Vodafone has announced that second-quarter revenue rose by 4.8% year-on-year (y/y) to £11.26 billion (US$17.16 billion), driven by significant growth in its emerging markets and further signs of recovery in Western Europe. The network operator, the world's largest by revenue, also saw group service revenue...

Telecoms operators have urged the Costa Rican government to help eliminate the current barriers that are standing in the way of access to the telecoms market. According to local daily La Nación, members of the Chamber of Information and Communication Technologies, which includes representatives from various telecoms...

Nokia has reported a sharp drop of 15% year-on-year (y/y) in its second-quarter operating profits to 660 million euro (US$848 million) as further speculation spreads concerning the chief executive of the handset giant. The leading global handset vendor also announced that second-quarter revenues rose by just 1% y/y to...

It’s commonly held that strategy is distinct from execution, but this is a flawed assumption. The idea that a strategy can be brilliant and its execution poor is simply wrong. The metaphor accompanying this viewpoint is that of the human body, with the brain as the “chooser” and the body as the...

MUMBAI, India — It looks like an iPad, only it's 1/14th the cost: India has unveiled the prototype of a $35 basic touchscreen tablet aimed at students, which it hopes to bring into production by 2011. If the government can find a manufacturer, the Linux operating system-based computer would be the latest in a...

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple says the white version of the iPhone 4 will not be available until later this year. Apple had originally said the phones would be available in late July. Apple Inc. says the white gadgets have been more difficult to manufacture than expected. It did not say when the white models will be...

Sometimes, it’s instructive to step back and get a look at the true, “big-picture” revolution that is happening in the telecom...

I've been trying to make heads or tails out of Apple's press conference, which occurred almost a week ago, and I'm still not sure how to call it. Heads? Tails? Who wins? Since then, quite a few more developments occurred. Apple reported a record-setting quarter based on revenue and "Antennagate," as...

AT&T Inc.'s pay-as-you-go subscriber numbers for the second quarter were revitalized thanks to the success of the Apple Inc. iPad tablet on the operator's 3G network, but it appears that even the continued success of the iPhone can't stop questions about the growth of AT&T's monthly user base. Overall, the...

Following its unsuccessful bid for BWA (broadband wireless access) spectrum in the recent auction, Tata Communications Ltd., one of India's most committed WiMax service providers, is having to reconsider its business services strategy. (See India's BWA Auction Ends in $8.2B Drama.) "We have been using WiMax to provide...

Syntel, Inc. (SYNT)

Q2 2010 Earnings Call

July 22, 2010 10:00 am ET

While the indices languished in the red for a larger part of the trading session today, renewed buying at lower levels towards the tail end of the day led the indices to close well above the dotted line. While the BSE Sensex closed higher by around 136 points (up 1%), the NSE Nifty gained around 43 points (up 0.8%). Midcap and smallcap stocks also did well as the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap notched gains of 0.4% and 0.3% respectively. Barring IT stocks, stocks across sectors closed in the green.

As regards global markets, Asian indices closed mixed today while European indices have opened in the green. The rupee was trading at Rs 47.18 to the dollar at the time of writing.

I cannot find any specific news on Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (RDY) and it was not down a material amount in India overnight, so I am not sure why it is being hit so hard in the U.S.

Whatever the case, in the past two sessions it has weakened considerably and if it closes where it is as I type, it will have broken the 50-day moving average on a closing basis for the first time since mid May. That is always a concern and the general policy when this happens is reduce exposure and then watch what it does next.

Strong buying activity across index heavyweights throughout today's trading session led the indices to close well above the dotted line. While the BSE Sensex closed higher by around 99 points (up 0.6%), the NSE Nifty gained around 31 points (up 0.6%). Midcap and smallcap stocks also did well as the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap notched gains of 0.5% and 0.4% respectively. While metals, auto and oil & gas stocks found favour, healthcare stocks were at the receiving end.

As regards global markets, Asian indices closed mixed today while European indices have opened in the green. The rupee was trading at Rs 47.26 to the dollar at the time of writing.

First a few quick words on earnings season. We're just over a week into it and "sell the news" is dominating.

