B’desh, China firms ink multi-b deals as Xi ends tour Page II Bangladeshi and Chinese firms have signed $13.6 billion in trade and investment deals on the sidelines of President Xi Jinping’s brief tour to the South Asian nation, a trade group official said Saturday.

Ins IdeUS fiscal year budget deficit widens to $587bThe US budget deficit widened to $587 billion for the fiscal year 2016 on slow-er-than-expected revenues and higher spending for programs including Social Security and Medicare, the Treasury Department said on Friday. The 2016 deficit increased to 3.2 per-cent of gross domestic product. It was the first time the deficit increased in relation to economic output since 2009, according to figures from the Congressional Budget Office. That year, the deficit peaked at $1.4 trillion amid the financial crisis. Last fiscal year’s deficit was $439 billion, with a deficit-to-GDP ratio of 2.5 per-cent. Accounting for calendar adjust-ments, the 2016 fiscal year deficit was $548 billion. Pg: II

Change of govt puts plans on back burnerThe planned petroleum exploration at Sirsthan-Navisthan in Dailekh initiat-ed by the previous government has been put on the back burner. The change in the government has put a dampener on hopes of the locals who were expecting that the project could bring changes in the district. Following the acute shortage of petro-leum products triggered by Indian trade embargo last year, former prime minister KP Sharma Oli had initiated the process of identifying and exploring the reserve of petroleum products and natural gas in the country. Pg: III

Equity markets up on positive macro-dataThe Indian equity markets on Friday closed on a flat-to-positive note on the back of positive inflation mac-ro-data points and value buying. However, gains were capped due to long-liquidation which was triggered by caution over the ongoing quarterly earnings season and outflow of for-eign funds. The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) inched up by 10.05 points or 0.12 per cent to 8,583.40 points. The barometer 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 27,712.22 points, closed at 27,673.60 points—with a slight rise of 30.49 points or 0.11 per cent from the previous close at 27,643.11 points. Pg: IV

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2016 (30-06-2073) kathmandupost.ekantipur.com

moneymoneyfinance&economyfinance&economy

kathmandupostthecross currency

US Dollar 107.09

Euro 117.98

Pound Sterling 130.75

Japanese Yen 10.27

Chinese Yuan 15.92

Qatari Riyal 29.41

Australian Dollar 81.56

Malaysian Ringit 25.51

Saudi Arab Riyal 28.55How to read tHe tableThe chart shows the rates of nine world currencies. Move across the table to find rates of exchange between any two currencies. One unit of the currency mentioned vertically is worth that amount in the currency mentioned horizontally.

USD EUR JPY GBP CHF CAD AUD INR NR

NR 107.0900 117.9800 10.2700 130.7500 108.2800 81.1400 81.5600 1.6015

INR 66.7600 73.5810 0.6405 81.5470 67.5780 50.6141 50.7980 0.6244

GBP 0.8202 0.9015 0.0078 0.8301 0.6192 0.6240 0.0123 0.0076

JPY 104.1600 114.7400 128.2051 105.3900 78.9000 79.3600 1.5613 0.0974

EUR 0.9077 0.0087 1.1093 0.9191 0.6883 0.6902 0.0136 0.0085

USD 1.1017 0.0096 1.2192 1.0122 0.7577 0.7613 0.0150 0.0093

F o r e X

Exchange rates fixed by Nepal Rastra Bank

all set

n Hot air balloons prepare to fly off in the Shuping scenic area of Danxia landform, a unique type of landscapes formed from red sandstone and characterized by steep cliffs, in Xinghua Village of Shuping Town, capital of northwest China’s Gansu Province, on Saturday. Xinhua

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REUTERSGOA, OCT 15

India and Russia signed billions of dollars of defence and energy deals on Saturday at a summit that sought to inject new life into a relationship that has been test-ed by shifting global alliances and conflict in the Middle East.

Under the biggest agreement, a group led by Russian state oil major Rosneft said it would pay $12.9 billion for a controlling stake in both India’s Essar Oil and port facilities that it owns.

The countries, which had strong ties during the Cold War, announced plans for a joint ven-ture to build helicopters in India. New Delhi said it would also buy surface-to-air missile systems and stealth frigates from Moscow.

“Ours is a truly unique and

privileged relationship,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the western seaside state of Goa.

Modi said that his views were aligned with Putin’s on the unsta-ble situation in Afghanistan and the Middle East, where Moscow is at odds with the West in the five-year-old civil war in Syria that has killed hundreds of thou-sands.

“We are conducting a compre-hensive dialog on a wide scale of international issues, in which Indian and Russian approaches are close to each other or coin-cide,” said Putin.

Modi also praised Putin’s sup-port for the fight against interna-tional terrorism, which India accuses its neighbor and rival Pakistan of sponsoring. “Russia’s

clear stand on the need to combat terrorism mirrors our own,” Modi said.

The Rosneft-Essar deal will be the biggest foreign takeover in India, and Russia’s largest out-bound deal, according to Thomson Reuters data.

It comes as Russia moves to reassert its role in global affairs and at a time when its own econo-my is stagnant, hit by Western sanctions and low oil prices.

Under the deal, a group led by Rosneft will acquire 98 percent of Essar Oil, and with it a 400,000 barrels-per-day refinery and port at Vadinar for $12.9 billion, the two sides said.

Russian state bank VTB said it would refinance $3.9 billion owed by the Essar Group. Rosneft would pay $3.5 billion and its partners, oil trader Trafigura and

investment fund UCP the same amount for an equal joint stake.

The refinery deal follows a string of upstream investments in Russia by Indian companies in recent months that, Modi said,

were worth $5.5 billion.Also on display was Russia’s

nuclear prowess, with the second reactor of the Russian-built Kudankulam plant in Tamil Nadu hooked up to the grid and con-

crete being poured in a ceremony carried by a TV linkup to mark the start of work on the third and fourth reactors there.

Putin said that Russia would be able to build a dozen nuclear reactors in India over the next 20 years to back Modi’s growth strategy for Asia’s third-largest economy, which continues to suf-fer chronic power shortages.

The defence pacts will also deepen military ties between the two countries that dates back to the Soviet era, when India entire-ly depended on Moscow to equip its armed forces. The United States has since taken over as India’s top arms supplier.

Indian military officials have said the plan is for the joint ven-ture to build at least 200 Kamov 226t helicopters required by the country’s defence forces.

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd will be the local partner of Russian Helicopters and state arms exporter Rosoboronexport.

The S-400 surface-to-air mis-siles would strengthen India’s defences along its borders with China and Pakistan, Indian mili-tary officials have said. Also agreed were plans to build and supply stealth frigates for the Indian navy.

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who is in charge of space and military industries, said two frigates could be built in India and two in Russia, RIA news agency report-ed. Rogozin said the ships may later be equipped with missiles manufactured by BrahMos Aerospace, a venture co-owned by the Indian and Russian govern-ments.

India and Russia sign energy, defence deals worth billionsr e n ew e d t ra d e t i es

n India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the western state of Goa, India, on Saturday. REuTERS

Glowing test results raise output hopesBHAWANI BHATTAKANCHANPUR, OCT 15

The regional seed testing laborato-ry in Kanchanpur has grown doz-ens of new improved varieties of paddy seeds that are tolerant to extreme climatic changes stress like drought, flooding or submer-gence.

