Aiyar to discuss oil price revision with PM soon

Concerned over the surge in the international crude oil prices, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar will take up the issue of revision of ...

Concerned over the surge in the international crude oil prices, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar will take up the issue of revision of petrol and diesel prices with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. However, with inflation ruling high and with the Maharashtra elections round the corner, oil marketing firms are not expecting any changes in the prices of the two fuels.

Crude oil prices headed above $49 a barrel on Monday, approaching record levels. While US light crude climbed to a session high at $49.74 a barrel, London’s brent crude traded at $46.25.

According to officials in oil marketing firms, though international petrol prices have not firmed up so much, diesel prices have shot up. ‘‘While we are almost at import parity in petrol, we are selling diesel at a price which is almost Rs 1.45 less per litre,’’ officials said.

However, the oil firms are not expecting any upward revision in the prices of diesel. The petroleum ministry is also pushing for a import duty cut on crude oil. According to a senior official in the petroleum ministry, ‘‘we have been discussing the possibility of a cut in the import duty on crude with the finance ministry,’’ However, it seems unlikely that the finance ministry would agree for any duty cuts at this juncture, sources added.

How stock markets reacted on Monday

		NEW YORK/LONDON: Stocks fell on Monday, with the Dow dipping briefly below 10,000, as oil prices climbed, threatening to shrink corporate profits, and a brokerage downgrade hurt semiconductor shares. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 21.61 points, or 0.22 per cent, at 10,025.63. The FTSE 100 index ended down 36.9 points or 0.8 per cent to 4,541.2. European stock indexes hit a two-week low as record high oil prices heightened fears of an economic slowdown and Wall Street fell on concerns about rising numbers of profit warnings. The Nikkei edged down, falling for a seventh straight session in its longest losing streak since December 2002 as worries about oil prices and weaker business sentiment plagued the market. — Reuters

Donald Trump may replace H-1B lottery with wage-based selection process

World7 hr ago

Days after hiking the fees for new H-1B applications to $100,000, the Donald Trump administration has proposed to overhaul the visa process for high-skilled non-immigrant workers. The Trump administration has suggested a wage-based selection process for the H-1B programme, instead of the current lottery system.

View all shorts

Live Blog