce.

MKS Group trader James Gardiner said he sees resistance for bullion at $1,145 and then at $1,150 with immediate support around $1,125.

Spot palladium fell 0.8 per cent to $594.05 an ounce and platinum eased 0.1 per cent to $1,005.50. Silver edged up 0.2 per cent to $14.63.

Oil Prices Drop More Than 3% as Investors Take Profits

Singapore: Oil prices fell 3 per cent in Asian trade on Tuesday, with investors covering short positions and taking profits after Brent and U.S. crude soared more than 8 percent in the previous session.

Both Brent and U.S. crude prices dropped nearly $2 a barrel shortly after trading in Brent started on Tuesday before recovering later in the session.

"A lot of the fall was due to short covering," said Ben Le Brun, market analyst at Sydney's OptionsXpress.

"There could be a bit of profit taking for people who have gone long," he added.

The falls also indicated investors may have "gone overboard" in pushing up prices so fast, Le Brun said.

U.S. crude, also known as West Texas Intermediate, climbed 27.5 per cent by the end of the previous session after three days of gains, the largest three-day increase in dollar terms since February 2011 and the biggest percentage increase since August 1990.

The surge was fuelled by an OPEC commentary saying the cartel was willing to talk to other producers to achieve reasonable oil prices, as well as by the downward revision of U.S. output data by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

"(The OPEC comments) could be just a bit of politicking given the strategy to date looked to be all about market share," ANZ said in a market report on Tuesday.

"But it does suggest that many producers are likely to be hurting at these levels."

Revised EIA data published on Monday showed U.S. domestic oil production peaked at just above 9.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in April before falling by more than 300,000 bpd over the following two months.

U.S. commercial crude stocks fell by 1.5 million barrels to 449.3 million barrels last week, according to a Reuters poll of analysts on Monday taken ahead of U.S. industry and government data.

Despite the fall in U.S. production the global oil market is still over supplied with oil and a decline in U.S. production is increasingly likely in 2016, Morgan Stanley said in a report on Tuesday.

Brent crude for October delivery had dropped $1.47 to $52.68 a barrel, or 2.7 percent, as of 0226 GMT after climbing $4.10, or 8.2 percent, in the previous session. It dropped by $1.99 a barrel earlier in the session.

U.S. crude for October delivery dropped $1.49, or 3 percent, to $47.71 a barrel, after it settled up $3.98, or 8.8 percent in the previous session. It earlier dropped by $1.97 a barrel.

Investors will be watching key U.S. data, including oil stocks, manufacturing and vehicle sales figures, later on Tuesday to give further direction to prices.

That came after official data from China on Tuesday showed its manufacturing sector contracted at its fastest pace in three years in August, reinforcing concern over the health of the world's second-largest economy.

Sensex Set to Open Lower on GDP Worries, Weak Asian Markets

BSE Sensex and Nifty are set to open lower after data released yesterday showed that Indian economy slowed in the June quarter. Lower Asian markets in the wake of weak China data are also likely to weigh on sentiment. The SGX Nifty was down over 1 per cent at 7,911, indicating a weak start for the Indian markets.

Here are top 10 developments:

1) GDP or gross domestic product data released yesterday showed that Indian economy expanded at an annual 7 per cent rate in the April-June quarter, slower than provisional growth of 7.5 per cent in the previous quarter.

2) The less-than-expected GDP data has however spurred calls for rate cuts from the Reserve Bank of India. The RBI has cut the policy repo rate 75 basis points since January. But it left the rate on hold at its last policy review early this month.

3) Concerns over China slowdown and uncertainties over a possible US Federal Reserve rate hike this month have led to a turmoil in global markets with benchmark indices in different countries logging their biggest monthly losses in August in many years. The Sensex had its worst month in nearly four years.

4) Major Asian markets were lower today following lower closing on Wall Street and weak China economic data. Japan's Nikkei was down nearly 2.5 per cent while overnight the Dow fell over 100 points or nearly 0.70 per cent.

