Dawn of 9th Jan09

INR opens weaker, NDF slide, Obama’s package vs. retail sales data, Wal Mart Results, Half a million job loss ,

Nickel down 9.8% , Oil slips on low demand , Bank of England cuts by 50 basis

Tata shuts down truck plant for 6 days , Citi freezes Satyam accounts.

RUPEE

Ø INR opened weak at 49.05 on Friday Morning INR is to be weaker on Friday when trading resumes after a holiday, as concerns rise about capital outflows following the country’s biggest corporate scandal. * Shares in Satyam Computer Services plunged nearly 80 % on Wednesday after the Indian outsourcer said it had overstated profits for many years. NDF were at 49.58/65, weaker than the onshore spot rate.

CALL

Ø Indian overnight call rates ended nearly flat on Wednesday as demand was lower as most banks had adequate funds to meet reserve requirements, dealers said. Call rates ended at 4.20/4.30 %, compared with 4.15/4.30 % at close on Tuesday. Banks parked 433.30 billion INRs with the RBI at its daily money market operations while they did not borrow any funds through repos, which shows surplus cash in the system.

BONDS

Ø Bond yields could rise to fresh one-month highs on Friday as investors trim positions ahead of auctions later in the session. 10Y ended 57 BP higher at 5.87 % on Wednesday, off an intraday high of 6.08 % that was its highest since mid-December. The market was shut on Thursday for a holiday. Annual inflation rate is seen at a 10-month low in the last week of 2008 after food supplies improved and steep duty and fuel price cuts worked through into the broader economy, a Reuters poll showed. The data is due around noon

STOCKS

Ø On Wednesday, shares in Satyam Computer Services tumbled 77.7 % after the Indian outsourcing firm said it had overstated profits for many years, dragging the benchmark index 7.25 % lower to 9,586.88.

GLOBAL

Ø DJIA 8,742.46 -27.24 Nikkei 8,792.72 -83.70FTSE 4,505.37 -2.14 H Seng 14,475.26 -59.35 US10Y 2.452 -0.044 EUR 1.3672 Yen 91.24 Gold 855.75 Crude 42.25

Ø The Nasdaq and S&P 500 rose on Thursday after news that Citigroup Inc agreed to support legislation aimed at stemming home loan foreclosures, offsetting Wal-Mart’s disappointing sales and outlook.

Ø U.S. President-elect Barack Obama again made a push for a massive economic stimulus plan, though there was some nervousness among investors as specifics of his plan remain unclear.

Ø FTSE closed a fraction lower on Thursday, helped off session lows as Wall Street pared earlier falls but held back by weak miners and underwhelmed by an expected 50 basis points interest

Ø Nikkei average slipped 0.9 % on Friday in seesaw trade as renewed global economy worry pushed the yen up and exporters down, while grim news from TDK Corp dragged tech shares lower.

Ø Fears about the U.S. economy fanned by bleak holiday retail sales figures helped send investors into defensive shares such as toiletry goods maker Kao Corp and drugmakers, braking the market’s fall.

Ø The USD held steady against the yen around 91.24 yen but gains were capped ahead of a report expected to show the U.S. economy lost more than half a million jobs in December for the second month in a row, pressuring exporters.

Ø The USD fell against a basket of currencies on The Japanese yen traded broadly higher as falling global stocks and weak sales at top U.S. retailer Wal-Mart tempered the market’s appetite for risk and heightened fears about the global economic outlook.

Ø Gold for February delivery rises $14.10, or 1.7%, to $855.80 an ounce at 12:05 p.m. EST (1605 GMT) on the COMEX division of the NYMEX

Ø Copper and most metals fell on Thursday, with nickel down 9.8 %, as worries about the global economy intensified and players took profits as the rebalancing of commodity indices started.

Ø U.S. crude oil futures settled lower on Thursdayas demand concerns fueled by disappointing U.S. retail sales and bearish natural gas data pushed oil lower.

INDIA FRONT PAGE

Ø The government has decided Reliance Industries would provide gas from its KG basin to Reliance Power for its 7,480 megawatt power project in Uttar Pradesh, subject to availability.

Ø Citibank has frozen more than 30 operational accounts of Satyam Computer Services . These are trade receivable accounts, and the aim may be to protect the bank’s $70-million exposure to the troubled technology firm.

Ø Tata Motors’ ’s heavy commercial vehicle unit in Jamshedpur announced it would go for a six-day block closure from Jan. 12, in view of the slowdown. This will be the fifth block closure undertaken by the firm.

Ø NTPC Ltd expects to start production from the captive coal mine block allocated in Jharkhand by end of 2009 as it tries to reduce dependence on Coal India Ltd.

Ø Rio Tinto is among the firms competing to develop and operate coal and iron ore terminals at state-owned Paradip Port in Orissa. Paradip plans to build a 5.91 billion INR iron ore handling

Ø Kotak Realty, which had said it was in talks with Maytas Properties for picking up stake in the latter’s warehousing business, has called off the talks.