These varieties have been tested in coordinated varietal trails in drought-like and submergence-like condition as part of the process before releasing them to the farmers.

The laboratory has grown cli-mate-smart paddy seeds like Sukhha Dhan 1, 2, 3, 4 5, and 6 and Sawa Mansuli Sub-1 and Swarna Sub-1 for rain-fed lowland. These varieties developed by International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) have already been approved by the National Seed Board.

Among them Sukhha Dhan 1, 2 and 3 were released in 2011, while Sukhha Dhan 4, 5 and 6 were released in 2014. The seeds are resistant to blast and bacterial leaf blight. They are also tolerant to termite and stem borer.

Sukhha 6 has an average yield of 4-4.5 tonnes per hectare, and under a good irrigation condition, the output can go up to 5.5 tonnes per hectare on an average. The plant grows up to 125cm tall and has a maturity period of 120-125 days. It has the ability to re-grow even two weeks after submergence.

The Sukhha varieties are the results of efforts of the IRRI and the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (Narc). The project was undertaken under the support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Likewise, the laboratory in Kanchanpur has also been growing flood-tolerant Serang Sub 1 and drought-tolerant DRR 44 paddy seeds, which are in the process of being approved by the seed board.

“The improved variety of seeds that has already been released is

expected to attract farmers,” said Ravi Bhandari, agriculture research officer at the IRRI-Nepal. “Drought and flood tolerant varie-ties are high yielding crop and could change the livelihood rain-fed lowland farmers.”

The Serang can re-grow even four months after submergence. Serang has a maturity period of 125 days and can yield 4-5 tonnes of grains per hectare, said Bhandari.

“This high-yield and flood-resist-ant variety has become popular among farmers of Kanchanpur, Kailali, Bardia and Banke,” he said, adding that the seed variety

was approved in India last year. The DRR 44 can tolerate drought

for a week, said Bhaba Prasad Tripathi, senior associate scientist at the IRRI-Nepal. “It’s also good in taste.” It can ripe within 125 days and yield 4-5 tonnes grains per hec-tare. Agro technicians said that this variety are appropriate for places without irrigation facility and slope land.

Bimal Thapa, senior plant devel-opment officer at the seed testing laboratory, said they were also test-ing a dozen improved seed varie-ties, including Ram Dhan, Radha 4, Sarju 52 and DRR 42.

Nepal’s paddy output fell sharp-ly by 10.22 percent to 4.29 million tonnes in the last fiscal year, large-ly due to poor monsoon rainfall. According to the Ministry of Agricultural Development, 62,438 out of the 1.42 million hectares paddy fields were left uncultivated due to poor monsoon and drought last fiscal year.

As paddy is sensitive to drought due to its high water requirement, government officials said the new varieties would bring a big relief for farmers given the coun-try’s unpredictable weather patterns.

Nepal posts trade surplus with 36 countriesPOST REPORTKATHMANDU, OCT 15

Despite the ballooning trade deficit every year, Nepal has registered trade surplus with 36 countries by the end of the first two months of the cur-rent fiscal year, according to statistics of the Department of Customs. The number rep-resents around 25 percent of the total countries with which Nepal has trade relations.

This statistics, however, does not hold much signifi-cance as monetary value of the trade surplus is pretty low. According to the Department, Nepal has trade deficit with 107 countries out of 143 coun-tries with which its has trade relations by the end of the first two months of this fiscal year.

In the current fiscal year, Nepal has trade surplus with Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Sudan, Somalia and the Maldives, among others. But the trade volume with those countries is relatively tiny and the majority of items exported to those countries are handi-crafts and produce of small and cottage industries.

In the last fiscal year, Nepal had trade relations with 186 countries and it registered surplus with 42 countries. The statistics shows Nepal had trade deficit with 144 coun-

tries during that period. Similarly, Nepal posted sur-plus with 30 countries out the total of 180 countries with which it had exchanged trad-ing in the fiscal year 2014-15.

When the volume of trade deficit is swelling every year, having surplus with larger number of countries is insig-nificant, according to the economists.

There is a massive import of daily essentials as well as luxury goods from India and China, ballooning Nepal’s trade deficit. During the last fiscal year, Nepal’s trade defi-cit reached a whopping Rs 703 billion.

Nepal has the largest trade deficit with India at Rs 91.40 billion within the first two months of the current fiscal year. The imports from India during the period stood at Rs98.69 billion against the exports worth Rs7.29 billion. China followed a distant sec-ond with a deficit of Rs20.52 billion in the same period, according to the Department.

n People observe paddy field of seed testing laboratory in Kanchanpur. poST phoTo

But the trade volume with those countries is relatively

tiny and the majority of items exported to those

countries are handicrafts

African leaders seek piracy dealAGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE LOME, OCT 15

African leaders gathered in Togo’s capital Lome on Saturday to tackle rising pira-cy and smuggling off the con-tinent’s coasts, twin scourges holding back economic devel-opment.

Chad’s head of state Idriss Deby, the current African Union president, opened the summit, noting that some 90 percent of Africa’s imports and exports were transported by sea, making maritime secu-rity key to the continent’s eco-nomic future.

More than 40 countries have sent representatives to the AU’s “Protect Our Oceans” meeting hoping to sign a new charter on maritime security.

The leaders include 18 heads of state — an unusually high figure for an AU meeting of this kind — signalling the importance that governments place on the need to cut piracy and other crime in Africa’s waters. Of the AU’s 54 mem-ber states, 43 have coastlines.

Deby said the charter would “allow the promotion of com-merce and the exploitation of the huge potential of the mar-itime sector, as well as the creation of wealth and jobs in several industries”.

It would also “mark a deci-sive new step in the push to preserve the maritime envi-ronment”, he added.

Piracy, smuggling and other crimes at sea have cost the African maritime sector hun-dreds of billions of dollars in

recent decades, according to the AU. “Most African coun-tries that have a coastline are victims of one of these prob-lems, which is why it’s so important for African leaders to sit down and try to find solutions,” Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey told AFP ahead of the summit.

World piracy has been on the decline since 2012 after international naval patrols were launched off East Africa in response to violent attacks by mostly Somali-based pirates. But the focus of con-cern has shifted to the Gulf of Guinea, particularly the waters off oil-rich Nigeria.

The perpetrators are often offshoots of militant groups from the Niger Delta seeking a fairer distribution of the reve-

nues from the continent’s largest oil reserves.

At least 27 attempted or suc-cessful hijackings and kidnap-pings at sea have been record-ed off west Africa since April, according to the International Maritime Organization, com-pared to just two off east Africa. The 17 countries lin-ing the Gulf of Guinea have poor maritime surveillance capacities and they have been trying for several years to boost cooperation.

