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Asian stocks close mostly up after late rally
HONG KONG, March 11, 2008 (AFP) – Asian stocks closed mostly up after a late rally Tuesday as bargain hunters emerged despite earlier US share price falls sparked by growing worries over a global credit crunch.Most markets around the region reversed early losses to turn higher in late trade, after suffering steep falls on Monday. […]
Money printing, inflation hit Iranian voters despite oil wealth
TEHRAN, March 11, 2008 (AFP) – High inflation, unemployment, slack monetary policy and a lack of foreign investment: Iran is suffering from a litany of economic problems ahead of Friday’s legislative elections.President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad swept to power in 2005 on a platform to make the poor — many of whom have left villages to swell […]
Wall St. pummeled despite Fed printing; oil 108, Blackstone reveals a loss
NEW YORK, March 10, 2008 (AFP) – US stocks sustained a fresh beating Monday as oil prices briefly rocketed to fresh highs above 108 dollars a barrel and as The Blackstone Group private equity firm announced a big quarterly loss. Financial stocks fell heavily through the day in the wake of Blackstone’s revelation and as […]
Sri Lanka Cricket chief fears player exodus
March 11, 2008 (AFP) – Young cricketers may soon opt out of playing for their country because of the huge amounts of money available in the sport, Sri Lanka’s cricket chief Arjuna Ranatunga said on Tuesday. Ranatunga, Sri Lanka’s World Cup-winning captain in 1996, said he was worried about the future of younger players who […]
Former guerrillas sweep polls in eastern Sri Lanka
BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka, March 11, 2008 (AFP) – A pro-government Tamil rebel group won a majority in almost all the local councils that went to the polls in Sri Lanka’s volatile east, officials results showed Tuesday.The armed Tamil People’s Liberation Party (TMVP) secured 72 out of the 101 seats in Monday’s vote to elect officials […]
Pricey Fuel
March 11, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-owned petroleum utility plans to tie up with global ship supplier GAC Ships to sell bunkers or ship fuel in Colombo port, its chairman Ashantha de Mel said. . The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation’s plans to re-enter the bunker market will likely bring down prices in Colombo. “We’re in […]
Sri Lanka rupee gains on greenback; exporters sell forward
Mar 10, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka rupee gained against the greenback in early trading Monday with state names coming in to cap the domestic currency at 107.50/55 levels while exporters scrambled to sell forward, dealers said.Authorities have been holding the rupee at around 107.70/80 levels in the first two months of 2007, but on […]
Sri Lanka stocks end flat with SLT trades boosting turnover
March 10, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks ended flat Monday but volumes were boosted to over 700 million rupees on heavy trading in Sri Lanka Telecom after a court ruling cleared a sale of an equity stake to a foreign buyer. The All Share Price Index ended 0.1 percent lower at 2,567.45 while the […]
Travel Time
MANILA, March 10, 2008 (AFP) – The Asian Development Bank said Monday it would double its loan commitment for a major highway project in Sri Lanka to 140 million dollars. A 90 million-dollar loan approved in 1999 would be supplemented by a second loan to ensure the completion of the Colombo-Matara-Galle highway and widen it […]
High Flyers
Mar 10, 2008 (LBO) – Emirates Airlines is tripling frequent flying miles to business travellers in March on selected destinations, the airline said. Emirates operates 17 services a week from Colombo to Dubai and four services a week from Colombo to Singapore and Jakarta. First class passengers who fly more than 100 flights across its […]
Web Eyeballs
Mar 10, 2008 (LBO) – Advertising agencies are struggling to convince clients to use the web as internet penetration increases in Sri Lanka, but poor awareness among clients and users alike, hinder these efforts, officials said.“If you look outward and what kind of business opportunities are out there, then the web can play a very […]
Tele Connect
Mar 10, 2008 (LBO) – The sale of an equity stake in Sri Lanka Telecom held by Japan’s NTT to Malaysia’s Usaha Tegas group could go ahead, the island’s supreme court has ruled, a reporter at the court said. The UT group was initially expected to purchase 25 percent of the stock with NTT keeping […]