After Monday's drop, Wall Street extends losses as bond yields creep up

US stocks markets took another beating in early Thursday trade as a rise in bond yields and higher inflation continued to unnerve investors following a historic drop on Monday.
The 10-year US Treasury yield crept back to a high of 2.884 per cent, near Monday's four-year peak of 2.885 per cent.

The market's main gauge of volatility, the CBOE Volatility Index, fell to 27.06 on Thursday, still more than twice the level it held over the past few months. The index hit its highest level since August 2015 on Tuesday.

"Volatility has eased but by no means is it low. It is still far above the long-term average and unease about higher interest rates remain," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab.

How diamonds can become 'the new gold' for investors

Diamonds can at last be an investor's best friend, the Singapore Diamond Investment Exchange (SDIX) said on Tuesday, as it launched a new standardised form of the precious stones to rival gold ingots as a safe-haven alternative to cash.

The industry says diamonds are the world's most concentrated form of wealth, but investors have long viewed them as less useful as a store of value than gold because each stone is different, making its value subjective and trading difficult.

Alain Vandenborre, chairman and founder of SDIX, says technology has solved that problem and diamonds can now become "the new gold".

Diamond Bullion, produced by the Singapore Diamond Mint, is a collection of investment grade diamonds whose value can be quickly checked. Denominations will initially range between $100,000 and $200,000, with higher and lower values possible in future.

The diamonds are stored in a credit card-sized device containing a chip that allows immediate valuation based on exchange trading and instant authentication, which is crucial as synthetic diamonds have no resale value.
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Volkswagen has no plans to divide the group, says CEO

Volkswagen has no plans to follow local rival Daimler in considering changing the group's legal structure, its chief executive said, even as the company undergoes the biggest transformation in its history.

The world's largest vehicle maker by sales said on Monday it was stepping up the pace on its electric car programme, announcing more than 20 billion euros ($23.86 billion) of new investments over the next 12 years.

Daimler said in July it may split parts of its business into separate legal entities, a move that investors have said could unlock billions of euros in value by listing separate parts of the business and help fund its development of electric and robotic cars.

Asked by reporters at the Frankfurt auto show whether he could imagine following rivals in looking at changing the group's structure, VW Chief Executive Matthias Mueller said: "Others are always faster than Volkswagen but, somehow, we are still successful."

"No, one of my major tasks is to always and again look into such matters and reflect on the situation," he added. "That is what we do and what I do with all authority and calm. And I will not let anyone push me."

A broader move by VW to create a holding structure could unlock an incremental 50 billion euros in value, on top of the group's 68 billion in market capitalisation, analysts at research firm Evercore ISI said in a note.
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Essar Oil to invest $250 mn in Stanlow refinery

Essar Oil UK looks to invest $250 million in its Stanlow refinery to increase production, improve focus on high-value products and expand its crude oil sourcing basket to save costs and improve margins.

"Essar Oil UK will invest $250 million as capital expenditure and maintenance in its Stanlow refinery to improve throughput and yields," the company said in its statement on Wednesday. The investment will be funded through internal accruals.

The company officials added that the $250 million includes $200 million towards capital expenditure and another $50 million as working capital requirements. The company so far has invested up to $800 million to turn around the Stanlow facility. "Major investment in 2018 will increase annual throughput from 68 million to 75 million barrels," the company said in its statement. These investments will be completed in the current financial year and is expected to bring in an additional margin of $1 per barrel for the company.

"Production of high-value products like ethylene will increase, resulting in an additional margin of $1 per barrel from where we are today. The biggest gain comes from opening up our crude basket and hence reduce crude cost," company officials said on a media call on Wednesday. The company has already expanded its crude oil sourcing beyond the North Sea, to geographies like North America and Africa.
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HC halts 2nd Vodafone arbitration in Rs 11,000-cr tax demand against India

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday restrained Vodafone Group's arbitration proceeding against India, under a treaty with the United Kingdom, in connection with a Rs 11,000 crore tax demand raised against the company in relation to its $11 billion deal acquiring stake of Hutchinson Telecom.

