RBI Reference rate for US dollar and euro

The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday fixed the Reference rate for the US currency at Rs 48.87 per dollar and the single European unit at Rs 64.76 per euro from Rs 48.85 per dollar and Rs 64.51 per euro respectively on Friday.

In a press note issued in Mumbai by the apex bank, the exchange rates of Great Britain's Pound and Japanese Yen against the Rupee have been given as Rs 69.7204 per pound and Rs 54.82 per 100 yen respectively, based on the Reference rate for US dollar and middle rates of the cross currency quotes at noon.


The Reference rate is based on 12 noon rates of a few select banks in Mumbai and the SDR-Rupee rate will be based on this rate, the release added

Yahoo makes a loss as sales slip

Yahoo has reported a loss in the final three months of 2008 as the economic downturn hit sales of online ads.

Its figures showed a loss of $303.4m (£215m) compared with a profit of $205.7m a year earlier.

But analysts said the company had weathered the downturn better than expected, with the loss mainly due to one-off costs.

The results come as Carol Bartz takes over from Jerry Yang as the firm's new chief executive.

Mr Yang stepped down following his rejection of a $47.5bn takeover offer from Microsoft last year, which rankled the company's shareholders.

"The company made important investments while aggressively managing costs, leaving us better positioned to weather the economic downturn and emerge stronger when advertiser spending improves," said Ms Bartz.

Profits shrink at Sumitomo Mitsui

Japan's third largest bank, Sumitomo Mitsui, has seen third quarter net profit fall 99% to 154m yen ($1.7m; £1.19m) from 148.9bn yen a year before.

Japan's major banks have been hit hard by rising costs of bad loans and heavy losses on their stock portfolios.

The group also said net profit for the April to December period fell 74% amid the worsening global economic turmoil.

Japan's banks have stakes in their corporate clients, making them sensitive to equity market swings.

"The major problem for Japanese banks is their large equity holdings," said Kristine Li, a bank analyst at KBC Securities in Tokyo.

"If the Nikkei falls from here, the impairment losses in the fourth quarter, which is more important than the third quarter, could be even bigger.

"That could force many banks to revise down their full-year and some banks to raise new capital."

However, the Nikkei index edged 0.56% higher on Wednesday, helped by news of an expansion of a US stimulus plan and adding to the 4.9% jump recorded on Tuesday.

For the full financial year, Sumitomo Mitsui is predicting net profit of 180bn yen on revenue of 3.7 trillion yen.

The results come a day after Japanese broker Nomura reported heavy losses for the final three months of 2008, as it struggles to integrate parts of failed US bank Lehman Brothers.

Nomura made a net loss of 342.9bn yen ($3.8bn; £2.7bn), compared with a profit of 21.8bn yen a year ago.

Davos starts in very gloomy mood

A gloomy economic outlook dominates discussions as global political leaders and business people gather for the annual World Economic Forum in Davos.

Economists are warning that global recession and trade protectionism will be dire for developing countries.

A poll of business leaders suggests any recovery could take three years.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Russian PM Vladimir Putin are to speak on the first day of the summit, which is themed "shaping the post-crisis world".

Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World Economic Forum, has warned the crisis is nowhere near over yet.