Regional coordination cen-tres have been mooted, but progress has been slow and there have been few offers to fund the project. The binding charter that leaders are hop-ing to sign Saturday would create a funding mechanism for the initiative.

climate-smart paddy seeds

moneyworld IISunday, October 16, 2016 | thekathmandupost

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Panasonic makes ‘invisible’ TV NEW YORK: Imagine a TV that looks like glass and can be fit into your furni-ture’s glass panes. Panasonic has developed a protoype of an “invisi-ble” TV which generates bright, clear images as normal TVs. According to tech website Engadget, Panasonic has improved the image quality in the new prototpye. “The OLED screen is made from a fine mesh, embed-ded into the glass sliding door,” the report added. The TV image is visible even with the backlight-ing on. Once it’s dimmed, the image is bright enough to be almost indistinguishable from existing TV sets. The screen shifts between “transparent mode” where you can see the shelving behind it, and “screen mode”, where you can see the screen. “Because the display is on a railing, you can move it up and down the shelf for even greater customisability,” Engadget reported. According to Panasonic, the television is likely to hit the market in the next three years. (IANS)

US clears China of currency manipulation WASHINGTON: The US Treasury on Friday cleared China of keeping the yuan cheap for trade advantages, amid accusa-tions by Republican pres-idential candidate Donald Trump that it manipulates the curren-cy. In a semi-annual review mandated by Congress over fears US trade rivals manipulate their currencies to boost exports, the Treasury said that although the yuan had fallen in the past year, this decline was driven by market pressures. Indeed, it said the yuan, also called the renminbi (RMB), could have fallen more had Beijing not acted to avoid that. “China’s interven-tion in foreign exchange markets has sought to prevent a rapid RMB depreciation that would have had negative conse-quences for the Chinese and global economies,” the Treasury said in a report. (AFP)

India’s forex reserves slip to $367bCHENNAI: India’s foreign exchange reserves dipped to $367.64 billion as on October 7, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said. According to data released by the RBI on Friday, the reserves stood at around $367.64 billion as on October 7, as against $371.99 billion on September 30. On October 7, the foreign currency assets stood at $342.39 billion, gold at $21.40 billion, special drawing rights $1.47 bil-lion and the reserve posi-tion in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at $2.36 billion. The reserves as on September 30 comprised foreign cur-rency assets at $346.71 billion, gold at $21.40 bil-lion, special drawing rights at $1.48 billion and the reserve position in the IMF at $2.38 billion. (IANS)

news digest

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSEBANGKOK, Oct 15

The Thai King’s death saw a recovery in stocks Friday that buckled during his final days, but analysts warned uncertainty over the nation’s future without its uniting figure posed fresh risks for an economy already battered by a decade of political turmoil.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej died at the age of 88 on Thursday, end-ing a seven-decade reign credited with bringing a measure of sta-bility that allowed Thailand to go from agricultural backwater to one of the region’s most industri-alised economies.

But a “lost decade” of political turbulence, including mass street protests punctuated by two mili-tary coups, turned a Southeast Asian star economy into one of

its slowest-growing.The military government that

seized power in 2014 has reined in the damaging political turbulence but struggled to revive the lack-lustre economy, with tourism a lone bright spot.

There is a risk that the king’s death could see “political ten-sions flare up, triggering a slow-down in economic growth,” warned Capital Economics.

Market stability will be tied to a smooth royal succession, it said. Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, however, was expected to be immediately named king, but he made a sur-prise request to delay the process, according to military junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha.

“All eyes now will turn to the succession process,” the research-ers added. The palace’s announce-

ment that the king was gravely ill over the past week sent shudders through the stock market and pushed the baht to a two-month low. But the main share index rose more than four percent Friday, with analysts saying it had been oversold amid anxiety over the king’s health, while the baht also staged a rebound against the dollar. “The uncer-tainties and political risks have been more or less priced in,” Margaret Yang, an analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore, told Bloomberg News.

“We may still see some panic selling but I don’t expect this to last for very long. Eventually smart money will flow in to sup-port the market.”

However, experts warned that the longer-term picture is less certain as Thailand remains a

deeply polarised country with the recent stability a result of strict military bans on political activi-ties and dissent.

Bower Group Asia, a business consultancy, said these latent con-flicts are likely to reemerge if and when the military decides to hold promised elections, current-ly scheduled for late 2017.

According to government fig-ures, the economy grew 2.8 per-cent last year following record tourist arrivals and a ramp-up in infrastructure spending by the junta-led government.

But while that is three times quicker than in 2014—when pro-tests and the coup tripped up the economy—it is still a lot slower than the 6.5 percent seen in 2012.

There is also concern about the immediate impact on the key tourism sector during the mourn-

ing period after the government asked the public “to refrain from holding entertainment activities for one month”. The tropical kingdom’s notoriously rowdy nightlife, red-light districts and beach partying on its southern islands are top draws for a tour-ism industry that has kept the economy afloat as other sectors fell flat. “Widespread closures of domestic businesses for several days are likely to occur, including many tourism companies,” said Economist Intelligence Unit.

It added that it expected a slow-down over the next 12 months.

“Consumer demand will fall sharply in the coming weeks,” it said. Bangkok clubs shut down Thursday after news of the king’s passing, though most other busi-nesses opened as normal the next morning.

Thai markets rally but economic uncertainty reignsf r es h r I s k

n People take photos of a portrait of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej at a mall in Bangkok, Thailand on Saturday. REUTERS

Bangladesh, China firms ink multi-billion deals AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE DHAKA, Oct 15

Bangladeshi and Chinese firms have signed $13.6 billion in trade and investment deals on the sidelines of President Xi Jinping’s brief tour to the South Asian nation, a trade group official said Saturday.

The deals are in addition to $20 billion in loan agreements that the two governments signed on Friday, in a mark of Beijing’s growing ties with Dhaka, which is a very close ally of regional power India.

“These trade and invest-ment deals are between Chinese companies including some of their state firms and Bangladesh private sector. They are worth $13.6 bil-lion,”Abdul Matlub Ahmad, head of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), told AFP.

Ahmad said the deals reflect Dhaka’s improving security situation after Bangladesh launched a deadly crackdown on Islamist extremists following an attack on a posh restaurant in the capital in which suspected militants killed 22, mostly for-eign hostages.

“The agreements send a positive signal to the rest of the world that Bangladesh is a safe haven as an investment destination. The Chinese

investors are satisfied with the security situation here,” he added.

The deals were signed after the FBCCI, Bangladesh’s top trade and business lobbyist group, and the China Council for Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) organised a two-day tete-e-tete between business officials of both nations on the sidelines of

Xi’s tour. “We will invest in investment parks. There are many entrepreneurs in our delegation who want to invest in this country,” CCPIT vice-chairman Chen Zhou said, according to local news portal bdnews24.com.

Chinese investors were con-sidering investing in infra-structural development, leath-er, readymade garments,

pharmaceuticals, automobile and other sectors.

Bangladesh has already agreed to set up an industrial park exclusively for Chinese investors near the strategic port of Chittagong hoping it will attract manufacturers seeking cheaper labour than they can find at home.

As a mark of their deepen-ing economic ties, the two

nations on Friday also signed an agreement to conduct a fea-sibility study on a China-Bangladesh free trade agree-ment.