Justice Manmohan restrained Vodafone or its subsidiaries from going ahead with arbitration under the India-UK Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement (BIPA) as the telecom major had initiated similar proceedings on the same issue under the the India-Netherlands BIPA.

"This court is of the prima facie view that in the present case, there is duplication of the parties and the issues. In fact, the reliefs sought by the defendants under the India-UK BIPA and by the Vodafone International Holdings BV (VIHBV), the subsidiary of defendants (Vodafone group), under the India-Netherlands BIPA are virtually identical.

"This court is further of the prima facie view that there is a risk of parallel proceedings and inconsistent decisions by two separate arbitral tribunals in the present case. In the prima facie opinion of this Court, it would be inequitable, unfair and unjust to permit the defendants to prosecute the foreign arbitration," the court said in an interim order.

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Facebook adds more women to its workforce

Globally, the number of women working at Facebook has risen to 35 per cent, up from 33 in 2016 while their number in the technical department has risen by two per cent in the past year to 19 per cent, the company said.

According to a Facebook blog post on Wednesday, women now make up 27 per cent of all new graduate hires in engineering and 21 per cent of all new technical hires at Facebook.

"We're committed to building a more diverse, inclusive Facebook -- and will remain committed. Much like our approach to launching new products on our platform, we are willing to experiment and listen to feedback. We want to highlight three programs in particular," Maxine Williams, Global Director of Diversity at Facebook said.

In the senior leadership roles, women make up 28 per cent of the total workforce that currently stands at more than 20,000.

In the US, Facebook has increased the representation of Hispanics from four per cent to five per cent, and Black people from two per cent to three per cent.

However, the figures continue to show the minorities forming small percentage of the company's global workforce.

"It's complicated. This is a reflection of a lot of societal issues that are not specific to tech," a report in CNBC quoted Williams as saying.
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Murdochs warn Britain a delay to Sky-Fox deal could hit inward investment

James and Lachlan Murdoch urged the British government to let their company buy pay-TV group Sky, saying on Wednesday that further delays to the $15 billion deal could sour the climate for foreign investment in Britain after Brexit.

The Murdochs' Twenty-First Century Fox was dealt a blow last month when Britain's media secretary, Karen Bradley, said she was persuaded that buying Sky could give the family too much influence over the media.

Bradley said she was minded to refer the deal for a lengthy investigation, but has not yet announced her final decision.

"While we await the outcome of the regulatory process, important investment decisions will inevitably need to be deferred," the two sons of Rupert Murdoch said in a letter to Bradley, dated July 14 and published on Wednesday.

"There is also the broader risk of a potential harmful effect on other companies' inward investment decisions currently under consideration in the UK."

Fox executive chairman Lachlan and chief executive James said the deal was one of the biggest investments in Britain since the country voted to leave the European Union last year.

"Our proposed transaction will be carefully scrutinised by others keen to gauge the government's commitment to creating a climate conducive to investment, or in the words of the Prime Minister and several of your fellow ministers, 'open for business'," they told Bradley.
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High exports, increase in investment boost German economy in 2017

BREAKING NEWS - The German economy defied increased political risks and picked up speed in the first quarter of 2017 as companies invested more, consumers and the state continued to spend and exports soared despite the threat of rising protectionism.

Europe's biggest economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the quarter from the quarter before, when it expanded 0.4 per cent, the Federal Statistics Office said on Friday.

That was the strongest quarterly growth rate since the first quarter of 2016, when the economy grew 0.7 per cent. It was in line with the consensus forecast in a Reuters poll.

The figures are the latest in a batch of solid data that are likely to help Chancellor Angela Merkel and her centre-right CDU/CSU bloc to burnish their economic credentials before a Sept. 24 federal election, when she will seek a fourth term.

Merkel's conservatives have already widened their lead in opinion polls over the main opposition Social Democrats (SPD), who are junior partners in the current coalition and want to replace Merkel with their chancellor candidate, Martin Schulz.

"A boom without end in Germany... and despite all the risks," Bankhaus Lampe analyst Alexander Krueger said, calling it a good sign that the upswing was based on a broad foundation.

