2. RELIANCE INDUSTRIES Q2 NET UP 27.8%,
BEATS F'CAS
The conglomerate, India's largest listed company, has been investing overseas
in shale gas assets and has been looking to widen its businesses beyond
petrochemicals, refining, oil and natural gas exploration, and retail. "Improved
refining margins and high operating rates at all our manufacturing facilities led
to a record quarter," Chairman Mukesh Ambani said in a statement
Reliance is pumping about 55-60 million cubic metres of gas a day from KG
D6, off India's east coast, and the country's oil secretary said in July the
company would be able to pump gas at full capacity during the year to March
2013.
Gross refining margin at Reliance's flagship refining business in the September
quarter was $7.9 per barrel, up from $7.3 per barrel in April-June and in line
market estimates of $8 per barrel.
3. HONDA RECALLS 528,000 CARS FOR CYLINDER
SNAG
Honda motor Co said on Friday it was recalling 528,000 vehicles world-wide
due to potential problems with a master brake cylinder seal. Most of the
recalled vehicles are Odyssey minivans sold in the United States. The recall is
similar to one issued on Thursday by Toyota Motor Corp for about 1.5 million
vehicles worldwide.
The same supplier, ADVICS Co Ltd, a privately held Japanese
company with a unit in the United States , made the seals for
both major automakers.
No accidents or injuries have been reported due to to the faulty
seals. Of the Honda recalls, 435,000 of them are Odyssey
minivans sold in the United States
4. CHINA CUTS DISCOUNT TO MORTGAGE RATES
Beijing has taken a fresh step to discourage property buying by
ordering banks to charge higher mortgage interest rates for first
home buyers, local media reported over the weekend.
Lenders were told by China's banking regulator that they can offer
at most 15 per cent, versus the previous 30 per cent, discount to
the benchmark interest rates to new mortgage loan applicants, the
Beijing News reported.
China allowed banks to offer up to 30 per cent discounts of interest rates to
home buyers in late 2008 as part of Beijing's policy package to bolster
economic growth. The end of that 30 per cent discount will put China's bank
loan policies unprecedentedly harsh to mortgagers.
5. ASIA MUST AVOID 'DISTORTIONS' IN HANDLING
HOT MONEY
Developing Asian nations must carefully manage a massive inflow of foreign capital and
avoid remedies that could create destabilising "distortions", the Asian Development
Bank chief warned Saturday.
Haruhiko Kuroda told Asian leaders at a summit in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi that
capital flows are one of two risks that regional economies face as they rebound from the
global downturn that began in 2008
His comments came shortly before the US Federal Reserve is
expected to announce it will go into a second round of
quantitative easing, injecting more money into the banking system
to further stimulate the world's biggest economy.
The first risk is that the recovery in the developed economies could falter,
Kuroda told presidents, prime ministers and a sultan, as well as US Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton and the Russian foreign minister.
"The second risk is capital flows, which could complicate macroeconomic
management," Kuroda said in a prepared speech made available to journalists.
