Petrol to be cheaper by Rs. 0.95/liter from midnight !!!

In a marginal relief to consumers, petrol prices have been cut by Rs 0.95 per liter with effect from midnight. Petrol prices were last revised on October 27 when they were raised by 29 paisa to Rs 68.19 per liter in Delhi following government raising the commission paid to petrol pump dealers. Petrol will be priced at Rs 67.24 from tomorrow. The government had in June 2010 deregulated petrol prices giving oil companies freedom to fix rates in line with the cost. However, prices have seldom moved in line with cost and oil companies buckled under political pressure to keep rates checked to help the government manage inflation. Last week Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had justified the recent "difficult" decision to hike prices of petroleum products and asked Congress cadres to have confidence in these measures arguing these were necessary. "We have to make all out efforts to change the conditions that affect the rapid growth of the country's economy," he said addressing a dialogue meeting of top Congress leaders.

BP agrees to record criminal penalties for US oil spill

BP Plc will pay USD 4.5 billion in penalties and plead guilty to felony misconduct in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which caused the worst US offshore oil-spill ever. The settlement includes a USD 1.256-billion criminal fine, the largest such levy in US history, the oil company said on Thursday. US Attorney General Eric Holder called the deal a "critical step forward" but was adamant that it did not end the government's criminal investigation of the spill. The government also indicted the two highest-ranking BP supervisors aboard the Deepwater Horizon during the disaster, charging them with 23 criminal counts including manslaughter. The April 2010 explosion on the rig in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 workers. The mile-deep (1.6 km) Macondo oil well then spewed 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf over 87 days, fouling shorelines from Texas to Florida and eclipsing in severity the 1989 Exxon-Valdez spill in Alaska. The company said it would plead guilty to 11 felony counts related to the workers' deaths, a felony related to obstruction of Congress and two misdemeanors. It also faces five years' probation and the imposition of two monitors who will oversee its process safety and ethics for the next four years. Wall Street analysts said the deal will allow BP to focus again on oil production, while one US Senator from Louisiana said he hoped the settlement would not prevent his state and others from collecting civil penalties. US-listed BP shares gained about 0.3 percent on Thursday while its London-traded shares were flat. BP, which replaced its chief executive after the spill as its market value plummeted, still faces economic and environmental damage claims sought by four Gulf Coast states and other private plaintiffs. "It certainly is an encouraging step," said Pavel Molchanov, oil company analyst with Raymond James. "By eliminating the overhang of the criminal litigation, it is another step in clearing up BP's legal framework as it relates to Macondo." The disaster has dragged BP from second to a distant fourth in the ranking of top Western oil companies by value.

Sensex up 50 pts......

The 30-share BSE Sensex was completely lacklustre in early trade on Friday amid concerns over weak Eurozone economic activity and US fiscal crisis. The BSE benchmark was up 54.41 points to 18,525.78. Telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular were up over 1 percent, extending gains after 2G spectrum auction. Cigarette major ITC and private oil & gas producer Reliance Industries went up 0.8 percent each. Software services exporter Infosys moved up 0.5 percent while its rival TCS declined 0.3 percent. Capital goods majors Larsen & Toubro and BHEL gained 0.5 percent. HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Wipro, Dr Reddy's Labs, Tata Power and GAIL were under pressure. The CNX Midcap Index was up 27 points at 7,966. In the second line shares, Tata Coffee jumped another 7 percent following yesterday's 20 percent rally. Other beverages stocks like Jayshree Tea and Assam Company gained over 2 percent.

Why Nifty may be under pressure today.....

The US markets recovered from their lows, but still finished in negative territory in a choppy session. With the recent declines, the Dow and S&P 500 are on pace for their biggest monthly losses since May. All three major indices have plunged more than 5% since last week's presidential election. On the economic data front, US eco data weekly jobless claims were up 78,000 to 439,000 during the week ended tenth of November, was way beyond economists' expectations. Consumer price index edged up 0.1% in October following a 0.6% rise in September

Petrol to be cheaper by Rs. 0.95/liter from midnight !!!

In a marginal relief to consumers, petrol prices have been cut by Rs 0.95 per liter with effect from midnight. Petrol prices were last revised on October 27 when they were raised by 29 paisa to Rs 68.19 per liter in Delhi following government raising the commission paid to petrol pump dealers. Petrol will be priced at Rs 67.24 from today. The government had in June 2010 deregulated petrol prices giving oil companies freedom to fix rates in line with the cost. However, prices have seldom moved in line with cost and oil companies buckled under political pressure to keep rates checked to help the government manage inflation. Last week Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had justified the recent "difficult" decision to hike prices of petroleum products and asked Congress cadres to have confidence in these measures arguing these were necessary. "We have to make all out efforts to change the conditions that affect the rapid growth of the country's economy," he said addressing a dialogue meeting of top Congress leaders.