Nobel Prize Economics for 2011 is been shared by two US academics Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims.

The two conducted separately in the 1970s were efforts to model and quantify cause and effect in macroeconomics. Their study laid emphasis on how economic policy such as raising interest rates or cutting taxes affects microeconomic variables such as GDP and Inflation.

The award's official name is the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The five main prizes are in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace. Thomas Sargent, 68, is a professor of economics at New York University.

The academy pointed to his work examining the post-World War II era, when many countries initially tended to implement a high-inflation policy, but eventually introduced systematic changes in economic policy and reverted to a lower inflation rate.

Sims, also 68 and now at Princeton, said of the world's present financial troubles: "If I had a simple answer to that I would have been spreading it around the world ... It requires a lot of slow work looking at data, unfortunately."

He urbanized a method based on “vector auto regression” to analyze how the economy copes up with the temporary changes in economic policy and other aspects like the effects of an increase in the interest rate set by a central bank.

Prof Sims said: "The methods that I have used and that Tom has developed are essential to finding our way out of this mess."

Peter Diamond, Dale Mortensen and Christopher Pissarides won the 2010 prize for their work on how regulation and policy affects jobs and wages.

The stock markets cheered the decision from the German government and sent the markets up. The Dow Jones industrial average ended with a gain of 143 points. Investors were relieved that Germany passed out a bailout plan.  According to reports the economy is showing signs of improvement.  Fewer people have opted for the unemployment package. Germany’s government approved measure that will allow the government to buy additional bonds of troubled countries and provide fresh funds.  It is believed that Americans are pushing their spending by repaying most of their debts and this is likely to continue over the next financial year.

The euro also appreciated on the news of a possible bailout package for Greece.  The British pound rose to 1.5622 from $1.5609 Wednesday. The dollar rose to 76.79 Japanese yen from 76.53 Japanese yen but fell to 0.8972 Swiss francs from 0.8978 Swiss franc.

Treasury bonds were also trading at a lower value as the stock market’s rally ensured the money outflow from the bonds. The 10-year note is up 3.1 cents for every $100 invested as of 4 p.m. The yield slipped to 1.98 percent from 1.99 percent late Wednesday.

Meanwhile news from Asia, China has stated that it is planning to build 10 million units of affordable houses across the country. New home prices climbed in all 70 cities monitored by the government. The Chinese government has been working hard trying to control spiralling property prices. It is rumored that the next potential asset bubble could happen in China and if this happens it will be difficult to contain.

Stock markets cheered the news that the EU nations are closer on agreeing a deal to solve the ongoing debt crisis in Europe. The Dow rose 146.83 points, or 1.3 percent, to 11,190.69. It had been up as many as 325 points earlier. The Dow has added 419 points over the last two days. German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a statement saying that her country would do everything in their might to help solve the crisis.

Commodities rose the highest in four months as signs that European members have assured investors that they will contain the crisis. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI index of 24 raw materials rose 3.3 percent to 620.02 Commodities also benefited from a weaker dollar as the dollar has depreciated against other currencies over the past two weeks.

There has been some disappointing news for investors. Data from US shows that the consumer confidence has remained weak in September. This raises fear and concern among analysts that the economic growth in US may face further slow down.  Economists say the problem is that not much has changed to make consumers feel financially secure. However, there was also some positive news for the markets. Housing markets have shown a sign of relief with home prices rising for the fourth successive months. Prices in the nation's capital have increased 0.3 percent in those 12 months and were equal to 2004 levels in July.

In company specific news, Accenture Q4 results grew by 37 percent as businesses' demand for its consulting and outsourcing services grew. Accenture said it expects revenue of $6.8 billion to $7 billion, helped by changes in currency values. Accenture shares rose $2.51, or 4 percent

The stocks markets reacted sharply to Fed’s proposal of buying bonds.  Under the proposal Fed will buy long-term Treasury’s and sell short-term ones to help get the economy recover to some extent.  The Dow Jones industrial average lost 283.82 points, or 2.5 percent, and closed at 11,124.84. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 35.33, or 2.9 percent, to 1,166.76. The NASDAQ composite fell 52.05, or 2 percent, to 2,538.19.