Dhaka has been so far reluctant to sign a bilateral FTA with China and instead sought unilateral duty-free and quota-free access for its products in the Chinese mar-ket, the world’s second largest economy.

Trade between the two nations is currently heavily skewed in China’s favour with Bangladesh exporting goods worth only about $808 million last year while its imports from China stood at $9.64 bil-lion. Xi concluded his visit on Saturday, flying to India to attend a BRICS summit of leading emerging nations.

His visit was the first in more than three decades by a Chinese president to Bangladesh, which lies firmly within New Delhi’s sphere of influence.

Xi hailed what he called a “historical turning point” in relations with Bangladesh after talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Impoverished Bangladesh needs tens of billions of dol-lars of investment in its trans-port infrastructure and ener-gy production to boost its flag-ging economic fortunes and create jobs for its 160 million people.

US fiscal year budget deficit widens to $587 billionREUTERSWASHINGtON, Oct 15

The US budget deficit wid-ened to $587 billion for the fis-cal year 2016 on slow-er-than-expected revenues and higher spending for pro-grams including Social Security and Medicare, the Treasury Department said on Friday.

The 2016 deficit increased to 3.2 percent of gross domes-tic product.

It was the first time the defi-cit increased in relation to economic output since 2009, according to figures from the Congressional Budget Office. That year, the deficit peaked at $1.4 trillion amid the finan-cial crisis. Last fiscal year’s deficit was $439 billion, with a deficit-to-GDP ratio of 2.5 per-cent. Accounting for calendar adjustments, the 2016 fiscal year deficit was $548 billion.

Fiscal 2016 revenues grew 1 percent to $3.267 trillion, while outlays rose 5 percent to $3.854 trillion. Revenue growth was reduced by the retroactive extension of some expired individual and corpo-rate tax deductions passed by

Congress as part of the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act late last year, Treasury said.

With an aging population, mandatory spending for Social Security and Medicare, the federal retirement and healthcare programs for the elderly, have increased.

For September, the Treasury posted a $33 billion budget surplus, a 63 percent decline from the same month last year. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a $25 billion surplus for last month.

When accounting for calen-dar adjustments, September would have shown a $75 bil-lion surplus compared with an adjusted $91 billion surplus in the same month a year ago.

Receipts last month totaled $357 billion, a 2 percent decline from September 2015, while outlays stood at $323 bil-lion, an 18 percent rise from the same month a year ago.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has repeatedly warned that increasing federal debt levels are unsustainable over the long term unless Congress changes current laws.

Oil dips on dollar, rig count rise; focus still on OpecREUTERSNEW YORK, Oct 15

Oil prices fell slightly on Friday as traders balanced a stronger dollar and another increase in the US oil rig count against expectations that more Opec talk of output cuts will keep crude above $50 per barrel.

The dollar posted its best weekly performance in more than seven months against a

basket of curren-

cies, weighing on prices of green-back-denominated commodities, includ-ing crude oil.

A closely watched report by oil services pro-vider Baker Hughes, mean-while, showed US drillers added four rigs in the week to Oct. 14. It was the 16th week in a row that oil drillers had gone without making cuts, indicating more production to come.

Despite that, oil prices fell just slightly.

Brent LCOc1, the London-traded crude benchmark, set-tled down 8 cents, or 0.2 per-cent, at $51.95 a barrel. For the week, it closed flat.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude ended down 9 cents at $50.35. It rose about 1 percent on the week.

“There’s no big news to drive the market,” said Phil Flynn, analyst at Chicago bro-kerage Price Futures Group.

He described the oil rig count rise of four as “anti-cli-

matic.” Most analysts have said rigs need to rise by at least 10 in a week to have a sustained bearish impact on prices.

For now, many think that prices could continue rising in the near term on expecta-tions related to output cuts proposed by Opec.

Oil prices have trended higher since Sept. 27, with Brent gaining about 13 per-cent and hitting one year highs above $53, after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting

Countries announced its first planned output cut

in eight years.Opec plans to rein

in a global supply glut that forced

crude to crash from mid-2014 highs above $100 and has

asked other major producers, including Russia, to join in cutting out-put.

“Between now and November, what Opec will be trying to do is a lot of jawbon-ing to move prices higher and the market is likely to respond,” said Jim Williams at consultancy WTRG Economics in London, Arkansas.

In Thursday’s trade, both Brent and WTI rose, continu-ing their recent upward momentum, despite the US government reporting the first domestic crude invento-ry build in six weeks. Market participants had focused then on larger-than-expected draw-downs in diesel, gasoline and other fuel stockpiles reported by the US Energy Information Administration.

Taiwan’s Penghu rejects divisive casino bidAGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE tAIPEI, Oct 15

Residents on Taiwan’s pris-tine Penghu islands over-whelmingly rejected a propos-al to allow casino development Saturday, an issue that has divided communities and politicians.

Supporters were hoping for the green light as Taiwan’s economy stagnates, promis-ing a casino would boost jobs and tourism.

Opponents argued gam-bling resorts would ruin the natural landscapes of the remote outlying island chain, which has a population of 100,000 and is popular with visitors for its beaches and turtle sanctuaries.

Apart from state-run lotter-ies, gambling is banned in most of Taiwan and there are currently no legal casinos—although there is a thriving underground gambling net-work. However, Taiwan’s out-

lying islands have been given permission to develop casi-nos, with a number of caveats, including that local residents agree. The “no camp” won 81.1 percent of the vote in Saturday’s referendum.

“We are pleased that people came out at the last minute to vote on this critical issue,” said Penghu-born Sheng I-che, head of the pro-environment Tree Party, although he voiced disappointment at the 40 per-cent turnout. “It is not how we

want to see Penghu develop,” he told AFP.

It is the second time the western archipelago has voted against casino development, having gone to the polls in 2009, when 56.4 percent opposed. Supporters of the “yes” camp said without casi-nos Penghu would struggle to develop a more robust local economy.

“As we are unable to get foreign investments, Penghu may never become self-reli-

ant,” said Chuang Kuang-hui of the Penghu Internationa-lisation Promotion Alliance, which initiated the vote.

Taiwan’s Matsu Islands held a similar vote in 2012 and came out in support of a casi-no being built.