Monday evening we had IBM (IBM) and Texas Instruments (TXN). IBM is doing fine on the bottom line but the top line is struggling. This is not really an American company anymore but a true multinational with 60%+ of its business overseas, so currency shifts affect it greatly. That issue, along with some weakness in future order flow, appears to be the culprit. Why do we care about IBM? In the (stupid) price-weighted Dow, the higher the share price the more effect the stock has on the index; hence IBM is a massive weight at 9%, or about 3x as much impact as a more practical equal weight index. Therefore, IBM's performance is going to have an outsized effect on today's action. As an aside, the Texas Instruments report was actually quite fine, but "sell the news" is hitting it just as did Intel a week ago. This must be respected.

By: Audrey B.

Expectations were high for the end of quarter results of India’s number two outsourcer, Infosys (NASDAQ:INFY). As the first of its peers to release quarterly results (see earnings call transcript here), the outsourcing company is responsible for setting the tone for India’s outsourcing sector. It was therefore a big disappointment when Infosys announced a 2.6% drop in profit for the period of April to June 2010.

Indian markets had a rather volatile session today as they oscillated to either side of Friday's close. Any foray above the dotted line proved futile as renewed profit booking at higher levels took a toll. While the BSE Sensex closed lower by around 27 points, the NSE Nifty lost around 7 points. Midcap and smallcap stocks managed to buck the trend as both the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap closed higher, albeit with miniscule gains. While banking and metals stocks found favour, FMCG stocks were at the receiving end.

As regards global markets, Asian indices closed in the red today while most European indices have opened in the green. The rupee was trading at Rs 47.10 to the dollar at the time of writing.

by Kindred Winecoff

Matthew Continetti asks a good question:

Why do Americans spend so much time analyzing China's growth, but not India's? Yes, the growth of Chinese economic and military power since Deng Xiaoping proclaimed "to get rich is glorious" has been nothing short of extraordinary. But India has also embraced markets over the years, and the results have been equally amazing. We tend to think of India in terms of its relations with Pakistan and Afghanistan, and in terms of its cultural power, rather than in terms of the economic and geopolitical benefits of a prosperous South Asian democracy. But that should end. We have a lot to gain by befriending India, and a whole lot to lose.

ETF analysts Michael Johnston and Eric Dutram talk about the recent shift in the competitive landscape and debate the ultimate impact iShares’ decision to slash expenses on its gold ETF. Watch the video below to hear their thoughts on the recent escalation of the ETF “price wars,” as well as what surprised them most about the announcement.

The team also discusses a couple of the more interesting new ETF products to hit the market in recent weeks, focusing on some of the most targeted ETF options for emerging markets exposure:

The Indian Cabinet finalized a symbol for its currency, the Indian Rupee on Thursday July 15th 2010, denoting the strength of its growing economy joining a select club of countries whose currencies have a unique identity. The Indian Rupee today became the fifth currency in the world to get its unique symbol which is an amalgam of the Devnagiri Script 'Ra' and the Roman capital 'R' without the stem and two parallel lines running at the top symbolizing an equality sign.

India retains the reputation of developing the concept of coinage and issued some of the earliest coins in the history of mankind, which were the base for other currencies of the world. Continuing on the trails of its golden heritage, the Indian Rupee, the currency of Modern day India has formalized a new symbol for the Indian rupee, which reflects and captures the Indian ethos and culture. The Indian rupee is one of the well-established currencies in the world and in terms of sheer volume, the Indian Rupee is one of the most widely used financial instrument in the world currently being used by almost 20% of the world's population. With India becoming the hotbed of financial investment in recent times, the Indian Rupee is now ready to write a new chapter to complement its glorious past heritage. The significant strength exhibited by the Indian rupee in the recent years along with the continued good performance of the Indian economy have raised the issue of greater internationalization of the Indian rupee. Developing an important brand for the wider Indian economy among international investors and highlighting India's increasing global economic ambitions, the country has joined an elite group as the Indian cabinet approved a new symbol for its national currency emulating the pound, the euro, the dollar and the yen in having its unique distinguishing identity.