In news across Europe, Greece has implemented a series of austerity measures with new tax cuts and pension reduction across the horde. The Government has also proposed to suspend 30,000 workers from its roll to ensure continued supply of funds. The Government needs to ensure that the funds keep flowing till the next bailout package. Payments from a euro110 billion ($150 billion) program of rescue loans from euro zone countries and the International Monetary Fund, the heavily indebted euro zone member will run out of cash by mid-October. This sends a message to our partners and to markets that Greece both wishes and is able to fulfill its commitments and remain at the core of the euro zone and the EU," government spokesman Elias Mossialos said.

Amidst this backdrop the Dollar gained some strength against the Euro and other major currencies. The euro slipped to $1.3667. Investors also showed confidence on Gold as gold prices have climbed steadily.  However, oil faced some pressure against the backdrop of the Fed’s proposal. Benchmark crude gave up $1 to finish at $85.92 per barrel

Home sales showed a positive trend as sales increased 7.7 percent in August against the previous year. However first time buyers contributed to only 30 percent of the sales.

The Greece government has come under increasing pressure from lenders to honor its deficit-cutting targets. The government has now decided to approve all the austerity measures that were decided. This was done in order to ensure that they are in line next bailout package. Government came up the with a property tax, to be levied in 2011 and 2012, that is expected to raise enough to plug the 2011 budget hole and help with the 2012 deficit.

In the US purchase of homes have slowed down. Construction has dropped to its three month low as the industry is still facing pressure. Existing-home sales rose 1.7 percent to a 4.75 million annual rate from an eight-month low. Lack of employment opportunities and increasing foreclosure has resulted in downward slide for the real estate sector. Unemployment has remained above 9 percent and this has taken a serious toll on consumer interests.

In Asia, China’s home price rose in august raising further concerns on the real estate sector in the Chinese economy. Prices in Beijing rose 1.9 percent from a year ago, while those in Shanghai, the nation’s financial center, increased 2.8 percent. The government has said that it will rein in residential prices and hope to curb increasingly higher valuations

In stock news German giant Siemens has declared that they will discontinue from nuclear operations as Germany has confirmed that they will cut down on nuclear power by 2022. Siemens had decided to spin off the bulk of its nuclear business into a joint venture with a French company. Meanwhile GE has revealed that they are planning to add 15,000 jobs in US this year and is planning to invest heavily in China and India.

A co-ordinated effort from five major banks to support the Euro crisis was met with cheer by investors. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 186.45 points, or 1.7 percent, to close at 11,433.18. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 20.43 points. Germany's DAX and France's CAC-40 gained 3 percent.

There was worry among the European countries that default by Greece or any of the troubled countries could make borrowings tough which could disrupt the recovery of the global economy. European banks hold large amount of bonds from Greece and Italy. Banks generally use such risk free bonds to raise money in the markets with such bonds as collateral. With questions raised on default, banks now could face problem raising loans.

Asian stocks took cues from the news and rallied by almost a 2 percent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 1.1 percent to 119.17. Asian stock markets have been facing increasing pressure amid concerns of a slowing economy and worsening Euro crisis. There is also a fear that the Chinese economy could falter causing potential risk to the recovery of the entire economy. Indian bonds have also dropped amid concerns that the increasing oil prices could stall the growth of the Economy. Indian economy was expected to grow at 8.5 percent this year but inflationary issues along with rising oil prices have hit the Indian economy hard.

Gold has been signs of a slowdown as Gold plunged $45, or 2.5 percent, to settle at $1,781 an ounce. Among stock specific news banking stocks such as gold man sachs and bank of America made smart gains due to the news. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. rose 3 percent to $107.97. Bank of America Corp. rose 4 percent to $7.33.

Stocks markets have found the appetite. After week of being in the red the Dow Jones recorded yet another day of ending in the green. This was the first back to back gain since the last week of august. The Dow rose 44.73 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 11,105.85. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 10.60, or 0.9 percent, to 1,172.87.

Investors have been struggling with Euro debt fears and fresh concerns of a possible slowdown in the global economy. Meanwhile, International Monetary Fund ( IMF) has assured Portugal that they will get the entire installment of euro 78billion. Portugal requested for a bailout this year as the country was reeling under massive fiscal problems. German chancellor has also come out to assure the markets that the future of euro zone is safe and all preventive steps have been taken to revive the EU.

"I have made my position very clear that everything must be done to keep the euro zone together politically. Because we would soon have a domino effect," Ms Merkel said.

