18.10.2008

• Sensex breaches the psychological mark of 10,000
  • The Sensex crashed to a low of 9,975.35 at close, down 606.14 points or close to 6%. The 50-share Nifty ended the day at 3074.35, down 194.95 points or 6% over the previous close.
    
  • In a market rattled by fears of a long recession and further global turbulence, the speculation on Dalal Street is how many corporates are likely to default, rather than which broker will go bust.
    
  • FIIs net sold over Rs 900 crore. Since January, they have pulled out over $10 billion.
• India's forex reserves take a beating
  • According to data released by the Reserve Bank of India, the total foreign exchange reserve including gold and SDR dipped to $274 billion during the week ended October 10, from $291.9 at the end of September. This is the third straight week that the forex stock pile has fallen with the slide in the last two weeks being specially severe.
  • The record fall is mainly due to heavy dollar sales by the central bank to stem the fall in the value of local currency.
  • India, the fourth largest holder of foreign exchange reserves in Asia after China, Japan, and Taiwan, has seen reserves sliding since the start of this fiscal year.
• On Indian corporate debt market
  • We have been noting from time to time that the corporate debt market is not well developed in India.
    
  • Indian corporates are still captive to bank financing, in the absence of a functional bond market. Participation by the big boys — institutional investors — could give depth to the private debt market. Currently average volumes in the debt market are below Rs 500 crore a day. There are few products on offer.
• Sachin's test run score record
  • Sachin Tendulkar crossed Brian Lara’s record of 11,953 runs, the most aggregated in Test history by an individual batsman.
• National Integration Council
  • Jawaharlal Nehru, who was conscious of fissiparous tendencies in a diverse society, created the NIC in October 1962 with a view to bring all political opinions on a common platform to face the challenges to the unity of a diverse society.
• Food inflation inching to double digits
  • Year-on-year inflation in food articles is nearing double digits at 9.7% for the week ended October 4, more than double the 4.6% it had touched in the week ended August 30.
  • Remember the difference between 'headline inflation' and 'core inflation' in this context? We noted about it on 23rd August. Take a look at it here.
    
• Buzzwords worth remembering in the current crisis situation: de-coupling and deleveraging
  • De-coupling: What the gurus of finance essentially meant was that in the years to come, the engine of the world’s growth was going to be the emerging economies in general and the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) in particular. And even if the developed world slowed down, these countries would not be impacted and would just march ahead on their own.
  • Deleveraging: It refers to the reduction of financial instruments or borrowed capital previously used to increase the potential return of an investment. As part of this, firms may be seen disposing off assets which were built on borrowed capital.
• World's longest insect discovered
  • Nearly the length of a human arm, a stick bug from Borneo is the world’s longest insect, said British scientists.
  • The specimen was found by a local villager and handed to Malaysian amateur naturalist Datuk Chan Chew Lun in 1989, according to Philip Bragg. The insect was named Phobaeticus chani, or “Chan’s megastick,” in Mr. Chan’s honour.
  • Stick bugs, also known as phasmids, have some of the animal kingdom’s cleverest camouflage. Though some phasmids use noxious sprays or prickly spines to deter their predators, generally the bugs assume the shape of sticks and leaves to avoid drawing attention.