However, none has ever been developed there because a parliamentary act laying out gaming licensing and regula-tions, the final stamp for any casino to go ahead, has stalled in parliament.

n China’s President Xi Jinping (left) shakes hands with Bangladesh’s President Abdul Hamid in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Friday. REUTERS

offshore wind project

n Wind turbines, of the Block Island Wind Farm, tower above the water on Friday off the shores of Block Island, Rhode Island. The first offshore wind project in the US has created more than 300 construction jobs and will deliver the electricity demands for the entire island. AFP/RSS

money economyIII thekathmandupost | Sunday, October 16, 2016

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connecting cities

n A recently taken aerial photo shows Wenhui Bridge in the evening in Liuzhou, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. A total of 19 bridges over Liujiang River have been built in the urban area in Liuzhou City. Xinhua

Darjeeling’s toy train service suspended SILIGURI: Toy train ser-vices in the Darjeeling hills were suspended due to landslides caused by heavy rainfall, a railways official said on Friday. “Toy train jungle safari ride between New Jalpaiguri station and Rangtang near Siliguri was suspended due to major landslides. Due to heavy rainfall for last three days, landslides occurred at 4-5 places of toy train’s railway track from Dukna to Kurseong,” said Darjeeling Himalayan Railways’ Traffic Inspector Sanjay Ghosh. Boulders crashed on the railway tracks at Zero near Kurseong twon, he added. Incessant rainfall in the hills caused land-slides at several places and had damaged a stretch of the National Highway-10 connecting West Bengal with Sikkim on Thursday. (IANS)

El Salvador prevails mining trade disputeWASHINGTON: A World Bank arbitration panel on Friday found in favor of El Salvador in a $250 million dispute brought by a mining company over a gold concession. The panel at the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes also awarded legal costs to the Central American country, find-ing that the case brought by the mining company Pac Rim Cayman was without merit. “ICSID rejected all of the mining company’s claims,” Salvadoran Attorney General Douglas Melendez told reporters in a news conference in Washington. Now owned by the Canadian-Australian miner OceanaGold, the US com-pany Pac Rim Cayman in 2009 had sought arbitra-tion, claiming that authorities in San Salvador had improperly denied the company environmental permits for its exploration pro-jects, rendering them worthless. (AFP)

US 2016 deficit jumps but less than forecastWASHINGTON: After fall-ing for several years, the US budget deficit jumped nearly 34 percent in fis-cal 2016, the Treasury Department announced Friday, but the shortfall was still smaller than originally planned. The Obama administration’s budget for the year to September 30 came in with a $587 billion defi-cit, out of $3.85 trillion spent during the year. A deficit of $28 billion more was forecast in President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2017 budget earlier this year, but lower spending than expected by a number of government departments limited the rise in the gap. The deficit was far below the trillion-dollar shortfalls of 2009-2013 when government spending soared on efforts to rescue the finance and auto sectors in the economic crash while tax receipts sank. (AFP)

news digest

REUTERSBEIJING, OCT 15

A mixed bag of Chinese economic data this week has unnerved glob-al markets and clouded the out-look for China’s economic growth, days before the release of the country’s quarterly gross domes-tic product figures.

Global markets rose on Friday after official data showed China’s factory output prices grew in September for the first time in almost five years, but a day earlier, stocks in Europe and on Wall Street were hammered by an unex-pectedly poor Chinese trade report for the same month.

Exports for September slumped 10 percent from a year earlier, despite the yuan’s depreciation in the past year. Imports unexpected-ly fell, after ticking higher in August, raising questions over the

resilience of domestic demand.Though China’s economy

recorded its slowest growth in 25 years in 2015, it has shown signs of stabilising in recent months, sustained by billions of dollars of government infrastructure pro-jects and a spreading credit-fuelled housing boom.

China is targeting gross domes-tic product growth of 6.5 to 7 per-cent this year, after 6.9 percent last year.

“The government has been able to stabilise the economy this year with quite a lot of stimulus, but it hasn’t actually been as effective as a lot of people had expected,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, a Singapore-based China Economist at Capital Economics.

The booming property market is showing tentative signs of cool-ing after some local governments rolled out restrictions on home

purchases to temper a months-long buying frenzy.

Chinese companies are still sit-ting on $18 trillion in debt, equiva-

lent to about 169 percent of GDP, according to the most recent fig-ures from the Bank for International Settlements.

Fixed asset investment is hover-ing near 17-year lows, while pri-vate investment is still languish-ing at record lows.

In a Reuters poll, 58 economists estimated that third-quarter GDP, due on Oct. 19, expanded 6.7 per-cent, as it did in the first and sec-ond quarters.

Despite fresh signs of softer economic conditions, most econo-mists think Beijing will meet its official GDP target without much difficulty.

The producer price index (PPI) rose 0.1 percent in September from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday, the first expansion on an annual basis since January 2012.

But for a more realistic gauge

of China’s economy, economists tend to look at variables beyond official numbers.

“We tend to focus on less high-profile, volume-based indica-tors, which don’t have to be deflat-ed with price indices, such as freight volume, passenger traffic, floors under construction, among other measures,” Evans-Pritchard said.

He said the official GDP hasn’t been a reliable indicator of what’s happening on the ground since 2012, the first year China’s GDP target came under threat.

“What’s really interesting about those data is that they used to move very closely with GDP, and from around 2012 onwards most of our indicators continued to slow, but the official GDP (figures) were just kind of moving within a tiny range.”

Evans-Pritchard’s official 2016

official GDP estimate remains at 6.8 percent. But based on other variables, he said he believed growth was likely to be 5 percent.

Data for September’s bank loans is due over the next few days. Bank lending more than doubled in August from the previous month, fuelled by strong mortgage demand.

Zhou Hao, senior economist at Commerzbank in Singapore, said to gauge real growth in China is “a complicated story”, but he tends to look at the debt data that comes out of China for clues.

China unveiled guidelines this week to cut rising levels of corpo-rate debt that some analysts fear could destabilise the world’s sec-ond-largest economy.

The government aims to stabi-lise and reduce corporate debt levels in the near- and medium-term.

Conflicting data blurs China’s economic outlookQ UA RT E R LY R E P O RT

Change of govt puts plans on back burnerPRAKASH ADHIKARIDAILEKH, OCT 15

The planned petroleum explo-ration at Sirsthan-Navisthan in Dailekh initiated by the previous government has been put on the back burner.

The change in the govern-ment has put a dampener on hopes of the locals who were expecting that the project could bring changes in the district.

Following the acute short-age of petroleum products triggered by Indian trade embargo last year, former prime minister KP Sharma Oli had initiated the process of identifying and exploring the reserve of petroleum prod-ucts and natural gas in the country.

Then Industry Minister Som Prasad Pandey, who had visited the district along with a team of Chinese experts in

May, had expressed his com-mitment to initiate the extrac-tion of the natural gas after conducting a detailed study.

Pandey visited the possible reserve site twice during his tenure.

The Chinese team which was assigned to conduct the feasibility study on petroleum gas and mineral oil explora-tion had remained at the site for a week to conduct the pre-liminary study.

The support from the Chinese team of experts was a part of an understanding between Nepal and China dur-ing Oli’s visit to the northern neighbour.

In its report submitted to the Department of Mines and Minerals, the Chinese team has mentioned about the find-ing of significant amount of petroleum and gas deposits in

Dailekh. The team has also carried samples of stone, rock, soil and water of the site for a detailed study.

Pandey urged the current government to prioritise the initiative of the previous gov-ernment. “It has been quite some time since the expert team from China submitted the report to the government,” said Pandey. The Chinese gov-ernment is ready to provide technical and financial sup-port for the exploration and extraction,” he said. “So, the ball is in incumbent govern-ment’s court. It should decide what it wants.”

Shanti Prasad Sharma, chairman of the Dailekh Chamber of Commerce and Industries, said the dis-continuation of the develop-ment programme after the change of the government

is disappointing. “We don’t have detailed

knowledge about the gas that is being wasted. We don’t know if it can be used or not,” he said. “We had high hopes after the earlier government initiated the exploration. However, with the change of government the project is in limbo.”