In stock specific news GE was the biggest gainer in the market gaining 2.6 percent to $15.41. Jaguar the automotive major is in talks with a Chinese company over a joint venture possibility. Sales of the cars are soaring in Asia, and China accounted for more than 10pc of sales in the last financial year. Toyota Motor corp has revealed that normal production has been started in its North American plant. The company faced a six month slowdown due to the Tsunami and earthquake in Japan. Airline major delta Airlines has stated that the company will be slowing down its expansion plans due to fears of recession. This bought a huge cheer among the investors.  

A late rally in the markets pushed the Dow Jones to its highest gain in September. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 68.99 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 11,061.12. Reports of China buying Italian government bonds triggered the rally. This does not however remove serious concerns in the global economy. The rally could be one of relief rather than a phased upswing.  FTSE finished 85 points down as blue chip companies listed in the exchange faced heavy selling pressure.

Investors fear Greece could yet default on its debt. This has created worry among investors that there could be disruptions in the global financial system. The 10 year Treasury note was trading at its lowest value.

The Euro fell to a seven month low amid fears of the crisis. Greece is still finding it difficult to convince its neighbors that it has its debt under control. Some nations are also skeptical of releasing additional funds to Greece unless the country approves the austerity measures. The euro also hit a 10-year low against the Japanese yen, falling as low as 103.88 yen

In the commodity market the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cut its forecast for oil demand saying that it saw the recovery stuttering in almost every major economy. This could hurt countries like India and China who import at least 80% of the oil requirements. Meanwhile countries such as US and Europe and Japan have cut back on oil consumption. In other commodities trading, heating oil lost 3.83 cents to end at $2.9475 per gallon while gasoline futures fell 3.28 cents to $2.7382 per gallon. Natural gas fell 3 cents to finish at $3.885 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In company news, Bank of America has announced that it would cut 30,000 jobs in the next few quarters in business such as credit card and mortgage amid margin pressure

In news which is off the markets. Germany looks to have taken the responsibility and the onus to rescue the Euro crisis. The implication of the bailout could be huge across the EU. Greece has openly admitted that the public debt will be 172% of the GDP which is a recipe for disaster. Ms Angela Merkel the VC of Germany is now holding the fate of what happens to the EMU (the European monetary Union) and the EURO in particular. She is believed to have agreed to bail out the rest of the weaker countries. Now when people spoke about an alternate to the US dollar one was hoping that the stronger currency could be the Euro. Now it looks like the good old duetsche mark could make a comeback.

Along with the ongoing crisis of Greece, leaders across Europe are concerned with the development in Italy. The country’s premier has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Some experts feel the time is right for Berlusconi to step down now or it could risk Italy’s credit rating internationally.

Iran has stated that India has made the complete $5 billion payment towards the oil purchased from the controversial country. Critics are on that India should not make any transaction with the nuclear capacity country. But India has no other alternate that it can look at. Indian refiners especially were finding it difficult to procure oil as the delay in payments had made Tehran stop all trades with India. However, with the bill settled it looks like there could be relief for the refiners and the India consumers.

One can expect significantly volatile markets for the new week ahead.

US Markets closed higher on positive news from the fed chairman Ben Bernanke. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 134.72 points, or 1.21 per cent, to 11284.54. The blue-chip index staged a big reversal after opening lower and dropping as much as 221 points right after Dr Bernanke's comments were released.

Investors initially interpreted Dr Bernanke's remarks negatively, especially as the Fed chief stopped short of announcing fresh monetary stimulus measures. Some were hoping Dr Bernanke would announce a full-fledged third bond-buying program, commonly known as quantitative easing, or QE3.

But the market eventually found comfort that Dr Bernanke signaled he is ready to provide further support to a persistently weak economy. Investors said much of the bullish tone was related to the stern comments Dr Bernanke made at the end of his speech. He urged fiscal policy makers to take the appropriate measures to jumpstart the economy.

Dr Bernanke said the Fed was ready to provide further support to a persistently weak economy, but didn't indicate any move was imminent despite fresh signs of anemic growth. He didn't elaborate on the central bank's remaining tools to boost the economy. Instead, Dr Bernanke said the Fed would extend its mid-September meeting to two days to discuss options the central bank could pursue.

Before Dr Bernanke's comments, the Commerce Department said gross domestic product rose 1 per cent during the June quarter in a downward revision from 1.3 per cent, which matched Wall Street expectations. Additionally, US consumer confidence barely inched up at the end of August after having plunged earlier in month, according to data released overnight in the US.

