MUMBAI, May 21 (Reuters) - GLOBAL MARKETS * The near-month derivative contract for India's NSE index at Singapore Exchange fell 0.2 percent, but MSCI Asia ex-Japan rose 0.44 percent. Traders said the outcome of the G-8 meeting was encouraging and markets may be due for technical rebound. nL4E8GL19D * Asian markets recovered some ground on Monday after heavy losses last week, but investors remained wary about the euro zone despite G8 world leaders calling for Greece to stay in the monetary union and for Europe to balance austerity with growth. * U.S. stocks fell on Friday after a sloppy debut by Facebook Inc spoiled hopes that a spectacular open for the most-anticipated stock sale in years would brighten the mood in what has been a gloomy month for equity markets. FACTORS TO WATCH * India central bank deputy governor Subir Gokarn speaks in Mumbai. INDIAN STOCKS TO WATCH EARNINGS * Tata Steel forecast improving global demand in spite of European woes, as the world's No.7 steelmaker reported a bigger-than-expected drop in quarterly profit after being squeezed by weak prices, lower volume and higher input costs.
ENERGY/COMMODITIES * Reliance Industries is seeking a $1 billion five-year loan for capital expenditure, Thomson Reuters publication Basis Point reported on Friday, citing sources with knowledge of the situation. * Suzlon Energy is seeking up to 45 more days from bondholders to repay foreign currency bonds maturing in June while it works on raising as much as $300 million in loans.
* Coal India has decided to exit from International Coal Ventures Ltd, a special purpose vehicle formed to acquire mines abroad, a move that may hit the country's efforts to buy overseas reserves. (Economic Times) * The power ministry is believed to be in the process of collecting information to evaluate the performance of Chinese and other imported equipment that are being used at various power plants. (Economic Times) * Public sector trading giant MMTC has inked pacts with Japanese and South Korean steel companies including Posco , to supply 2.8 MT of iron ore annually for a period of three years. (Economic Times) * Odisha chief minister has opposed certain provisions of the proposed Mines and Mineral (Regulation and Development) Bill 2011, saying they infringe on the states' powers. (Economic Times) * Discussions between British Gas (BG) and a consortium led by Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) over the sale of a stake Gujarat Gas Corp Ltd are still on, with BG getting an offer 13-15 percent lower than its expectations. (Business Standard) * Solar cell maker Moser Baer plans to restructure 18 billion rupees of its term debt as the company looks to strengthen its ability to leverage opportunities in the growing sector. (Business Standard) FINANCIAL * Bank chiefs will meet in Mumbai today to draw up guidelines to prevent incompetent and unscrupulous promoters from exploiting the debt restructuring mechanism. (Economic Times) * The finance ministry has ruled out any more follow-on offers of state-run companies, saying it will instead rely on institutional placement or offer for sale to meet its 300 billion rupees disinvestment target for the current fiscal year.
(Economic Times) * SEBI Chairman U K Sinha on Saturday said the capital markets regulator had asked the government to allow investments in mutual funds to be made eligible for tax exemptions under the Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme (RGESS), announced in this year's budget. (Business Standard) * The additional capital requirements of public sector banks under Basel-III norms may be limited to 3 trillion rupees in line with earlier projections by the government. A committee of leading state-run banks is likely to submit this week its report on banks' requirements. (Business Standard) * With "profitable growth" replacing "expansion drive" as the buzzword in the sector, the country's top private life insurers have significantly reduced branches and employees over the last couple of years to cut costs and improve efficiency.
(Business Standard) RETAIL * A review of retail prices of everyday food items in Mumbai shows that several of them have almost doubled over the last four years. (Times of India) * Aero Group, makers of Woodland brand of footwear and apparel, is in talks for its first overseas acquisition and may induct a strategic partner for its international operations.
(Economic Times) * India's diversified Aditya Birla Group will buy a 27.5 percent stake in unlisted media group Living Media India Ltd, which publishes the popular India Today magazine, for an undisclosed sum. * Speciality Restaurants' $34 million initial public offer received bids for about two-and-a-half times the number of shares on offer on the last day of the sale, exchange data showed on Friday. * HT Media Jan-March net profit fell 58.5 percent to 219.9 million rupees from a year ago. AIRLINES / AUTOS * The government plans to make it mandatory for airlines to operate feeder flights into big cities from nearby places. Such a move would make it mandatory for all scheduled carriers to have small turboprop aircraft in their fleet. (Times of India) Five months after its accounts were frozen for non-payment of taxes and duties, crisis-ridden Air India has piled up about 4.5 billion rupees of dues but has promised to clear it as soon as it gets capital infusion from the government. (Times of India) * Fiat India, which recently called off distribution alliance with Tata Motors, is bullish on its prospects in the country, saying that within 12-18 months it will be able to stand on its own with around 100 exclusive sales and service centres in place. (Economic Times) TELECOMS * Reliance Industries' Infotel Broadband plans to roll out its 4G network in partnership with Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd (HFCL). (Economic Times) * Augere Wireless, a company backed by France Telecom and private equity funds, is set to sell its 4G spectrum in two states and quit India, as regulatory uncertainty has forced its investors to hang up on the country. (Economic Times) PHARMACEUTICALS * Ranbaxy Laboratories plans to re-launch its former flagship skincare brand Sotret in the U.S. through a marketing partnership with a Canadian firm Cipher Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Economic Times) * Glenmark has chosen a strategy to capture niche segments with limited competition, such as dermatology and oral contraceptives, in the U.S., the world's largest drug market.
(Business Standard) IT Ramco Systems is getting ready to take its on-demand ERP (enterprise resource planning) software to the global market, after seeing huge demand for the model in India.
(Business Standard) NOTE: Reuters has not verified third-party stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. OTHER FACTORS TO WATCH * Indian debt/FX factors to watch * G8 fails to inspire euro, risk curencies * Oil slips, posts 3rd weekly loss * Foreign institutional investor flows * For closing rates of Indian ADRs (Compiled by Divya Chowdhuri; Editing by Rafael Nam)
