Boost For BankAm

Buffett-run Berkshire Hathaway announced plans to invest $5 billion in the Bank of America, a vote of confidence for the beleaguered financial firm.

The conglomerate has agreed to buy 50,000 preferred shares that will pay a 6 per cent annual dividend. The Bank of America has the option to buy back the shares at any time for a 5 per cent premium. According to CNBC, Buffett approached the Bank of America early Wednesday about a potential deal.

The investment by Berkshire should help allay market concerns about the bank. Shares of the financial firm have been battered of late over fears the company lacks sufficient capital. The stock has fallen nearly 30 per cent since the beginning of August.

"I remain confident that we have the capital and liquidity we need to run our business," Bank of America chief executive Brian Moynihan said. "At the same time, I also recognise that a large investment by Warren Buffett is a strong endorsement of our vision and our strategy."

Investors cheered the deal, sending shares of most big bank stocks higher on Thursday morning. While JP Morgan was up 4 per cent, Citigroup rose 7 per cent. Stocks of the Bank of America jumped 17 per cent.

The Berkshire investment comes at a pivotal time for the bank. Its troubled mortgage division has racked up billions of dollars in legal bills, and the financial firm faces investigation into its foreclosure practices. Last quarter, the Bank of America reported an $8.8 billion loss, owing in large part to a settlement with mortgage investors.

Moynihan has taken steps to cut costs and improve its capital cushion. He put the European credit card operation for sale and sold off the Canadian card division.

Last week, the bank announced plans to cut 3,500 jobs.

But the embattled chief stopped short of raising capital, reiterating that the financial firm was on solid footing. The assertions did little to soothe investors.

"Bank of America is a strong, well-led company, and I called Brian to tell him I wanted to invest in it," Buffett said in a statement.

Bargain-Hunting

Japan's Nikkei average ticked up on bargain-hunting on Friday and marked its first weekly gain in five weeks, with investors awaiting a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for clues on what steps the U.S. central bank will take to support the economy.

Investors have also been latching onto stocks that have lost much ground this month. Auto stocks surged in the previous session and on Friday, Elpida Memory, the world's No.3 maker of dynamic random access memory chips, soared, also helped by a recovery in DRAM spot prices.

Selling from foreign investors -- which has helped to push down Nikkei more than 10 percent so far this month -- continued but some market players said their selling seems to be slowing.

"Last week, the market fell unless there were clear buying factors. This week that is no longer the case," said Soichiro Monji, chief strategist at Daiwa SB Investments, adding that he thought the market was oversold.

The benchmark Nikkei rose 0.3 percent to 8,797.78 for a weekly gain of 0.9 percent. It hit a five-month low of 8,619.21 earlier this week.

The broader Topix index gained 0.6 percent to 756.07.

"Some investors had increased cash positions earlier this month. Now they are putting back some of their money on stocks ahead of the end of month, though not in a big amount," said Masato Futoi, head of cash equity trading group.

Markets came into the week thinking Bernanke may announce a third round of asset purchases or some other extraordinary policy move later on Friday but these expectations have been dialed back somewhat.

Bernanke is scheduled to speak on Friday at 10 a.m. New York time (1400 GMT).

Tokyo shares' have tumbled this month on fears of a slowdown in the U.S. economy and European debt woes but the market has fallen far enough that valuations look very attractive.

"The index remains below 9,000, and this is the level where retail investors buy stocks with attractive valuations," said Hideyuki Okoshi, general manager at Chibagin Securities.

Shares listed on the Tokyo stock exchange's first section trade around book value, while shares on the S&P 500 are trading at 1.9 times their book value.

Elpida surged 17.6 percent to 535 yen after having slid more than 40 percent in the one month to Thursday's close, battered by the company's move to raise capital.

A trader at a foreign brokerage said that a number of factors were lifting the shares, including Wednesday's news about Abu Dhabi state-owned fund Aabar joining South Korea's STX Corp to bid for Hynix Semiconductor and a rise in chip spot prices.

Kyowa Hakko Kirin rose 3.3 percent to 785 yen after the company said it will buy back up to 4.4 percent of its own shares while KDDI Corp rose 2.8 percent to 557,000 yen on two brokerage upgrades to "outperform" from "neutral".

Volume was relatively high, with 1.9 billion shares changing hands on the Tokyo stock exchange's main board, higher than last week's average of 1.7 billion shares. Advancing shares outnumbered declining shares by 1,100 to 410.

Fundamentals On Share Market

Fundamentals on Share Market involves a wide array of topics :- Present forms of Exchanges Classification of Socks Nature of Stock Markets' Buyer and Seller Stock Market Analysis For a novice, understanding the fundamentals on share market is a prerequisite. Present Forms of Exchange Shares in the Share Market are either traded through :- Stock Exchange These are organized market places where stocks, bonds are other equivalents are traded between the buyers and sellers. Exchange acts as a counter-party to both the participants in case of any default. For example, NYSE, NASDAQ, NSE, NIKKEI, etc. Over-the -Counter These are not centralized exchanges. Here, the trade takes place through a network of dealers. Classification of Stocks Generally, Stocks are of three types :- Common Stock It gives an ownership right to the holders of the stock and hence the share holders are entitled to the earnings of the company according to their stake. Holders also get dividends on those stocks as and when given by the company. Preferred Stock These stocks also give ownership right to its holders. Its holders enjoy the privilege of receiving dividends from the company in preference to any other common share holders. Convertible Preferential Stocks There is also another type of Stock called Convertible Preferential Stocks where the holders of these stocks have the option of converting them to common stocks of the issuing company. The nature of participants of a stock market also differ according to their trading styles.

