China’s ownership of U.S. government debt fell in December.

China’s ownership of U.S. government debt fell in December by the most since 2000, allowing Japan to regain the position as the largest foreign holder of Treasury securities. Japan’s holdings rose 1.5 percent in December to $768.8 billion while China’s dropped 4.3 percent to $755.4 billion, Treasury Department figures showed.
President Obama will sign an executive order to set up a bipartisan fiscal commission to weigh proposals to rein in the soaring federal debt, according to a White House official. Stocks rallied on Tuesday as better-than-expected quarterly results from Merck and Barclays reassured investors, and the weaker dollar boosted commodity prices and shares. The pace of stimulus spending should pick up in coming months, according to administration officials. The federal government expects to distribute $32 billion in Recovery Act funds per month, up from an average $27 billion a month over the past year, according to Vice President Joe Biden. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. managed $15 billion of bond sales for Greece after arranging a currency swap that allowed the government to hide the extent of its deficit. No mention was made of the swap in sales documents for the securities in at least six of the 10 sales the bank arranged for Greece since the transaction, according to a review of the prospectuses by Bloomberg. Billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal’s $9 billion bid to buy mobile-phone assets in Africa may signal the return of India’s appetite for overseas assets. That’s what investment bankers such as Raj Balakrishnan, who heads the Indian mergers and acquisitions business at Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch, are counting on. A thawing of the credit markets and rebounding stock markets are encouraging companies to look overseas for growth, he said. LIC will pump in about Rs 10,000 crore in the stock markets by March-end, taking its annual equity investment to Rs 60,000 crore this fiscal. Revised Estimates of fertiliser subsidy for 2009-10 are likely to be at around Rs 70,000 crore plus, excluding Special Bonds to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore. India's domestic textile consumption is targeting a growth of 12 per cent for the next five years, according to Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran. Credit profiles of the domestic IT service providers have survived the economic downturn and they are well positioned to benefit from the gradual improvement in demand, according to rating agency Crisil.
Companies which have already got Sebi’s nod for their IPO will be exempt from the minimum 25% public holding rule even if the proposed norms kick in before they hit market. The Union petroleum ministry is ready to take the issue of price revision in administered price mechanism (APM) gas to the Union Cabinet, with a recommendation for a 44 per cent increase in the price, retrospective from April 1, 2009. Unsecured creditors of the Dutch firm, LyondellBasell, have agreed to settle a dispute over claims and support reorganization plans of its management, reducing the chances of takeover by RIL. Jain Irrigation Systems is planning to expand the capacities at its three micro irrigation system plants, in the next fiscal, at a cost of Rs 150 crore.
L&T to invest $400 m to ramp up shipbuilding capacity. Tata Steel’s consolidated net profit declined 41.93 per cent to Rs 472.65 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2009, over the corresponding period a year ago. The Singapore government's investment vehicle Temasek Holdings has reduced its stake in ICICI Bank to 5.9 per cent from 8.3 per cent. Essar Steel is looking at increasing prices of its products amid higher input costs and improved demand by April-May this year.
Financial services provider, Aditya Birla Financial Services has proposed to pick up 75 per cent stake in Aditya Birla Money, through an off market transaction. Government has demanded another $2.7 million from Reliance Industries towards royalty and profit petroleum products on gas produced from KG D6 for the period between April and September 2009. Tata Motors has cut down production of its commercial vehicles by 5-10 per cent since January 2010, due to shortage in components like tyres. Nifty near contracts ends the day up by 69.50 points at a premium of 9.45 points ( -6.25 yesterday) adding OI by 0.4%. Nifty OI PCR at 1.094 compared to 1.020 yesterday. Nifty puts sees addition of 19.35 Lakhs and calls sees paring of 26.24 Lakhs over the day. Highest OI in Nifty calls seen at 5000 Feb strike and puts at 4700 Feb strike. 4900, 4800, 4700 & 4600 Feb strike and Nifty Puts strike saw significant addition in OI during the day. 4400 Feb strike Nifty puts saw significant paring of OI during the day. 5100, 5000, 4800 & 4900 March strike Nifty calls saw significant addition of OI during the day. 4800 (-12.2 lakhs) & 4900 (-7.6 Lakhs) Feb strike puts saw paring in OI during the session. Nifty VIX at 28.73 from 29.68 last day. Long build up seen in BANKBARODA, SIEMENS, JPASSOCIAT, CENTURYTEX, AMBUJACEM, BEL, ACC, ULTRACEMCO & NATIONALUM. Short build up seen in BHARTIARTL, DCHL & HCC etc. Long liquidation seen in RANBAXY, HINDUNILVR, PUNJLLOYD, ALBK, TATAMOTORS, PETRONET, BHARATFORG, INDIAINFO, HINDALCO & M&M etc FII side sees short covering and marginal long build up in Nifty futures and position unwinding in Nifty Options. Overseas cues are positive for the day and a gap up open is expected. Resistances in Nifty futures near contract seen around 4940-60 levels. Supports for the day seen around 4840 levels.