There is leakage of gas through the cracks on the ground at Navisthan and Sirsthan in Dailekh. The natu-ral gas of the region has been going waste like this for dec-ades. The locals have been using the gas to lit fires and worshipping the flame as fire goddess.

Amar Bahadur Thapa, the lawmaker of the region said he will seek government’s plan for discussion in the House. “Where has the pro-cess of exploration gone? I will question,” said Thapa.

Some Samsung fans hot to keep Note 7 phones, despite recallREUTERSSAN FRANCISCO/SEOUL, OCT 15

San Francisco Bay Area risk consultant Gil Oliva is willing to risk that his Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone might catch fire, shrugging off a global recall that has damaged the South Korean manufacturer’s reputation and raised questions about its future.

The stylish Note 7, which boasts a curved screen, an iris scanner and a pen accessory, was well-regarded until some began catching fire. Oliva lik-ened it to Ferrari sports cars, which also were recalled over fire issues in 2010.

“I’ve got the Ferrari. And yes, Ferraris catch on fire sometimes,” said Oliva, 32, of Oakland, California.

The 5.7-inch Note 7 had been expected to accelerate Samsung Electronics Co’s mobile-sales momentum. Then, Samsung announced a global recall of 2.5 million Note 7s in early September.

The company said this week it would permanently stop production and sales. It urged users to power down and offered to exchange devic-es for other models globally.

As the company works to contain damage and stop the recall from tainting the entire brand, some fans say they are not worried.

The large-screen, $882 phone employs a similar design to Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S7, the best-selling Android phone in the first half of 2016. Samsung had hoped the Note 7 would enjoy a similar appeal.

Wall Street expects iPhone maker Apple Inc to benefit from Samsung’s recall, along with makers of other phones running Android.

S t i l l , Ve r i z o n Communications Inc spokes-woman Kelly Crummey said many Note 7 customers are exchanging the recalled devic-es for other Samsung phones.

Josh Dickey, entertainment editor at technology news site Mashable, said in an op-ed on Wednesday he would keep his phone, calculating a human was twice as likely to be struck by lightning as a Note 7 was to catch fire. Fewer than 100 burning phones have been reported.

Many other customers around the world had the same reaction.

“The problem is there is no

other phone that I like,” said Jo Hyang-won, a 32-year-old office worker in South Korea.

Samsung expects the Note 7 failure to dent profits by about $5.3 billion. It blamed faulty batteries for the original prob-lem but has not guessed at what caused replacement phones to overheat.

Sidrah Ahmad in Singapore said safety considerations mean eventually giving up the Note 7.

“I am trying to ignore the voices in my head saying I should stop. But I think I’ll have to stop soon.”

The 34-year-old public serv-ant described “constantly being conscious whether the device is getting too warm... it’s getting in the way of the positive experience of the phone.”

Scores protest free-trade deals with US, CanadaASSOCIATED PRESS WARSAW, OCT 15

Hundreds of people protested Saturday in Warsaw against free-trade agreements that the European Union is pursuing with the US and Canada, say-ing they will hurt Polish farm-ers and consumers.

The rally was organized by a non-governmental group, Akcja Democracja, with trade unions and several small opposition parties.

The Polish protesters argue that the free trade deals - called TTIP and CETA - will allow an influx of food from North America that will destroy local farming, and also hurt consumers by allow-ing in foods that are genetical-ly modified.

Rallying in front of the Agriculture Ministry ahead of a march to the prime minis-ter’s office, they urged the Polish government to reject the deals.

The EU trade ministers are scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to approve CETA. If they unanimously approve it,

the deal could be signed with Canada on Oct. 27.

Environmental activists and trade unions across Europe have expressed fears that the deals could worsen local standards for food, work and industry.

On Friday, the Belgian region of Wallonia rejected the CETA deal. All EU nations need to back it, and under Belgium’s constitutional rules, one region can effective-ly veto such a deal for the whole country.

The EU says the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement deal with Canada will improve trade, create jobs and remove almost all tariffs and custom duties while at the same time guaranteeing European stand-ards on anything from food and health quality to labor rights.

For many, the CETA is only a prelude to TTIP, an even bigger deal that is being nego-tiated with the United States and which has given rise to massive protests already in several EU nations.

petroleum exploration in dailekh

n A file photo shows a worker at the Yangshan Deep Water Port, part of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, in Shanghai, China. REuTERS

Belgium agrees tough budget deal AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE BRUSSELS, OCT 15

Belgium’s coalition govern-ment has agreed the basics of its budget, finding savings of some three billion euros ($3.4 billion) to help balance the books.

“Agreement,” said Prime Minister Charles Michel in a tweeted message late Friday after lengthy talks finally pro-duced an accord.

Negotiations appeared blocked earlier in the week, with Michel promising to work “relentlessly” to get a deal by Saturday, when

European Union member states using the euro currency are supposed to submit their 2017 budgets for scrutiny by Brussels.

Spending cuts, especially in health, were a key sticking point along with plans to introduce a controversial cap-ital gains tax broadly opposed by business.

Belgium, unlike most other countries, does not have a cap-ital gains tax and the proposal exposed sharp differences within the coalition govern-ment Michel has led since 2014.

Flemish Christian

Democrat party head and Deputy Premier Kris Peeters who submitted the plan, said the new tax would not affect small- and medium-sized com-panies nor start-ups.

Rather, only the “wealthiest 10 percent” of the country would have to pay it, Peeters said Thursday as he sought to dampen opposition to the tax.

Michel told a press confer-ence Saturday the govern-ment will continue work on the capital gains tax plan and other economic reforms need-ed to secure jobs and growth.

“The government has shown it can take the difficult

decisions,” he said, adding that the budget talks had been “intense.”

The European Commission forecasts the Belgian economy will grow 1.2 percent this year, rising to 1.6 percent in 2017, which would make it one of the better performers in the EU.

The Commission puts the budget deficit — the shortfall between government reve-nues and spending — at 2.8 percent of total economic out-put (GDP) for 2016, within the EU’s 3.0-percent limit.

For 2017, the deficit is expected at 2.3 percent.

moneystock IVSunday, October 16, 2016 | thekathmandupost

REUTERSNEW YORK, OCT 15

A heavy slate of US corporate earnings could set the course next week for a wavering US stock market.

Better-than-expected big bank earnings on Friday somewhat helped shore up Wall Street’s confidence, which has been shaken by a rocky beginning to third-quarter reporting season, marred by disappointing results from industrial and healthcare companies.

But with the bulk of results still to come, investors are counting on large US companies to stop a year-long streak of profit declines. Next week’s reports include Microsoft, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson and Bank of America.

Mixed initial results have added to other concerns in recent days that hurt equities,

including weak economic data in China, worries over Britain’s exit from the European Union, and the likelihood of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike before

year-end. After a second straight week of losses, the S&P 500 sits about 2.5 percent below its all-time closing high set two months ago.

“The exuberance you saw this summer as it got to new highs was built on the premise that prices were leading a breakout in earnings,” said Bruce McCain, chief investment strat-egist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland.

