B4U India

Sensex closes at 11695

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:14:00 -0400

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex continued its downward trend for the second day in a row and closed at 11695.24 at the end of Tuesday’s trading.

From Monday’s crash of 725, it further slipped to 106.46 points.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange (NSE) index Nifty moved between 3,732.65 and 3,537.00 points before ending at 3,606.60, a marginal gain of 4.25 points.

The BSE opened this morning up by over 379 points in early trade.

Similarly, the NSE index rose by 127.05 at 3,729.40 this morning.

Trading activity was mixed as initial gains were on the back of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cutting Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), which would infuse 20,000 crore rupees into the liquidity.

However, reports of melting global stock markets quickly reversed the trend. (ANI)

Wipro appoints country head for France

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:58:00 -0400

Wipro Technologies, the global IT services business of Wipro Limited (NYSE:WIT) announced the appointment of Christophe Martinoli as the Country Head for its France operations.

This appointment further strengthens and enhances Wipro''s leadership capabilities in the global markets that it operates in with special focus on Europe.

In his role as the country head, Christophe will concentrate on defining a unified strategy for the France market, help build Wipro as a brand of choice and further enhance Wipro''s image as a client facing global organization. In the past few years, Christophe has been in various leadership roles within Wipro. He led the sales efforts for the Manufacturing business and also handled strategic key accounts in the French market.

Christophe carries with him a rich experience of over 18 years across a spectrum of management roles. Beginning his career as a Product Manager with Atos in 1990 Christophe took charge of various leadership roles in leading technology organisations like Sun Microsystems, Alcatel, Sema Group and Stéria to name a few.

“We are pleased that Christophe is taking on the role as Country Head with immediate effect. Christophe has in his previous roles at Wipro, exhibited undeniable drive and leadership,” said Ayan Mukerji, Chief Sales and Operations Officer, Europe, Wipro Technologies. “His appointment further strengthens Wipro''s commitment to the French market.”

Commenting on his appointment, Christophe said, “I am really excited about this new role. Wipro is a high performance company in the global IT services space and my agenda will be to further accelerate Wipro''s top-line momentum in the local market here. We have made significant investments in France over the past two years and we have a definite head start with our focused approach on the vertical and service lines and the current employee base.”

France is an important growth market for Wipro where the IT major has made significant investments in the past few years. Currently Wipro has offices in four locations and two development centers to service customers across industry segments. Wipro also has a dedicated sales and consulting workforce in France. (ANI)

Sensex opens up by over 379 points

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:08:00 -0400

After the downward trend over the past few days, the Sensex opened this morning up by over 379 points in early trade. The improvement in the index was attributed to revival of buying by FIIs after SEBI eased curbs on indirect investments by foreign funds and the RBI slashed CRR.

The 30-share index, which had plunged 724.62 points on Monday, recovered by 379.73 points to 12,181.43 points following rebound in the stocks of banking, capital goods, realty and oil and gas sectors.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange''s index rose by 127.05 at 3,729.40.

Market analysts said market regulator SEBI''s move to lift some curbs on foreign institutional investors (FIIs) imposed a year ago and a 50 basis points cut in Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by the Reserve Bank of India, buoyed the trading sentiment.

They said in view of change in the market''s scenario, speculators were seen covering up their short positions. (ANI)

ICICIdirect.com launches online trading facility for NRIs in Dubai

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:08:00 -0400

ICICIdirect.com, a major online trading platform in India, launched its online Futures and Options (F&O) trading service for non-resident Indians (NRIs), here last evening.

The online trading facility would offer secure transactions through its integrated trading site.

It would also provide an opportunity for NRI customers to create short-term trading positions and benefit from market volatility.

Besides, F&O will act as a tool for risk management and hedging by reducing potential downside, the Gulf News quoted ICICIdirect as saying in a statement.

The firm will provide training in trading to NRI customers at various overseas locations with special emphasis on F&O trading, added the paper. (ANI)

Sensex hovers around 12,000, lowest in two years

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:07:00 -0400

Sensex plunged to below 12,000, it’s lowest in the last two years today.

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex touched an intra-day low of 11,954.09, its lowest level since September 2006.

At 12:22 p.m., the 30-share index was down 525 points or 4.20 per cent at 11,978.46.

Meanwhile, National Stock Exchange’s Nifty was down 4.40 per cent or 168 points at 3650.35. The index fell to a low of 3643.85.

Traders said the overseas cues continued to remain sluggish on the back of deepening financial crisis in the US and Europe.

Apart from weakening trend in the global markets, depreciating Indian rupee against the US dollar too dampened the trading sentiments here, said share brokers.

Trading sentiments were so depressed that even easing inflation, which dropped to 11.99 per cent also failed to prop up stock prices.

Major losers were Tata Power, Jaiprakash Associates, Sterlite Industries, DLF, Tata Steel and Reliance Communications. (ANI)