What bear market? Stocks are up in Brazil, Taiwan Fourteen emerging markets beat S&P 500; good times may end soon

Bulls abroad
Several stock markets that make up the MSCI Emerging Market Index have beat the S&P 500 since Nov. 21

Country	Performance since *Nov. 21
Brazil	+16%
Argentina	+14%
China	+10%
Indonesia	+10%
Colombia	+8.3%
Thailand	+8%
Taiwan	+6.4%
S. Korea	+5.1%
Israel	+5%
Philippines	+3.1%
Malaysia	+2.6%
Morocco	+2.4%
Turkey	+2.2%
Chile	+1.7%
Czech Republic	-20%
Poland	-20%
Russia	-14%
S&P 500	-12.4%
Hungary	-12%
Peru	-12%
Mexico	-7.2%
Egypt	-3%
India	-3%
S. Africa	-3%

In Shanghai, Santiago, Taipei and Tel Aviv, the bear market has hardly crossed investors' paths this year, with benchmarks in these and 10 other emerging markets outshining their U.S. counterparts since November.

the 23 country benchmarks that comprise the widely watched MSCI Emerging Market Index, 14 have outperformed the S&P 500 ince Nov. 21. Until this week, that date marked the intraday low for the current U.S. bear market.

Integra Hindustan enters into triparty JV pact

ntegra Hindustan Control has entered into (three party) joint venture (JV) agreement, with Gorba AG, Switzerland and Gorba Integra Systems, on Jan. 30, 2009.

PPPAC approves PPP projects worth Rs 52.20 bn

The public private partnership approval committee (PPPAC) has approved the public private partnership (PPP) projects worth Rs 52.20 billion.

PPPAC has also granted approval to 7 projects of department of shipping and department of road transport and highways. Out of the seven projects, two were from port sector and five were highways under NHDP phase III and III-A. The list of projects, located in five states, is attached.

Since its constitution in January 2006, PPPAC has granted approval to 101 projects, with an estimated project cost of Rs 1,003.84 billion. These include Highways (88 projects), Ports (9 projects), Airports (2 projects) and Tourism Infrastructure (1 project) and Railways (1 project).

Thomas Cook cuts workforce; shuts retail outlets to save cost

Thomas Cook India slashed about 7% of its workforce in 2008 and shut a few of the retail outlets,

Dr Reddy`s Lab gets USFDA approval for Buspirone Hydrochloride Tablet

Dr Reddy`s Labs has received final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to market Buspirone Hydrochloride Tablet in the strength of 5 mg, 10 mg, 15 mg and 30 mg.

Buspirone Hydrochloride is used for the management of anxiety disorders or the short-term relief of the symptoms of anxiety.

Unitech re-enters market with launch of 2 projects

Country`s second-largest real estate developer, Unitech has launched two projects after a gap of almost 5 months,

This move comes as an indication of improved consumer confidence and a tough reply against low demand.

The company launched a 1 million square feet mid-income housing project in Gurgaon`s Sector-47 on February 28 and a commercial project in Mumbai with its joint venture partner.

BPCL`s arm postpones IPO

Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) arm Bharat Oman Refineries (BORL) has postponed its plan to raise equity via initial public offering (IPO

IVRCL eyes water tech co in Europe for USD 100 mn

IVRCL is eyeing an engineering company in Europe that specializes in water technologies for a consideration of around USD 100 million

BEML inks strategic pact with Indonesian company

State run Bharat Earth Movers (BEML), a leading mining and construction equipment manufacturing company has inked a pact with Indonesia based Sumber Mitra Jaya to bid for upcoming contract mining business.

The consortium approach includes agreement for investments in contract mining wherein 30% of the investment will be made by BEML and 70% by the Indonesian company.

Cabinet clears 29 FDI proposals worth Rs 6.16 bn

The government today cleared 29 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals which will bring Rs 6.16 billion in India.

The proposals are related to various ministries/departments, namely, commerce, economic affairs, information & broadcasting, telecommunication, tourism, industrial policy & promotion, post, defence production, and urban development, based on the recommendations of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).

AAPC Singapore`s plan to invest Rs 3.66 billion into its Indian subsidiary is among the proposals approved on the recommendation of FIPB.