Investors were also keeping an eye on Hurricane Irene, which headed toward landfall on the east coast. At time of publication, the storm was predicted to bring destructive winds and heavy flooding to the New York metropolitan area as early as tomorrow (AEST). Trading firms and stock exchanges are preparing for the worst and reviewing contingency plans with employees.

Stocks have extended their gains in mid-day trading, with the Dow Jones up more than 200 points. Stocks have been pushed higher by better than expected Chinese manufacturing data. Stocks are also rising in anticipation of more action from the Federal Reserve to support the U.S. economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average posted its biggest jump in nearly two weeks on Tuesday. The Dow jumped 322 points, its best day since Aug. 11, when it gained 423, reports the AP. Elsewhere on Tuesday, the NASDAQ composite, which tracks mainly technology companies, rose 100.68 points, or 4.3 percent, to 2,446.06.

Investors have been cautious over the period looking at fundamentally good stocks at cheaper prices. In the face of concerns over a double-dip recession, a manufacturing survey released on Tuesday from the Richmond, Va. Branch of the Federal Reserve pointed to a slowdown, not a recession. The report led investors to question the previous bleak outlook and scoop up stocks.

Also during the four week stretch, the Dow Jones industrial average moved by at least 400 points four days in a row, which is the first time that has happened in the Dow's 115-year history.

Oil rose slightly Tuesday on encouraging global economic news. Prices climbed following reports of better-than-expected manufacturing activity in China and Europe. And stocks rose in the U.S. ahead of an expected announcement from the Federal Reserve on Friday about stimulating the nation's economy.

Oil's rise was tempered by uncertainty about Libya, where unrest continued as the Gadhafi regime appeared near collapse. An end to the country's six-month rebellion would clear the way for oil exports to resume, but analysts cautioned that it will likely take more than a year for oil to begin flowing at levels that would affect prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average soared 423 points on Thursday. It had already fallen 634 points Monday, risen 429 Tuesday and fallen 519 Wednesday. Never before has the Dow had four 400-point swings in a row.

Consumers seem to have back to spending ways with numbers showing an increase in purchase of autos, furniture and gasoline in July, pushing up retail sales by the largest amount in four months. But the survey on consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level in more than 30 years. And a separate report showed that businesses increased their stockpiles in July by the smallest amount since May 2010.

Traders were already dizzy from seesaw trading driven by concern about economic growth and a spreading financial crisis in Europe.

A batch of bad economic news has pummeled markets since before they started their long slide three weeks ago, on July 22. At Thursday's close, the Dow had fallen more than 12% since that date.

The strong retail sales added to a recent trend of more positive data about the economy. The government said last week that hiring picked up in July after two dismal months, though employers still are adding jobs too slowly to significantly reduce unemployment. On Thursday, the government said that applications for unemployment benefits had fallen to a four-month low.

Shares have swung by hundreds of points each day this week as traders react with hair triggers to news about the economy, Federal Reserve policy and a financial crisis in Europe that threatens to spill over into U.S. banks.

Markets in Europe advanced on Friday and bank stocks recovered some of this week's losses. Regulators of major European exchanges banned the short-selling of financial company shares, protecting them from downward pressure by speculators. Asian markets closed mixed.

Concerns about the French economy stoked fears about the crisis in the euro zone, where France has the second-largest economy after Germany's. As their heavily indebted neighbors struggle to stay afloat financially, the region's economic powers must shoulder most of the costs of rescuing Greece, Portugal and Ireland from defaulting on their debts. A default would increase borrowing costs and hurt the regional currency.

One needs to wait and watch if Germany and France will take the onus to help defaulting countries in Europe get back to normalcy.

The earnings season has help make a strong recovery for the markets. The Dow Jones industrial average is up 104 points, or 8 percent, to 12,489 in midday trading Tuesday. The Dow fell five of the previous seven days as Europe's debt crisis threatened to envelop Italy and as a deadlock continues in Washington over raising the country's borrowing limit.

The S&P 500 index is up 10 points or 0.8 percent, to 1,315. The NASDAQ composite is up 39 points or 1.4 percent, to 2,804. The gains pushed the Dow and NASDAQ higher for the month.

IBM Corp. rose 4 percent after the technology company's results beat analysts' estimates. Corporate software spending held steady during the quarter. A jump in housing construction lifted homebuilder stocks.

