* Asian shares rise could mean Sensex could edge up
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* President Patil signs presidential reference
* Government review petitions in Supreme Court today
* HSBC seeks clarity on tax implication
* Infosys Q4 earnings
* Government approves exports of 1m cotton bales
* MT Educare scores, NBCC flops
* No significant rate cut expected in 2012-13: Crisil
* Moody’s downgrades ONGC and GAIL
Asian shares rise could mean Sensex could edge up
Asian stocks on Friday rose to a one-week high as the South Korean won strengthened and oil rose after South Korea and Japan said North Korea's rocket launch may have failed. North Korea launched a rocket earlier on Friday morning in defiance of international pressure. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.7 percent. China's gross domestic product data is likely to provide direction to the market later today. Overnight in US, stocks scored a second day of solid gains on Thursday, led by materials and energy stocks, as investors set aside weak figures on the domestic labor market. Concerns about the euro-zone's debt crisis were eased by lower Italian bond yields.
President Patil signs presidential reference
President Pratibha Patil has signed the presidential reference by which the government has sought clarity from the Supreme Court on auctioning of natural resources including the spectrum. This is after the Supreme Court cancelled 122 second generation licences handed out to telecom firms on the first come first serve basis. The government is asking the Supreme Court to clarify if natural resources should always be auctioned in every circumstance.
Government review petitions in Supreme Court today
The government’s review petitions relating to the 2G case will come up for hearing in the Supreme Court today. In its review petition, the centre has sought clarification on auctioning the 2G licenses and the case is likely to come up after 2pm today. The Supreme Court last week dismissed all review petitions by telecom companies that sought a review of the cancellation of 122 telecom licenses.
HSBC seeks clarity on tax implication
HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, on Thursday sought "tax clarity" from the government in the backdrop of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement there was "no other way" but to amend the Income Tax Act to bring into the net Vodafone-type cross-border deals. Earlier, two international trade bodies, International Chamber of Commerce and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, have sought a review of the government's move to retrospectively tax overseas transactions involving Indian assets.
Infosys Q4 earnings
Infosys is expected to post a muted 1-1.5% sequential sales growth while profits are likely to fall in the range of 3.5-4 per cent. This would be mainly on account of lower utilizations and rupee appreciation. US jobs data and renewed concerns over European sovereign debt are also likely to have an impact on the results.
Government approves exports of 1m cotton bales
The government on Thursday said it scrutinised and approved export of one million cotton bales, of the 2.5 million bales registered for overseas sales before the export ban was imposed. On March 5, the government had banned export of cotton briefly for a week. However, it decided to permit shipments only after revalidating the cotton quantity that was registered for export with Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) before the ban.
MT Educare scores, NBCC flops
Shares of state-run National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) tumbled by over 8 per cent in its debut trade on Thursday while coaching services provider MT Educare saw a stellar listing, surging nearly 13 per cent.
No significant rate cut expected in 2012-13: Crisil
Corporate and retail borrowers will not see a significant reduction in lending rates in the current financial year owing to tightness in liquidity, higher Government borrowings and high cost of deposits, according to leading rating agency Crisil. Lending rates are likely to drop by 25-50 basis points (0.25-0.5%) during this period, it said.
Moody’s downgrades ONGC and GAIL
Credit rating agency Moody's has downgraded the local currency ratings of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and GAIL, as a reflection of the risks that these two entities share with the Indian government. ONGC gets over 85 per cent of its revenue from India and GAIL gets almost 100 per cent. Besides, both the firms have a high degree of direct government ownership (69 per cent for ONGC and 57 per cent for GAIL).
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