Investors “were looking for a pretty strong breakout in the second half of the year to make up for a very weak first half, and I just don’t know that that’s in the cards,” McCain said.

With 34 S&P 500 companies reporting so far, third-quarter earnings are expected to slip 0.4 percent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

But given how many bet-ter-than-expected reports typi-cally occur, investors are eyeing the quarter to potentially end with earnings in positive terri-tory. S&P 500 profits fell 5 per-cent in the first quarter and 2.1 percent in the second.

“At the end of the day, it real-ly is all about earnings. Every economic data point filters down into earnings,” said Karyn Cavanaugh, senior mar-ket strategist at Voya Investment Management in New York.

“When we actually move to positive, I think psychologically that will be a point for investors to say, ‘Wow, this really is proba-bly the best place to be in terms of investing. You have to be in equities’,” said Cavanaugh.

Strong earnings forecasts will be important for supporting his-torically expensive stock valua-tions. The S&P 500 trades at

nearly 17 times earnings esti-mates for the next 12 months, against its historical average of 15 times. One potential obstacle to upbeat outlooks is the strengthening US dollar, which this week climbed to its highest since March against a basket of currencies .

Multinational companies that generate business outside the United States stand to see those sales reduced when translated back into dollars.

Alan Gayle, director of asset allocation at RidgeWorth Investments in Atlanta, said he will be watching “whether or not businesses feel like they have their operating models working well and under control, and if the dollar turns into the excuse du jour for weak guid-ance or missing the quarter.” “At these valuation levels, the market gets to be vulnerable,” Gayle said.

Investors seek profit turnaround to drive stocks higherWa l l st r e e t a h e a d

C M Y K

rising prices

n Chinese customers select vegetables at a supermarket in Jiujiang, east China’s Jiangxi province on Friday. The price of goods at the factory gate rose in China for the first time in more than four years in September in a positive sign for demand in the world’s second-largest economy. AFP/rss

market Watch

Vegetables Unit Price (Rs)

Fruits Unit Price (Rs)

Red Potato Kg Rs53

White Potato Kg Rs45

Onion (Indian) Kg Rs35

Tomato Small Kg Rs65

Carrot Kg Rs125

Tomato Big Kg Rs55

Squash Kg Rs55

Cabbage Kg Rs35

Brinjal Long kg Rs65

Cow Pea Kg Rs55

daIly commodItIes

gasolIne Watch

bullIon PRICE PER TOLa

SOuRCE: FENEGOSIDa

apple Kg Rs135

Pomegranate Kg Rs235

Jackfruit 1Pc Rs33

Pineapple 1Pc Rs105

Cucumber Kg Rs65

Papaya Kg Rs83

Banana Doz Rs75

Lime 100 Pcs Rs475

Pokhreli Rice Kg Rs70

Jeera Masino Rice Kg Rs70

Indian Basmati Rice Kg Rs100

Mansuli Rice Kg Rs55

Sona Rice Kg Rs50

Beaten Rice (Taichin) Kg Rs130

Beaten Rice Kg Rs60

Big Mas Kg Rs260

Small Mas Kg Rs240

Big Mung Kg Rs180

Musuro (No 1) Kg Rs170

Musuro (No 2) Kg Rs150

Rahar Kg Rs270

Chana (Big) Kg Rs210

Chana (Small) Kg Rs180

Chilli Powder Kg Rs400

Commodities Unit Price (Rs)

Int’l market

Energy Price (US$) %Change

Agriculture Price (US$) %Change

Industrial Metals Price (US$) %Change

COPPER FuTuRE (lb) 211.75 -0.21

Precious Metals Price (US$) %Change

GOLD 100 OZ FuTR (t oz) 1,253.70 -0.31SILVER FuTuRE (t oz) 17.48 0.10

COCOa FuTuRE (MT) 2,721.00 0.93COFFEE ‘C’ FuTuRE (lb) 154.55 1.21CORN FuTuRE (bu) 354.5 1.43COTTON NO.2 FuTR (lb) 69.45 0.20ROuGH RICE (CBOT) (cwt) 10.22 -0.10SOYBEaN FuTuRE (bu) 963.25 0.73SOYBEaN MEaL FuTR (T) 303.7 0.46SOYBEaN OIL FuTR (lb) 33.76 1.14SuGaR #11 (WORLD) (lb) 23.04 0.52WHEaT FuTuRE(CBT) (bu) 422 1.44

Hallmark Gold Rs56,000

Tejabi Gold Rs55,750

Silver Rs810

RETAIL PRICE

BRENT CRuDE FuTR (bbl) 52.42 0.75GaS OIL FuT (ICE) (MT) 469.25 0.75GaSOLINE RBOB FuT (gal) 148.57 0.26NaTuRaL GaS FuTR (MMBtu) 3.34 -0.12

Stocks fall on China tradeAGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE LONDON, OCT 15

World stocks mostly fell Thursday as weak Chinese data reinforced fears over the world’s number two economy, while a spat between Britain’s Tesco and Dutch giant Unilever hit sentiment in Europe.

Europe’s main stock indi-ces were all lower at the close, while Wall Street was also down. Earlier, Asian bourses buckled on news that China’s exports plummeted last month, as anaemic global demand hit its economy while weak imports fuelled worries about crucial domes-tic appetite.

However, troubled Samsung Electronics staged a slight recovery on bargain-buying after losing about 10 percent of its value this week on the Galaxy Note 7 crisis.

China said exports plunged more than predicted last month, disappointing markets after a recent upbeat reading on factory activity. In yuan terms it snapped six straight months of increases. Imports also fell, confounding predic-tions for a rise.

“The drop in China’s trade

surplus, which included a sur-prise fall in imports, meant the basic resource sector which has a big exposure to Chinese commodity demand was dragging the UK equity benchmark lower,” said CMC Markets analyst Jasper Lawler.

Mining stocks listed in London suffered in response, with Rio Tinto falling 4.9 per-cent, BHP Billiton 4.4 percent and Anglo American 4.8 per-cent.

A seemingly Brexit-fuelled spat between British super-market giant Tesco and Dutch food and consumer goods mul-tinational Unilever erupted Thursday, pushing shares in both companies sharply lower.

Unilever, which makes pop-ular household brands like Flora margarine, PG Tips tea-bags and Persil washing pow-der, wanted major price hikes due to the Brexit-driven slump in sterling—which it said has ramped up the cost of import-ed materials.

Unilever also makes the popular yeast extract spread Marmite, prompting CMC’s Lawler to label the dispute “Marmageddon”, and spawn-ing a #Marmitegate hashtag on Twitter.

Equity markets up on positive macro-dataINDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE MuMBaI, OCT 15

The Indian equity markets on Friday closed on a flat-to-posi-tive note on the back of posi-tive inflation macro-data points and value buying.

However, gains were capped due to long-liquidation which was triggered by caution over the ongoing quarterly earn-ings season and outflow of foreign funds.

The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) inched up by 10.05 points or 0.12 per cent to 8,583.40 points.

The barometer 30-scrip sen-sitive index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 27,712.22 points, closed at 27,673.60 points—with a slight rise of 30.49 points or 0.11 per cent from the previous close at 27,643.11 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 27,763.54 points and a low of 27,548.18 points during the intra-day trade.

