Indian sensex on fire

MUMBAI: Indian equity markets were on a roll on Monday, riding on robust results posted by corporate houses and pushing a key index to an all-time high on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of BSE rose by over one per cent to an all-time high of 13,031.39 points a little after noon but profit taking by investors pulled it down to slightly under the 13,000-point mark. — HNS

Delhi traders on strike

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of thousands of shops across the Indian capital were closed on Monday to mark the start of a crippling three-day strike to protest the sealing of unauthorised commercial establishments. The campaign was peaceful as the authorities deployed armed policemen in the main markets. Fearing violence, many schools close down and so did some colleges of Delhi University, thinning traffic on the roads. — HNS

Oil prices inch up

SINGAPORE: Oil prices inched up on Monday in the wake of a terror alert in the petroleum-rich Gulf region last week and as traders watched for signs that OPEC nations were following through on announced production cuts. Light, sweet crude for December rose to $60.82 a barrel in Asia electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices rose on Friday after a British navy official said that a threat from al-Qaida last month to target Gulf oil terminals had resulted in stepped-up security and vigilance at Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura terminal, as well as a refinery in Bahrain. — AP

Industrial output up

SEOUL: South Korean industrial output rose faster-than-expected in September, rising by 16.3 per cent year-on-year on the back of brisk exports and a pick-up in the auto industry. The September figure was well above a 10.9 per cent gain in August. The market consensus was for 12.9 per cent. In the three months to September, industrial output gained 10.6 per cent year-on-year. Additionally in September, the index of leading indicators, which measures future economic trends, rose by 0.2 percentage points from August, ending a seven-month straight decline. — AFP

Industrial production

TOKYO: Japan’s industrial output in September fell by 0.7 per cent from the previous month, official figures showed on Monday. Year-on-year, output rose by 5.1 per cent, the trade and industry ministry said. The month-on-month fall in production was blamed on slower output of passenger vehicles, equipment to produce semiconductors and auto parts, the ministry said. — AFP

BoK to give dividend

Kathmandu: Bank of Kathmandu Ltd (BoK) has proposed to distribute cash dividend of 18 per cent and issue 30 per cent bonus share to its shareholders. The 239th board meeting of BoK proposed the cash dividend and bonus share from the profit earned by the bank during the fiscal year 2005-06. The bank earned a net profit of Rs 202.4 million, up by 45.09 per cent against Rs 139.5 million in the fiscal 2004-05, states a press release issued by the bank today. The bank has been able to reduce its non-performing loans to 2.72 per cent from 4.99 per cent in 2004-05. — HNS

LBL’s rights share

KATHMANDU: Laxmi Bank Ltd (LBL) is issuing rights shares at the rate of 5:1 for its shareholders to raise its paid up capital to Rs 800 million. The 55th board meeting of the Bank has decided to issue the rights shares for its shareholders to raise the paid up capital, which currently stands at Rs 610 million, states a press release. Started operations in 2000, the bank currently has seven branch offices and plans to open the eighth branch at Teku, Kathmandu soon. — HNS

Tourism promotion

ILAM: A joint initiative will be launched for the promotion and development of tourism in Ilam and Sunsari districts. Decision on the joint initiative was taken at a meeting of Ilam Chamber of Commerce and Industry as per a concept of regional promotion and development of sustainable tourism in the region. The meeting also decided to constitute a committee soon in order to carry out feasibility study for close partnership with the concerned stakeholders. The nine-member committee will have three representatives from Ilam Tourism Development Subcommittee, three from Dharan Tourism Development Committee and other concerned stakeholders. — RSS

Kailali festival in Dec

DHANGADHI: Preparations are getting underway for Kailali Festival-2063, which is being organised by Kailali Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the aegis of Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Trade Promotion Centre. The festival is slated for December 8-14 in Dhangadhi. It is aimed at providing opportunities to the visitors for purchasing quality goods, exploiting income opportunities, increasing relations between producers and consumers, promoting internal and external tourism as well as folk culture while making agriculture, herbal-related occupation a commercial business and promoting indigenous commodities and services. About 2,0000 visitors are expected to visit the festival. — RSS

Bank’s intervention

BANGKOK: Bank of Thailand (BoT) governor Tarisa Watanagase said on Monday the BoT had again intervened in the foreign exchange market to slow the baht’s sharp rise against the dollar. “The BoT wants to reaffirm that we will intervene only when needed, and at the moment the baht has stabilised,” Tarisa said. The bank also intervened on Friday, but Tarisa again refused to say how much the bank had spent to soften the currency, which is trading near a seven-year high. — AFP