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usa is close.it is holiday.so no market movement.europe is strong till now.
FTSE 100 5,880.90 +93.30 +1.61%

European shares rally
Monday February 18, 8:13 am ET
By Natsuko Waki


LONDON (Reuters) - Banks drove European shares higher on Monday ahead of this week's key earnings data which will show their progress in writing down losses related to U.S. subprime mortgages, while platinum raced to new historic highs.


The dollar rose against a basket of major currencies after hitting 1-1/2 week low last week following disappointing U.S. data. Oil climbed above $96 a barrel, helping to erase earlier losses in emerging market assets.

Weekend news that the British government is to nationalize Northern Rock (LSE:NRK.L - News), which fell victim last year to a jump in interbank lending rates as a result of the credit crisis, has also helped sentiment among British banks.

This week's earnings results from scandal-hit French bank Societe Generale (Paris:SOGN.PA - News), peer BNP Paribas (Paris:BNPP.PA - News) and Britain's Barclays (LSE:BARC.L - News) will show the global banking sector's progress in writing down an estimated $300-400 billion of subprime losses.

The extent of the sector's damage from the credit crisis holds the key to investor risk sentiment and the performance of risky assets including stocks after some share indexes dipped into a bear market cycle -- a period of prolonged losses.

"This is a bear market, and there will be some rallies in it," said Justin Urquhart Steward of 7 Investment Management.

"The focus this week is going to be on the banks, as investors scrutinize their results to see if they've put off balance sheet things that should actually be on balance sheet, and whether we've actually been led a merry dance."

The FTSEurofirst 300 index (^FTEU3 - News) was up 1.4 percent while MSCI main world equity index (^MIWD00000PUS - News) was up 0.2 percent.

U.S. financial markets are closed for Presidents Day holiday.

The iTraxx Crossover index, the mostly-widely watched indicator of European credit market sentiment, tightened to 565 basis points, after hitting record wides last week due to concerns about forced selling on credit products.

Emerging sovereign spreads widened 3 basis points while emerging stocks (^MSCIEF - News) was steady on the day.

The March Bund future was down 0.3 percent.

SHINING PLATINUM

Platinum surged to $2,107 an ounce, gaining more than 20 percent since late January after South Africa, which accounts for 80 percent of global supply, was hit by power cuts that forced mines to shut for five days last month.

Gold was steady at $903.40 an ounce.

U.S. light crude rose 0.8 percent to $96.25 a barrel as an escalating row between OPEC member Venezuela and oil major Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM - News) outweighed concerns about the effect of a slowing U.S. economy.

The dollar rose 0.3 percent against a basket of major currencies (^DXY - News), gaining some support from firmer stocks and recouping some of the losses made on Friday after data showed U.S. consumer sentiment fell to a 16-year low.

Investors expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by 50 basis points in March, on top of its rate reduction of 225 bps since September -- moves which have depressed the dollar.

"The lethal combination of weakening house prices, high energy prices, tighter lending and volatile asset markets will be difficult to overcome and even the prospect of further rate cuts could do little in this environment," Calyon said in a note to clients.

(Additional reporting by Sitaraman Shankar; editing by Tony Austin)

Tata Motors confirms air-car project
Indo Asian News Service
Monday, February 18, 2008 (London)
Tata Motors Ltd has confirmed that it is collaborating to develop an air-powered car with French inventors.Tata Motors Managing Director Ravi Kant told that his group last year signed an agreement with MDI, a private French company developing cars driven by compressed air.

"It's a very exciting concept, this way of running a car. We hope something will come out of it," Kant said.

He confirmed Tata Motors had the technology rights for India and was "studying whether it can be used".

Tata was looking at applying the technology for both mobile and stationary uses, he added.

Reports last week said Tata was looking at the feasibility of applying the technology to power generation. According to MDI, which is based near Nice, compressed air technology can be applied to emergency generators.

Guy Negre, the French engineer who is working on the invention, was quoted saying last week his five-seater OneCat, with zero emissions in cities, will be marketed within a year.

"The first buyers of the air car will be people who care about the environment," Negre said, adding: "It also has to be economical."

However, Kant stated that the group had "not yet announced when we will have a car".

A representative of the French company said Tata had bought rights to its engine, but not its car concept.

The paper said the car would be run by compressed air tanks at speeds below 50 km per hour, and by petrol, diesel or another fuel at high speeds.

Tuesday February 19, 08:32 AM Japan's Nikkei climbs, exporters up on weaker yen




Click to enlarge photo
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.6 percent on Tuesday, led by exporters such as Canon Inc on a weaker yen.

Trading houses Mitsui & Co and Mitsubishi Corp gained after steel makers agreed to a 65 percent hike in iron ore prices.

The benchmark Nikkei ended the morning session at 13,710.85, while the broader TOPIX index was up 0.5 percent at 1,339.92.

Tuesday February 19, 09:00 AM Rupee seen treading water, equities eyed
MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee may tread water on Tuesday, caught between positive overseas cues and concerns that foreign inflows remain vulnerable to fears of a global slowdown, dealers said.

* The partially convertible rupee ended at 39.775/785 per dollar on Monday, weaker than the previous close of 39.672/682.

