Oil sets new record near $146 a barrel

Oil prices spiked Friday as continued tensions in the Middle East and concerns of renewed violence in Nigeria pushed the price for a barrel of oil to a record near $146.

By midday in Europe, light, sweet crude for August delivery rose $3.53 at $145.18 a barrel electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices at one point jumped well over $4 to a record $145.98.

Oil prices had fallen $10 over two days to start the week and as oil rebounded Friday, Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 62, or 0.61 percent, to 11,155.

In London, August Brent crude rose $3.34 to $145.37 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

“There’s always a fear premium in pricing. The tensions in Iran and the threat of supply disruption will help support oil prices,” said Jeff Brown, managing director of FACTS Global Energy in Singapore.

JBC Energy in Vienna, Austria, said the news about Iran, Nigeria, as well as a reported threat of a strike by oil workers in Brazil were “enough to wake the market from its two-day slumber.”

 A day after Iran tested a missile capable of reaching Israel, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned the oil-producing nation that the United States will defend its allies. Iran then responded with another missile launch, drawing buyers back to jittery energy markets.

Both the US and Israel have not ruled out a military strike on Iran as a last option if it does not give up uranium enrichment and heed other UN Security Council demands meant to dispel the fear Tehran wants to make nuclear arms.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has warned that it cannot replace the shortfall if Iran is attacked and takes its crude supplies off the market. The fear is that Iran, OPEC’s second-largest producer, could block the Strait of Hormuz, a passageway that handles about 40 percent of the world’s tanker traffic.

Meanwhile, attacks on Nigerian oil facilities could again disrupt supplies in the oil-rich region.

Courtesy :- Economic Times

Infy, TCS, Wipro India’s most admired companies

IT majors Infosys, TCS and Wipro have emerged as the three most admired companies in India, followed by Sunil Mittal-led telecom giant Bharti Airtel and another Tata group company Tata Steel in the top five, according to a list prepared by the Wall Street Journal Asia.

However, Bharti Airtel and the country’s biggest private sector lender ICICI Bank have scored over the IT majors in terms of innovation with their top two positions, found a survey of Wall Street Journal Asia readers.

As part of compilation of a broader list of 200 most admired companies in Asia, the publication on Friday released the list of ten most admired companies as well as top ten innovators in India.

 In the most admired list, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Bharti Airtel and Tata Steel are followed by Larsen & Toubro, ITC, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank and Mahindra and Mahindra to round up the top ten companies.

For innovation, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank are followed by Infosys, TCS and HCL Technologies in the top five. These are followed by Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications, Wipro, Satyam, M&M and Hindustan Lever (now known as Hindustan Unilever or HUL) in the order of their rankings.

“Bharti Airtel ranked most-innovative in responding to customers’ needs, the featured category in the latest Journal survey to determine Asia’s 200 most-admired companies. That helped it earn a spot on the list of overall-most-admired in India,” the WSJ said in a report.

In the overall list, Infosys has retained its position as the most admired company since 2000, while TCS has also retained its second position since 2006 survey. Wipro has moved up one position from fourth in the previous 2006 survey.

Courtesy :- Economic Times