"However, it should be noted that the economy would be humming less without the support of interest rates, which are too low for Germany," he added, in reference to the European Central Bank's ultra-loose monetary policy.

The Federal Statistics Office said investments in buildings and equipment grew strongly, partly due to a mild winter, while households and state authorities increased their expenditures slightly at the beginning of the year.
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Patanjali to invest Rs 5,000 crore in four units

Latest News - Fast-growing swadeshi consumer goods company Patanjali Ayurved planned to start producing at four new facilities that would come up in 500 days at an investment of Rs 5,000 crore, the company’s Chief Executive Officer Bal Krishna told Business Standard.

The Project 500 encompasses food and herbal parks in Gautam Buddh Nagar (Uttar Pradesh), Nagpur (Maharashtra), Tezpur (Assam) and Indore (Madhya Pradesh). The facility in Assam is expected to be operational by March and the other parks will start production by mid-2018.

The food park in Uttar Pradesh, which would cater to the National Capital Region, would need an investment of Rs 1,400 crore in two phases, Bal Krishna said. The first phase would be ready by Diwali, he added.

An average sales growth rate of (Read More)

Micromax plans to raise Rs 510-680 cr in next 12 to 18 months

Latest News - Indian handset maker Micromax Informatics has said it is planning to raise and invest an amount of Rs 510-680 crore ($75-100 million) in the next 12 to 18 months.

While the firm is primarily into procuring and marketing mobile handsets and consumer durables, it had invested in a few companies earlier on its own, unlike the proposed initiative where it will raise funds and lead the project.

According to Rahul Sharma, co-founder, Micromax, some of its past investments have provided huge returns (where the internal rate of return had been in “triple digits”) and thus it is willing to expand the “horizon”. Micromax had set up a corpus of Rs 2,700 crore ($400 million) in 2014 and has since invested in 10 firms. Here are some of them:

Transerv: Micromax Informatics had tied up with Transerv, a Mumbai-headquartered digital payment solution company, in early 2016 to offer (Read More)

Micromax sets up $75 mn fund to invest in consumer internet companies

Latest News - Handset maker Micromax is setting up a $75-million independent fund that will focus on investing in domestic and international consumer internet companies.

In the last two years, Micromax has already invested in about 10 startups, including ixigo, Gaana, HealthifyMe and Scandid.

The fund -- Orbis Capital -- aims to raise $75 million in the next 12-18 months. Backed by Micromax as an investor and strategic partner, the fund will focus on investing in consumer internet companies both locally and internationally.

"We have tasted a great amount of success with all our investments that (Read More)

Baby steps for Flipkart: Invests $2 million in parenting network TinyStep

Latest News -Bengaluru-based social network for parenting, TinyStep has raised $2 million in funding from India's largest e-commerce marketplace Flipkart.

The firm which received a seed investment from Flipkart in January 2016 said it will utilise the fresh funding to build its product, bring young or soon-to-be parents on board and expand its service offering.

"We've grown as a product, as a team and have learnt to now focus our energies on the new revenue model. Flipkart has been a great partner and supportive of us in all our endeavours," said Suhail Abidi, founder of TinyStep.

Flipkart made the investment in(Read More)

RIL plans to invest another Rs. 30,000 crore into Jio Infocomm

Reliance Industries is planning to invest a sum of Rs. 30,000 crore into Reliance Jio Infocomm to further its development and improve its signal strength.

The company in its board meeting held earlier on Friday decided to invest another Rs. 30,000 crore into its telecom unit and sell 600 crore preference shares to raise the amount. These preference shares will be sold through a rights issue and will be nine percent non-cumulative optionally convertible (OCPS) available at Rs. 50 each including a premium of Rs. 40.

RIL had already invested Rs. 1.71 lakh crore while setting up its telecom venture Jio Infocomm. Ever since its launch on September 5, 2016, Jio has amassed more than 70 million users, owing to its free voice calls and data plans. The subscriber addition rate is said to be one of the highest, thereby, raising Rs. 30,000 crore last year and rights issue in two tranches in January and September.

The telecom major, however, has been suffering from lack of network coverage and call drop, which it now looks to overcome with the new investment.(Read More)