India's Central Bank

India's Central Bank says to cut repo rate by 50 basis points to 5% with immediate effect

Microsoft likely to axe H-1B visa holder employees

H-1B visa holders are likely to get pink slips from Microsoft despite acknowledging that this category of workers has a significant contribution to the company`s success. The company has recently announced some 5,000 jobs cut

Kalpataru Power Transmission bags Rs 3.73 bn order

Kalpataru Power Transmission (KPTL) has bagged orders worth Rs 3.73 billion from Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) for supplying power transmission equipment.

Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd (KPTL) would be supplying and erecting transmission towers for 413 Kms and would also provide 765 KV S/C transmission lines associated with Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project for Silwar-Satna and Satna-Bina section.

AREVA T&D signs hybrid gas-insulated substation contract

AREVA T&D India has inked a contract for Hybrid gas-insulated substation with Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Prasaran Nigam for Indira Gandhi Nagar substation (Jagatpura) at Jaipur.

Commodity exchanges extend trading hours

ndian commodity exchanges have changed their trading hours due to sun outage from Mar. 5, 2009 to Mar. 20, 2009.

National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) will extend the trading session for agri commodities (except robusta cherry coffee) by 45 minutes from Monday through Saturday, between March 5 and March 20.

Similarly, the Multi-Commodity Exchange of India also extended the trading time.

Agri-commodities are traded between 10 am and 5 pm during Monday to Friday, while on Saturday they trade between 10 am and 2.45 pm.

Bosch Q4 net drops 24.27%

Bosch disclosed a decline in standalone net profit for the quarter ended December 2008 following steep rise in interest cost. During the quarter, the profit of the company declined 24.27% to Rs 942.20 million from Rs 1,244.10 million in the same quarter last year.

ADP index shows private-sector jobs fell by 697,000 in Feb.

U.S. private-sector firms cut 697,000 jobs in February, according to the ADP employment index, which is based on millions of company payroll records. The ADP index released Wednesday showed the goods-producing sector shed 338,000 jobs, the 26th consecutive decline.

GM Europe head says Opel may cut 3,500 jobs

General Motors' German unit Opel could slash 3,500 jobs as part of a plan to cut costs and relaunch as an independent company, which employs around 25,000 workers in Germany

USA economic data

U.S. Feb. ADP private-sector employment -697,000

U.S. Jan. ADP services employment down 359,000

U.S. Jan. ADP goods producing jobs down 338,000

Senate panel to question Swiss banker, secrecy

The sanctity of the secret Swiss bank account -- an icon of global finance -- is under growing pressure in a tax investigation due to come into public view on Wednesday at a U.S. congressional hearing.

Nearly a third of wealth kept abroad globally is in Swiss banks -- an amount estimated at $2.2 trillion, making the Alpine state the world's biggest offshore center.

Corporate layoffs up 158% over February 2008 Job-cut announcements total 186,350 last month

Corporate layoff announcements slowed last month compared with January, but they were up 158% compared with February 2008, according to an unscientific monthly tally released Wednesday by outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas.

Major U.S. companies announced 186,350 job reductions in February, more than double the year-earlier figure of 72,091. In January, layoff announcements as tracked by Challenger Gray had surged to a seven-year high of 241,749

US economy set to lose 8 million jobs in 2009

Feb. euro-zone services PMI falls to record low

The Markit purchasing managers index for the euro-zone services sector fell to a record low of 39.2 in February, down from 42.2 in January. The reading was above the preliminary estimate of 38.9, but still indicated that the sector shrank at the fastest pace since the survey began more than 10 years ago

British services sector shrinks, but at slower pace in Feb.

The British services sector saw a further fall in activity in February, but declined at a slower pace than in previous months, according to the CIPS/Markit U.K. services purchasing managers index released Wednesday

Australia's GDP shrinks for first time in eight years Fourth-quarter contraction takes economist by surprise, currency falls

Australia's economy contracted for the first time in eight years during the October through December period, in contrast to average economist forecasts for modest growth during the quarter.

Following the release of the data, the Australian currency fell to 63.35 U.S. cents, down more than half a percent from its opening level of 63.8 U.S. cents

ITV to cut jobs, halt dividend after $3.6 billion loss Advertising revenue expected to slump in worst market for over 30 years

Troubled U.K. broadcaster ITV said Wednesday that it will scrap its dividend and cut another 600 jobs after reporting an annual loss of 2.56 billion pounds ($3.59 billion).

Executive Chairman Michael Grade said conditions in the advertising market are the worst he has seen in over 30 years and added the company will target annual cost savings of 245 million pounds to cope with the downturn.