Yahoo India Personal Finances Information

Kolkata, May 18 (IANS) The country's largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), Saturday the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should become the sole regulator for all home loan institutions - banks as well as housing finance companies.

Kolkata, May 18 (IANS) Public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Pratip Chaudhuri Saturday said the lender's margins in overseas business were under pressure.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - State-owned Dutch bank ABN AMRO is to cut 400 jobs, about 2 percent of its workforce, as it prepares for an eventual sale. The bank, which on Friday posted first-quarter results hit by bad loans in its home market, said the cuts are part of a reorganisation of its commercial and merchant banking division and will mostly be through natural attrition and reallocation. ABN AMRO, which was partly bought by Belgian group Fortis in 2007, was nationalised by the Dutch state a year later as part of the bailout of Fortis. ...

By Kevin Yao BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping has taken charge of drawing up ambitious reform plans to revitalise the economy, sources close to the government said, shunning policy stimulus for fear it could worsen local government debt and inflate property prices. A consensus had been reached among top leaders that reforms would be the only way to put the world's second-largest economy on a more sustainable footing, said the sources, who are familiar with the plans and Xi's involvement. ...

By Kevin Yao BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping has taken charge of drawing up ambitious reform plans to revitalise the economy, sources close to the government said, shunning policy stimulus for fear it could worsen local government debt and inflate property prices. A consensus had been reached among top leaders that reforms would be the only way to put the world's second-largest economy on a more sustainable footing, said the sources, who are familiar with the plans and Xi's involvement. ...

By Leah Schnurr NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Thursday, with the downturn accelerating late in the day after a Federal Reserve official said the central bank could begin easing up on its monetary stimulus this summer. The three major U.S. stock indexes had earlier traded in a tight range, supported by a gain of more than 12 percent in Cisco Systems shares and as investors took in a batch of economic data that pointed to slower growth. ...

By Himank Sharma REUTERS - The Nifty rose to a 2-1/2 year high on Thursday, as lenders continued their rally on expectations of early rate cuts by the RBI, while four additions to the MSCI India index, including Wockhardt, also gained. Expectations the Reserve Bank of India could cut interest rates as early as its next policy review on June 17 have risen sharply after data earlier this week showed inflation was easing and the RBI governor said it would be taken into account. Indian shares have gained just over 4 percent so far this month, supported by strong buying from foreign investors. ...

By Greg Roumeliotis NEW YORK (Reuters) - Alternative asset managers such as Blackstone Group LP and KKR & Co LP have for decades scoured the stock market for undervalued companies. Now they are trying to convince investors that shares in their own firms are a bargain. As a group, their valuations tend to be weighed down by at least three factors. Because they have gone public relatively recently, their track record as public companies is relatively short. The presentation of their results is complicated and makes comparisons difficult. ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund's executive board approved a $1.3 billion, three-year loan to Cyprus on Wednesday, part of a larger international bailout to help the Mediterranean country avoid defaulting on its debt. But IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Cyprus's bailout was subject to "substantial risks," as the economy is likely to contract for the next two years. "The macroeconomic outlook is subject to high uncertainty and risks to the program are substantial," Lagarde said in a statement. "There is no room for implementation slippages. ...

By Indulal PM and Sumeet Chatterjee MUMBAI (Reuters) - Private equity investment in Indian infrastructure is poised to pick up following a lengthy dry patch as debt-stressed operators of toll roads and other projects come under pressure from banks to offload assets to strengthen balance sheets. This time, would-be investors such as KKR , the Blackstone Group and Macquarie Group are looking at buying into completed projects, a relatively safe bet, tempted by valuation expectations that have fallen roughly 25-30 percent over the past two years, fund managers and bankers said. ...

Mumbai, May 15 -- India's leading stock indices jumped 2.5% on Wednesday to take shares to 28-month highs after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor D Subbarao gave a clear indication that interest rates might dip further, strengthening a spirit already buoyed by a global rally in stocks. ...

Mumbai, May 15 -- India's leading stock indices jumped 2.5% on Wednesday to take shares to 28-month highs after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor D Subbarao gave a clear indication that interest rates might dip further, strengthening a spirit already buoyed by a global rally in stocks. ...