Anxieties still persist regarding the debt concerns in the European and U.S. market place. These concerns are still at the forefront of investor’s minds even though this trading session started off on a more positive note. As the trading session approached the mid-day mark, the major index composites continued to trend in the green. Stocks are surging on better-than-expected earnings as well as the stronger housing data

In news related to the sacking in newscorp, The Dow Jones Special Committee, responding to a letter from two U.S. senators, said it had found at News Corp's Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires no sign of journalistic wrongdoing like the phone-hacking scandal at its British newspapers.

In conversations with countless present and former Dow Jones employees we have found absolutely no sign of journalistic misconduct such as is at the heart of the scandal in London.

Boxer and Rockefeller, both Democrats who a week ago urged U.S. officials to investigate whether News Corp broke a law banning bribes to foreign officials, were particularly interested, in their latest letter, in information on Les Hinton -- the former Dow Jones chief executive and publisher of the Wall Street Journal.

Foster’s Group Ltd. (FGL), Australia’s biggest brewer, rejected a A$9.5 billion ($10 billion) cash offer from SABMiller Plc (SAB). The reason according to Foster’s is the offer is too low. The deal if and when it goes through would be the biggest takeover in the beer industry in 2008. The acquisition would also give SAB Miller about 50 percent of Australia’s beer market. Foster’s rose 13 percent to A$5.14 at the close of trading, the biggest gain since April 1986, giving it a market value of A$10 billion.

Foster's in its press note said that it had received an unsolicited, incomplete, non-binding and conditional proposal from SABMiller for all of its stock at Aus$4.90 per share. The offer represented an 8.2 percent premium on Monday's closing price. However it is believed that SABMiller could sweeten the offer. There are rumors of Mexico’s SAB de CV and Japan’s Asahi Breweries who are interested in Fosters.

SABMiller has a proven track record of integrating brewing companies and improving the operating and financial performance of acquired businesses. SABMiller will also be able to use its expertise, best operating practices and global scale to enhance Foster's leadership position, strengthen and develop Foster's brand portfolio and improve Foster's operations and profitability.

In terms of valuations, the offer from SAB Miller is 10.4 percent higher than the Foster’s average trading price in the 20 trading days through yesterday.

Fosters have been able to maintain profitability consistently. Over the 12 months ended June 2010,, which measures earnings before interest and tax as a proportion of sales, was 37 percent. That compares with 23.5 percent at SABMiller, 30.8 percent at Anheuser-Busch InBev NV and 14.3 percent for Heineken.

Investors of Fosters would be really happy with the rally made by the stock. Its time for some cheers

European stock markets closed lower on Monday, as banks weakened after euro-zone finance ministers once again failed to clear next month's aid and finalise a new rescue package for the indebted Greece. Fitch the credit rating agency has further reduced the rating on Greece sovereign bonds.

Eurpoean union leaders expressed confidence that Greece will implement economic reforms in return for the next tranche of aid to help it avoid default. The default if it were to happened could trigger a massive sovereign collapse across Spain and Portiugal. The next tranche is reportedly 12 billion euros which could help Greece reign in the fiscal deficit.

Across the Europe, a feeling of pessimism remained in the markets. The Stoxx Europe 600 index lost 0.5% to end at 265.76. It is down 5.4% so far this month. The French CAC 40 index shed 0.6% to close at 3,799.66. The German DAX 30 index ended the session down 0.2% at 7,150.21. In London, the FTSE 100 index was down 0.4% at 5,693.39.

The markets have registered a cautious note with a hope that a solution could be found. Last week's government cabinet re-shuffle and the appointment of new Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos have boosted confidence that the government will find support for further budgetary reform despite its slim majority.

Late on Friday, Moody’s said that it had put the country’s Aa2 local- and foreign-currency government bond ratings on review for possible downgrade, citing challenges to economic growth from structural weakness and a likely rise in interest rates.

A default by Greece could lead to losses for the banks that hold Greek bonds and more turmoil in financial markets which could lead to a decline in the global recovery. One needs to wait and watch on how things would unfold as an when Greece gets the tranche. The government in Greece has been facing public acrimony on the reforms and cuts initiated the Government.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average notched its biggest points gain of the year as investors cheered IBM's strong earnings and President Barack Obama's praise for the $US3.7 trillion deficit-reduction plan. This news from the President was well cheered from the markets. The president said the proposal, which would modify entitlement programs like Social Security and rework the tax code, represents a "very significant step" forward in deficit talks.