5) In China, the stock markets were down nearly 3 per cent following weak economic data. Activity in China's manufacturing sector contracted at its fastest pace in three years in August, an official survey showed on Tuesday, reinforcing fears of a sharper slowdown in the world's second-largest economy despite a flurry of government support measures.

6) A similar official survey in China on the services sector showed activity was cooling there, too.

7) Coming back to Indian markets, analysts say that unless buying from foreign institutional investors abates, Indian stocks are likely to remain under pressure. Foreign institutional investors hold nearly 25 per cent of BSE 200 stocks.

8) Foreign investors sold Indian shares worth Rs 551 crore on Monday, bringing their total sale figure to nearly Rs 17,000 crore in nine sessions. In contrast, domestic institutional investors have been buyers of Indian equities in the past few days, offering some support to Sensex and Nifty.

9) The value of the rupee would also be under focus with as it impacts the returns of foreign investors in dollar terms. The rupee was trading at 66.41/dollar today as compared to its previous close of 66.48.

10) The monthly auto sales numbers and the August services and manufacturing data for Indian economy would be in focus today.

Asian Shares Slip as Downbeat China PMIs Revive Growth Fears

Tokyo: Asian shares fell on Tuesday and the dollar struggled after twin surveys showed China's manufacturing sector in the grip of its worst slump in several years, raising fresh fears about the health of its economy.

China's official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 49.7 in August from the previous month's reading of 50.0, the weakest showing in three years.

Separately, the private Caixin/Markit China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) showed a final reading of 47.3 in August, the lowest since March 2009.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.3 per cent, erasing its early gains. The index shed more than 10 per cent in the month of August, its worst monthly performance since 2012, on fears of global fallout from slowing momentum in China.

"The broad based decline in almost all components of the PMI hints the central bank was right in introducing further easing measures on 25 August," said Chester Liaw, an economist at Forecast Pte Ltd in Singapore.

"It is clear that the interest rates and RRR cuts were not only aimed at containing further falls in the SSEC, but to boost activity in the real economy."

China's cooling demand is already taking a toll on the economies of its trade-reliant Asian neighbours. South Korea reported on Tuesday its exports fell 14.7 per cent in August from a year earlier, worse than expected and the biggest drop in six years.

Losses on Wall Street also soured Asian sentiment after comments from Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer heightened fears among investors of a potential U.S. interest hike in September. U.S. stock futures in Asia were down 1.5 per cent.

Japan's Nikkei stock index was down 1.6 per cent in early trade. The Nikkei lost 8.2 per cent in August, its biggest monthly decline since January 2014.

Chinese shares opened lower, with the Shanghai Composite Index down 1.8 per cent and the CSI300 index down 2.2 per cent. Both indexes skidded around 12 per cent in August, their third straight monthly decline. China's stock markets have now lost nearly 40 per cent of their value since mid-June despite unprecedented government support steps.

The Australian dollar edged up against its U.S. counterpart, adding about 0.2 per cent to $0.7125 ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's latest policy decision at 0430 GMT.

The RBA is considered almost certain to hold interest rates steady and some are expecting a more dovish statement from the central bank amid worries about China, which is Australia's biggest export market.

The U.S. dollar remained under pressure as investors shunned risk and remained wary ahead of U.S. employment data later in the week that could offer clues about the timing of the Fed's long-awaited hike to interest rates.

The greenback was down about 0.2 per cent at 120.92 yen, while the euro rose about 0.4 per cent to $1.1252.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures gave back some of their biggest three-day price surge in 25 years that saw prices soar more than $10 a barrel.

On Monday, oil jumped more than 8 per cent on downward revision of U.S. crude production data and OPEC's expressed willingness to discuss curbs on output.

U.S. crude slipped 3.5 per cent to $47.48 a barrel, while Brent lost 3.3 per cent to $52.37 a barrel.