The BSE market breadth was tilted in favour of the bulls—with 1,725 advances and 1,058 declines.

On Thursday, both the key Indian indices plunged due to global cues such as increased chances of a US rate hike, disappointing China trade data and renewed fears of an early exit of Britain from the European Union (Brexit).

The barometer index had receded by 439.23 points or 1.56 per cent to 27,643.11 points, while the NSE Nifty plunged by 135.45 points or 1.56 per cent to 8,573.35 points.

Initially on Friday, the benchmark indices opened on a positive note in sync with their Asian peers.

Investors’ sentiments were buoyed at the prospects of another rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) after macro-data showed a decline in key inflation gaug-

es. The official data on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) released on Friday afternoon showed that India’s annual wholesale inflation eased to 3.57 per cent in September from a two-year high of 3.74 per cent in August.

The annual wholesale infla-tion during the corresponding period last year stood at (-)4.59 per cent.

The WPI figures came a day after data on India’s annual retail inflation was released after the market hours on Thursday. It showed a decline of 4.31 per cent from 5.05 per cent in August and 4.41 per cent reported during the cor-responding period of last year.

The September annual retail inflation came below the upper tolerance level of six per cent for the second straight month, even though it is still above the base rate of four per cent.

The government target is four per cent plus-or-minus two percentage points for the next five years.

However, gains were capped due to caution over the ongo-ing second quarter results and substantial outflow of foreign funds.

The second quarter results season started on October 7. On Friday Infosys came out with its quarterly results.

The global software major

lowered its annual revenue guidance for the 2016-17 fiscal due to uncertain business out-look and currency volatility despite a robust growth in the second quarter (July-September).

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee strengthened by 23 paise to 66.70-71 against a US dollar from its previous close of 66.93-94 to a greenback.

“Value buying, broadly pos-itive global markets and lower inflation data points support-ed the key indices’ upward movement,” Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, told IANS.

“However, with Q2 season getting active, gains were lim-ited, as yesterday’s steep fall has prompted investors to take a cautionary bias.”

According to Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls,

CNX Nifty opened on a firm note as it tracked positive Asian markets. “Bearish USD/INR futures prices and short covering at lower levels also supported the recovery in Nifty,” Desai said.

“IT stocks traded with bear-ish sentiments on selling pres-sure. However, banking and pharma stocks witnessed healthy recovery from lower levels in the second half of the session.”

In terms of investments, provisional data with exchanges showed that the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold stocks worth Rs 946.42 crore, whereas the DIIs bought scrip worth Rs 556.90 crore.

Sector-wise, S&P BSE oil and gas index augmented by 261.85 points, followed by the capital goods index, which rose by 229.01 points, and the bank index edged-up by 77.70 points.

On the other hand, S&P BSE metal index receded by 52.62 points, the IT index declined by 51.41 points and the technology, entertainment and media (Teck) index dropped by 41.04 points.

Major Sensex gainers dur-ing Friday’s trade were: Gail, up 4.05 per cent at Rs 430.35; Larsen and Toubro (L&T), up 2.51 per cent at Rs 1,472.50; Tata Motors, up 2.05 per cent at Rs 555.45; Reliance Industries, up 1.94 per cent at Rs 1,078.20; and Powergrid, up 1.69 per cent at Rs 177.40.

Major Sensex losers were: Infosys, down 2.34 per cent at Rs 1,027.40; Hindustan Unilever, down 2.32 per cent at Rs 841.95; HDFC, down 1.44 per cent at Rs 1,319.20; Lupin, down 1.09 per cent at Rs 1,464.30; and Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), down 0.88 per cent at Rs 1,357.05.

Stocks, dollar rebound but Yellen rattles marketsREUTERSNEW YORK, OCT 15

Global stocks and the dollar rebound-ed on Friday, buoyed at first by US and Chinese data, but Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen later rattled inves-tors when she said aggressive steps may be needed to address an economy whose potential is slipping.

The dollar posted its largest weekly rise in more than seven months, with rebounding US retail sales and a rise in producer prices last month indicat-ing the economy had regained momentum in the third quarter after a lackluster first-half.

Stocks in Europe rose more than 1 percent and an index of global equi-ties gained. But stocks on Wall Street pared gains to close just above break-even, while yields on longer-dated US Treasuries ticked up, with the bench-mark 10-year note edging above 1.8 percent.

Yellen, who posed her comments in Boston as questions that need more research, also suggested the US cen-tral bank may allow inflation to exceed its 2 percent target.

Yellen’s remarks suggest she embraces the thinking of former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers who has said secular stagnation, or a lack of demand, is crimping global growth, said Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive of DoubleLine Capital.

“I didn’t hear, ‘We are going to tighten in December,’” Gundlach told Reuters.

Peter Kenny, senior market strate-gist at Global Markets Advisory Group in New York, said Yellen has kept everyone guessing as to when the next rate hike will occur, which has led to an inconsistent and trendless trading pattern in equities.

“If the markets have a fit, they’re not going to hike. If the markets are going to have smooth sailing until December, ‘yes,’ we’ll hike,” said Axel Merk, president and chief investment officer of Merk Investments in Palo Alto, California.

“She’s going to look for every excuse not to hike rates.”

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI closed up 39.44 points, or 0.22 percent, to 18,138.38. The S&P 500 .

SPX rose 0.43 points, or 0.02 percent, to 2,132.98 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 0.83 points, or 0.02 per-cent, to 5,214.16.

For the week, the Dow fell 0.56 per-cent, the S&P 500 slid 0.96 percent and the Nasdaq slipped 1.48 percent.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, added 0.57 percent to 98.069 .DXY and was up 1.5 percent for the week.

Against the yen, the dollar rose 0.44 percent to 104.14 JPY=, while the euro fell 0.77 percent to $1.0971 EUR=. Chinese producer prices and US eco-nomic data had bolstered expecta-tions earlier in the session that the Fed would raise interest rates in December.

US producer prices rose in September to post their biggest year-on-year rise since December 2014, while retail sales gained 0.6 percent after a 0.2 percent decline in August.

In China, September producer prices unexpectedly rose for the first time in nearly five years and consum-er inflation also beat expectations, easing some concerns about the health of the world’s second-biggest economy. Disappointing Chinese trade data on Thursday had rattled investors and pushed global equity markets to three-month lows.

European shares tracked Asian markets higher and Wall Street ini-tially jumped as strong results from JPMorgan and Citigroup lifted finan-cial stocks. Shares later pared gains.

Shares of JPMorgan, the biggest US bank by assets, fell 0.32 percent after it beat forecasts for revenue and profit. Citigroup rose 0.29 percent after earnings fell less than expected.

In Europe, the pan-regional FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index rose 1.33 percent to close at 1,341.54, while MSCI’s all-country world index .MIWD00000PUS of equity markets in 46 countries rose 0.30 percent.

Yellen also suggests that the US central bank may allow inflation to exceed its

2 percent target

n Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York.

Better-than-expected big bank earnings on Friday

somewhat helped shore up Wall Street’s confidence