Sreeja VN

President Obama's weekend statement on India , raising concerns over the invest climate in the country, has evoked sharp criticisms making it further hard for the Indian Prime Minister to go ahead with reforms.

India's wholesale price index (WPI) rose slower than expected rate of 7.25 percent on a year-on- year basis, contrary to the analysts' expectations, triggering hopes for rate cuts from the Reserve Bank of India.

Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark Sensex and NSE's Nifty on Monday, opened flat, and are hovering between the red and the green, signaling the volatility, as the market awaits June inflation figures.

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who recently took over the charge of the Finance Ministry, has set up an expert committee to review and finalize the controversial General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR), which the foreign investors say are not investor-friendly.

The top after-market Nasdaq gainers Friday were Merge Healthcare Inc, AuthenTec Inc, Infinera Corporation, MannKind Corporation and Web.com Group Inc. The top after-market Nasdaq losers were Iridium Communications Inc, Hansen Medical Inc, Exelixis Inc and National Penn Bancshares Inc.

India's trade deficit narrowed as imports dipped 13 percent in June. Exports fell 5.45 percent to $25.1 billion in the month while imports declined 13.46 percent to $35.3 billion, a senior official said Friday.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's top IT exporter, exceeded the market expectations in the First quarter of the Financial year 2012, by posting strong earnings and affirmed its position as the bellwether of India's IT industry.

Spelling more trouble for India's second largest IT exporter Infosys, Barclays Capital cut its ratings for the company's shares to equal weight from overweight, citing disappointing first quarter earnings.

The top after-market Nasdaq gainers Thursday were Acme Packet Inc, Frequency Electronics Inc, AngioDynamics Inc, Celldex Therapeutics Inc and Resources Connection Inc.The top after-market Nasdaq losers were Power-One Inc, Horizon Pharma Inc, Tractor Supply Company, ARIAD Pharmaceutical Inc and Perficient Inc.

India's industrial output growth rose in May to 2.4 percent, exceeding analysts' expectation of 1.8 percent and as compared to a dismal growth of 0.1 percent registered in April.

Infosys Technologies Ltd, India's second largest software services firm, Thursday reported 33 percent rise in net profit for the first fiscal quarter ending June 31, 2012, supported by the appreciation and depreciation of the rupee, and met analysts' expectations.

The top after-market Nasdaq gainers Thursday were DragonWave Inc, Complete Genomics Inc, Incyte Corporation, Apollo Group Inc and DISH Network Corporation.The top after-market Nasdaq losers were: Xyratex Ltd, ImmunoGen, Infinera Corporation, James River Coal Company and Daktronics Inc.

MCX Stock Exchange (MCX-SX) is all set to become India's third full-fledged stock exchange as it got license from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to trade in new asset classes, including equities, futures and options and other products.

The top after-market Nasdaq gainers Tuesday were Obagi Medical Products Inc, Xyratex Ltd, OraSure Technologies Inc, MannKind Corporation and Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation.The top after-market Nasdaq losers were VOXX International Corporation, Prospect Capital Corporation, Golar LNG Partners LP, Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc and Jamba Inc.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) cut its car sales growth projection for the financial year 2013 to 9-11 percent from the 10-12 percent growth as expected earlier, amid concerns of escalating cost and sluggish demand for cars in the domestic market.

The State Bank of India (SBI), the prime lender to the debt-stricken Indian private air carrier Kingfisher Airlines, said Tuesday that a full recovery of its loans might not happen immediately. The ailing airliner owes $1.4 billion in loans to 17 plus lenders, who have asked the company to infuse fresh capital.

Amid the mixed global cues, Indian markets opened on a positive note Tuesday morning.

A panel constituted by India's Finance Ministry to look into the implementation of the controversial General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR) policy Monday decided to reduce the number of illustrative examples in the draft guidelines.

India's Reliance Communications has set a price range of over $1billion for its undersea cable unit's initial public offering in Singapore.

The Indian rupee Monday breached the 56-mark to reach 56.03 against the dollar on weak global cues and heavy demand for the U.S. currency from banks and importers.

The Indian government has taken a major step toward its ambitious vision of achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by initiating a $5.4-billion plan that would allow the government sector doctors to prescribe generic drugs to the patients free of cost.

The top after-market Nasdaq gainers Friday were Human Genome Sciences Inc, Netlist Inc, Synacor Inc, Nanosphere Inc and Jamba.The top after-market Nasdaq losers were: Gevo, Glu Mobile Inc , ZAGG Inc, Xyratex Ltd and Splunk Inc.

Mauritius has conveyed its readiness to cooperate with India to plug in the loopholes in the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), the tax treaty that exists between the two countries.

The top after-market Nasdaq gainers Thursday were Xyratex Ltd, Celldex Therapeutics Inc, Sequenom Inc, Fifth Street Finance Corp and Applied Micro Circuits Corporation.The top after-market Nasdaq losers were: Informatica Corporation, Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc, ValueVision Media Inc, Amtech Systems Inc and Alaska Communications Systems Group Inc.

A consortium of lenders of the cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines Thursday asked the Indian private carrier to sell its properties in Goa and Mumbai and to come up with concrete steps to improve its operations.

India is purchasing oil from Iran using euros to overcome the problems faced in making transactions in the rupee due to its limitations of direct conversion into foreign currencies abroad.

The Indian division of the U.S.-based Citibank Tuesday reported a 35 percent rise in its net profit in 2011-2012 fiscal year, driven by robust growth in their corporate and retail banking and mortgage businesses, the bank said in a statement.

India's service sector continued its growth in June, though at a slightly slower rate than in May, according to the latest HSBC PMI data released Wednesday.

The Indian rupee continued its forward rally for the fourth consecutive session, reaching a 1-month high of 54.81 against the dollar in the morning trading session Tuesday.