Zinc Futures Down 0.56 pc

Zinc futures fell by 0.56 per cent today as traders indulged in reducing their positions, tracking a weakening trend in base metals overseas. Subdued demand from consuming industries in the spot market also put some pressure on zinc futures prices. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, zinc for delivery in July fell by 60 paise, or 0.56 per cent, to Rs 106.20 per kg, with a business turnover of 717 lots. The metal for delivery in August also fell by the same margin to Rs 106.70 per kg, with a trade turnover of 48 lots. Analysts said a weakening trend in base metals at the London Metal Exchange (LME) and sluggish demand in the spot markets led to the fall in zinc futures prices. Caribbean trip on a high in third Test Out of form young batsmen seem to be India''s only concern as they aim to sign off their Caribbean sojourn on a high by clinching the third and final cricket Test against the West Indies, starting here tomorrow. The Indians, leading the three-match series 1-0, may have to make some changes to their batting line-up on a Windsor Park track which is expected to offer pace and bounce. Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has ensured a continuation of his unbeaten record in a Test series but he would have to take a call if Murali Vijay and Virat Kohli are to get yet another chance after their disastrous outings so far in the Caribbean. The two already have the writing on the wall as they haven''t been picked for the series against England, starting in mid-July. While Vijay has hurt his position with an aggregate of 22 runs (5.50 avg) from the four innings of two matches, Kohli has done no better than 46 runs (11.50) and is only now realising the vast chasm between a limited overs and a longer format game. Vijay''s nemesis has been Ravi Rampaul who has got him in all the four innings while Kohli has found Fidel Edwards too hot to handle, having been dismissed by the Barbadian in three of the four innings he has batted. India needs their replacement as the West Indies'' new ball bowlers have had the complete measure of these two young batsmen.

India's Bharat Biotech

Leading bio-pharma company Bharat Biotech Monday announced that ROTAVAC , India's first indigenously developed rotavirus diarrohea vaccine, will be sold to global public markets, UN procurement agencies and governments the world over at a price of $1. The Hyderabad-based firm hopes its new vaccine will help prevent part of the 500,000 child deaths each year caused due to rotavirus diarrhoea and improve access to better, affordable vaccines. The company expects an India license for its vaccine in 2014 and World Health Organisation (WHO) prequalification in 2015 for supply to United Nations agencies. The vaccine is currently undergoing Phase III clinical development for safety and efficacy in 8,000 subjects -- one of the largest such clinical trials ever conducted in India, said a statement by the company. 'The key to our success of bringing down the cost of vaccine is our novel concept in vaccine development and innovative manufacturing processes with public health in mind,' said Bharat Biotech chairman and managing director Krishna Ella. Ella recalled that in 2001 he had made a commitment to the Gates Foundation to develop and supply a novel rotavirus vaccine at $1 a dose. 'We are extremely happy to honour that commitment,' he said. Bharat Biotech's rotavirus vaccine development project is a public-private partnership project. It is between the company and the biotechnology department of the Indian government; Gates Foundation; Program for Appropriate Technologies in Health; Centers for Disease Control, US; National Institutes of Health (NIAID), USA; Society for Applied Studies, Translational Health Sciences Technology Institute, Indian Institute of Science, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and Stanford University.

Rupee Gains 10 Paise Versus US Dollar

The Indian rupee bounced back by 10 paise to Rs 45.12 per US dollar in early trade Tuesday on fresh selling of dollars by banks and exporters on the back of firm equity markets. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the domestic unit opened higher at 45.17/18 per dollar as against Monday''s closing level of 45.22/23 per dollar and moved up further to 45.12 before quoting at 45.15/16 per dollar at 1030 hours. The rupee hovered in a range between 45.12 and 45.20 per dollar in morning deals. Fresh selling of dollars by banks and exporters and firm equity markets mainly boosted the rupee value against the dollar, a forex dealer said. An index tracking the US dollar edged up Tuesday, although the greenback gave up some of the ground it made against the euro due to European sovereign debt concerns. Meanwhile, oil rebounded in Asian trade Tuesday on surging crude demand from China, the world''s second-largest economy, analysts said. New York''s main contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, gained 30 cents to USD 98 a barrel. The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex regained the 18,000 points mark Tuesday by rising 75.05 points to 18,068.38 in early trade.

Broader Markets Up

A benchmark index for Indian equities markets slipped from intra-day highs Wednesday, while broader indices held on to gains after IT stocks rose buoyed by software giant HCL technologies which posted better than expected quarterly results. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 19,274.21 points, was ruling at 19,198.92 points, up 73.71 points or 0.39 percent from its previous close at 19,121.83 points. The 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was trading 0.37 percent higher at 5,761.9 points. Broader markets were ruling in the green as well with the BSE midcap index up 0.55 percent and the BSE small cap index up 0.86 percent. IT, consumer durables, and auto stocks were among major gainers, while capital goods scrips saw some selling. HCL Technologies reported a 34 percent rise in profit for the quarter ended March 31. Among major gainers on the Sensex were M&M, TCS, Tata Motors and ONGC, while the losers included Reliance Communications, Hero Honda, Reliance Infra and L&T. The market breadth was positive with 1,758 stocks advancing, 1,004 on the decline and 93 remaining unchanged. Asian markets were trading in the positive, tracking overnight gains at Wall Street. The Japanese Nikkei average closed 1.76 percent up at 9,606.82 points, while the Shanghai composite index of the Chinese stock exchanges moved up 0.27 percent at 3,007.04 points. The Hang Seng of the Hong Kong stock exchange was in the green too, trading 1.41 percent higher at 23,851.11 points.