* India's benchmark share index fell 0.4 percent on Monday, snapping a three-day winning streak.

* Asian stocks made a brisk start on Tuesday as investors sought undervalued bank shares and exporters that could gain from a modestly stronger dollar.

market to open strong senxex +300 & nifty +125.lets hope for good.

FM hints probe into market crash

New Delhi, Feb 18: Any probe into the stock market crash of January 22, 2008, could be possible if there are some concrete evidences of lack of transparency and wrongdoings, concerned authorities are understood to have informed a parliamentary panel on Monday.

The parliamentary standing committee on finance reportedly discussed market volatility today, which was its second meeting on the issue.

Finance Secretary D Subba Rao reportedly told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on finance that volatility is integral and inherent feature of the markets and there is no market failure on January 22 and preceding days, sources said.

However, if the panel viewed that there are concrete evidences of market failure and lack of transparency on those days, Rao said the authorities might look into those issues, according to sources.

On January 22, the Indian stock market suffered its biggest single-day fall, losing 1,408.35 points, on panic selling triggered by weak global cues.

The Finance Ministry is understood to have told the panel that no single cause could be attributed to such a fall in share prices. It was primarily caused by sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US and Europe and net selling by financial institutional investors.

The standing committee will meet once again, before submitting its report to Parliament in the coming budget session, slated to start from February 25.

At its first meeting on February 11, market regulator SEBI, RBI, UTI Mutual Fund, investors associations and brokers associations expressed their views.

At the next meeting, the date of which is yet to be fixed, the Finance Ministry would present its submissions in writing.

Bureau Report

RPT-GLOBAL MARKETS-Banks up, markets take a break from US gloom
Mon Feb 18, 2008 10:17pm EST By Tom Miles

HONG KONG, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Asian stocks made a brisk start on Tuesday as investors sought undervalued bank shares and exporters that could gain from a modestly stronger dollar.

Unrelenting supply problems kept the heat under commodities prices, with oil CLc1 at around $96 a barrel and platinum <XPT=>, a precious metal also used in car exhaust systems, powering to a record high for the 14th day in a row.

U.S. markets were closed on Monday, but European traders put some faith back in banks after Britain's nationalisation of Northern Rock (NRK.L: Quote, Profile, Research). The DJ STOXX bank sector index rose 2.5 percent, helping FTSEurofirst 300 index to close up 2 percent.

"The news of Britain nationalising Northern Rock showed that a government would step in to stave off a credit crisis in any form, helping soothe credit market worries," said Won Jong-hyuk, an analyst at SK Securities in Seoul.

"Though credit market strains and economic growth worries would likely continue to prevent markets from regaining ground soon, stocks seem to have pretty much seen a bottom."

Asia followed Europe's lead, with MSCI's measure of Asia Pacific stocks excluding Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS up 1.2 percent by 0224 GMT and Japan's Nikkei average .N225 0.6 percent higher.

Banks "quietly" borrow $ 50 bn from Fed: Report

New York, Feb 19: Banks in the United States have been quietly borrowing "massive amounts" from the US Federal Reserve in recent weeks, using a new measure the Fed introduced two months ago to help ease the credit crunch, according to a report on the website of The Financial Times.

The newspaper said the use of the Fed's Term Auction Facility (TAF), which allows banks to borrow at relatively attractive rates against a wide range of their assets, saw borrowing of nearly USD 50 billion of one-month funds from the Fed by mid-February.

The Financial Times said the move has sparked unease among some analysts about the stress developing in opaque corners of the US banking system and the banks' growing reliance on indirect forms of government support.

Bureau Report

RIM, Motorola battle over patents

Toronto, Feb 19: Research in Motion Ltd. is suing Motorola Inc. over several patents used for wireless devices such as RIM's BlackBerry e-mail devices and Motorola's Razr smart phones.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company is asking a court in Dallas to declare Motorola is breaching commitments it made to license essential patents to competitors on a fair and reasonable basis.

Research in Motion also says in a court filing, dated Saturday, that Motorola is violating nine RIM patents and is breaching a 2003 agreement by refusing to negotiate reasonable terms for an extension beyond January 2008.

The Canadian company's filing came one day after Motorola filed a suit against RIM, claiming it violated some of Motorola's patents.

The two companies, each innovators in wireless communications, have both collaborated and competed with each other over the years. However, Motorola was a pioneer in voice communications while RIM has focused on data communications.

The stakes could be huge, since the two companies compete in a multibillion-dollar global industry. The success of the BlackBerry and Pearl smart phones has enabled RIM to become one of Canada's most valuable companies.

RIM's claim, which hasn't been tested in court, says Motorola is trying to subvert an established standards-setting practice "in order to injure RIM, a successful competitor and rival."

The claim was filed in US District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

"We have not yet reviewed the complaint but based on our understanding of the matter we believe their claims are entirely without merit and Motorola intends to vigorously defend itself," Motorola spokeswoman Jennifer Erickson said Monday.

Regarding the 2003 agreement, which RIM says Motorola is obliged to extend under reasonable terms, she said: "Our agreement with them expired and we have been unable to reach a suitable agreement, going forward."

Bureau Report