Commerce, industry departments to meet PM today

Secretaries at the departments of commerce, industry, heavy industry and public enterprises will apprise Modi of developments in these sectors.

    

"Secretaries of these departments will give presentation to the Prime Minister. Ministers concerned will also be present in the meeting," a source said.

    

The Department of Commerce is expected to apprise the PM of issues pertaining to areas such as exports and the steps it is taking to boost trade with other countries, sources said.

Issues related to Free Trade Agreements are also likely to figure in the presentation. The Indian industry has raised concerns over these pacts, saying that FTAs are impacting the country's manufacturing sector.

    

"Revival of special economic zones would also find a place in the commerce secretary's presentation," said a source.

Revamping of SEZs is important to boost manufacturing, attract investments and create jobs.

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Gold, silver price falls on global cues

Silver also dropped by Rs 375 to Rs 40,625 per kg due to reduced offtake by industrial units.
  
Traders said that stockists selling in tandem with a weak global trend and low demand from jewellers mainly led to the fall in the precious metals prices.
  
Gold in New York, which normally sets price trend on the domestic front, fell by 0.1 percent to USD 1,252.50 an ounce and silver by 0.5 percent to USD 18.99 an ounce.
  
In Delhi, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 percent purity fell by Rs 150 each to Rs 27,100 and Rs 26,900 per ten gram respectively, while sovereign remained steady at Rs 24,400 per piece of eight gram.   

In a similar fashion, silver ready dropped by Rs 375 to Rs 40,625 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 280 to Rs 39,995 per kg. Silver coins continued to be asked at last level of Rs 75,000 for buying and Rs 76,000 for selling of 100 pieces.

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Sensex extends gain, up 210 points in morning trade

The 30-share Sensex shot up by 210.51 points, or 0.84 percent, to trade at 25,230.02 with stocks of oil and gas, realty, capital goods, PSUs and banking sectors rallied. The gauge had climbed nearly 214 points in the previous session.

  

The 50-share NSE Nifty, regained 7,500 mark for the first time since May 16 by gaining 50.10 points, or 0.67 percent, to 7,524.20.

  

Brokers said that buying momentum picked up further on sustained foreign funds inflows amidst a firming trend in the global markets in response to European Central Bank measures to boost the eurozone economy.

   

Stocks of Reliance Industries shot up by 2.93 percent to Rs 1,120 and ONGC gained 3.78 percent to Rs 435.50 after reports that the government is likely to hike natural gas rates from July 1 after a new price formulation is approved by the Cabinet.

  

Other major contributors to the rally were SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Larsen and Toubro and BHEL.

  

Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.53 percent, while Japan's Nikkei was up by 0.39 percent in the morning trade on Friday.

  

US Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.59 percent to close at new high in Thursday's trade.

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