Bhel, power plant maker, was selected to install and manage power plant for a project worth 1,990 crore rupees. Bhel declined 0.9% to 1,835 rupees.

Tata Steel declined 0.5% to 656 rupees after soaring 9% to 659 rupees in the previous session. Yesterday the company reported consolidated first quarter result including recent acquisition of Corus. The sales rose 440% to 31,155 crore rupees and earnings increased 186% to 4,904 crore rupees. The net income increase reflected one time gain from higher pension asset valuation held for Corus.


8:00AM Jewelry retailer Zale swung to profit in Q4, while Tiffany posted 10% profit drop inQ1.

Jewelry retailer Zale Corp. (ZLC: chart) swung to a Q4 profit from a year-earlier loss although revenue and same-store sales fell 0.5%. Zale posted profit of $1.5 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with a loss of $27.4 million, or 57 cents a year ago. Company’s revenue declined to $488 million from $491 million. Analysts, on average, had expected a loss of 13 cents on $483 million of revenue. Looking ahead, for 2008 Zale forecast earnings $1.11 to $1.16 a share, with same-store sales higher by 1% to 2%.

Another jewelry retailer, Tiffany & Co.''s (TIF: chart) reported Q1 net income drop of 10% to $37 million, or 26 cents a share, down from $41.1 million, or 29 cents a share last year. Excluding special charges, earnings from continuing operations were 45 cents. The company said quarterly net sales increased 19% to $662.6 million as same-store sales grew 17% in the U.S. and 7% internationally.

According the average analyst estimates, the jeweler was anticipated to post earnings of 34 cents a share and revenue of $643.4 million. For 2007, Tiffany predicted earnings from continuing operations of $2.64 to $2.69 a share on sales growth of 14%. In addition, the company said it had sold the land and business housing of its Tokyo flagship store for $328 million. As a result, it expects a pretax gain of 47 cents a share for Q3.

7:00AM New York, 8:00PM Tokyo - Japanese stocks recovered, ending two day losses lifted by higher U.S. stocks and rate cut hopes. Retail sales slump 2.2% in July. Japan proposes 2% hike in consumption tax to cover social welfare costs.

Shares in Japan rose on speculation the Federal Reserve will slash rates in September. Energy, electric and financial stocks led Japan higher 0.9% after losing 1.7% on Wednesday. Of the 225 Tokyo stocks 148 gained, 60 fell while 17 remained unchanged. Of the index shares, 11 stocks gained over 4% while 27 fell more than 1%.

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 gained 0.88% or 140.99 to 16,153.82 helped gains in energy related shares. The yen finished stronger at 115.52 to one dollar having closed yesterday at 116.17. To the euro, it ended firmer at 157.54 from 158.89. Yesterday, the yen had gained as high as 114 against the dollar at mid-day.

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced Thursday July retail sales fell 2.2% to 11.4 trillion yen from a year ago, the second decline in as many months. Textiles and clothing sales fell the most in six years by 9.7% and dragged retail sales with it. The ministry’s preliminary report indicated that automobile sales dropped 4.8% and for machinery were down 4.7%.

Health, Labour and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe said today raising the consumption tax 2% to 7% is a viable option, which should help social welfare activities. Masuzoe said that tax hikes would become inevitable if the government has to cover mounting social security costs. ""We will endeavour to work on spending cuts but we have no choice but to ask people to pay more taxes in the future,"" Japanese media quoted him saying today. ""I consider it better to raise the consumption tax and disburse much of the increased tax income on welfare programs."" The minister is already under pressure to fix the missing papers of 50 million pension papers.

Of the Nikkei 225 shares energy related stocks led on firming crude oil prices. Mitsubishi Corp led movers gaining 6.6% after crude oil touched $73.51 today. Showa Shell followed up 5.64% and Nippon Mining pushed higher 4.8%. NSK Ltd surged 4.54% while Okuma Corp closed up 4.5%. Nippon Oil, Mitsubishi Chemicals, Mitsui Chemicals and Tokyo Gas Co Ltd all rose over 3%. Electric and some financials also gained. Yokohama Electric, Mitsubishi Electric, Chiba Bank and Yokohama Bank surged.

Of the index shares, retail stocks retreated after negative July retail sales data. Fast Retailing led decliners falling 3.1% followed by T&D Holdings Inc down 3% while Nippon Sheet Glass closed lower 2.91%. Hitachi Zosen and Mitsukoshi Ltd lost 2.6% and 2.43% respectively. Paper manufacturing firms and motor shares sank on similar retail sales sentiment. Nippon Paper Group, Mitsubishi Paper and OJI Paper fell 2.08%, 2.06% and 1.22% respectively. Mazda Motor, Mitsubishi Motors Co, Honda Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co fell between 0.8% and 1.6%.

Inpex Holdings Inc said Wednesday it will purchase a 35% stake in an oil and natural gas mining block in Suriname from Denmark''s Maersk Oil and Gas AS, Japan media reported today. Inpex said the 13,860-square-kilometre area, called Block 31, in the Guyana Basin off the northern coast of South America is recognised as having all the essential elements of a major hydrocarbon basin and promises to yield good quantities of petroleum and natural gas. Inpex shares closed unchanged at 1 million yen Tokyo.

Isuzu Motors Ltd and General Motors Corp said Wednesday they had signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at buttressing co-operation in the selling of trucks in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. The firms said they were also studying the possibility of establishing a joint venture in the Andean region. Isuzu Motors finished up 2.34%.