The blue-chip Dow closed up 202.26 points, or 1.63 per cent, to 12,587.42 today, its biggest point gain since December 2010. IBM closed at a record high, rising $US9.93, or 5.7 per cent, to 185.21, after the technology company reported growth in all of its major businesses in the second quarter. IBM alone accounted for 75 points of the Dow's gains

The Dow, which registered triple-digit point gains for much of the session, traded significantly higher after support for the deficit-reduction plan came out of a bipartisan Senate group. "There's no question that the political game of chicken over the deficit is weighing on investor minds," said Ted Weisberg, president of Seaport Securities. "Obama must've given the impression that this will one way or the other get resolved."

IBM's results showed strength in its hardware, software and services businesses, prompting the company to boost to its full-year earnings outlook. That lifted tech stocks and pushed the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite up 61.41 points, or 2.22 per cent, to 2826.52.

While tech stocks have been the biggest gainers so far this month, they have lagged the broader market throughout 2011. Japan's earthquake and tsunami in March has caused supply hitches, which prompted worries about global economic growth and dragged down tech stocks down more than other sectors in recent months.

After the samsonite IPO, Hong Kong looks like hosting another big IPO. Fashion house Prada track to raise as much as $2.6 billion in its initial public offering in Hong Kong, after setting a range for the pricing of the shares. Prada will price the shares between 36.50 and 48 Hong Kong dollars ($4.69 to $6.17) apiece, raising between $2 billion and $2.6 billion

The company, which is 95 per cent owned by Mr Bertelli, Ms Prada and their family members, paid dividends of €130m in 2009 and 2010.

Investors though are looking at giving cold shoulders to the IPO if reports are to be believed from Hong Kong. The company has stated in its prospectus that the main purpose of the IPO is to reduce down it s debts of around 1 billion Euros ($1.44 billion) and fund retail expansion in Asia.

The company is looking at aggressively expanding in India and other growing countries. Prada’s intention of getting listed in the Asian Bourse also emphasizes the fact that the company would prefer to be noted in the growing Asian markets rather than the European markets where it has already established itself.

According to analysts estimates the company is trading at the lower end of the valuation range, Prada's sale of 16.5 percent of the enlarged capital would come at around 22 times 2011 forecast earnings, higher than the average price-earnings multiples of European groups such as Tod's , Burberry , and LVMH .

Reports are also on that both Salvatore Ferragamo and Moncler, a premium sportswear brand, have or are awaiting regulatory approval to list shares this month. Both Ferragamo and Moncler want to sell about €500m of shares

In what could prove to be a negative news across cement sector the cement sector has failed to perform and grow inline with the country’s GDP. Despite concerns on, GDP grew by 8.5 per cent last fiscal against 8.6 per cent in the preceding financial year. On the contrary, cement demand grew by about 5 per cent, against 10.4 per cent recorded in FY10. The industry despatched 209 million tonnes in 2010-11 against 199 million tonnes in the previous year.

This could add further pressure on the sector as it continues to face pressure on all sides. With ongoing monsoons construction comes to a standstill across the country and this leads to lesser realisations for the companies. Added to this cement companies had taken in massive expansion plans in FY 10 for bolster production capabilities.

According to data available, cement demand grew by 11.7 per cent in the western region, by 10.3 per cent in the eastern region, 9.7 per cent in Central and 3.1 per cent in the North, and fell by 3.40 per cent in the South. In the South, demand in Andhra Pradesh, one of the largest markets, fell by 17 per cent during the year. The cement industry's overall capacity utilisation was 76 per cent during the year . Andhra Pradesh is the biggest market in the country with the state holding for 70% of the total consumption in South.

One should look at avoiding cement sector stocks as the company could face pressure for atleast another two quarters. It seems, cement sector is paying the price for misreading the India growth story. Despite the glut in the market none of the cement company has abandoned its expansion projects.

Owens –Illinois Inc. announced on Monday that it has lined up $2 billion in credit due in 2016. It will use this amount to refinance loans taken as early as 2006.

The company's new credit agreement is made of term loans of $1.1 billion and revolving credit line of $900 million. In May 2016, this agreement expires.

Chief Financial Officer Ed White said the current improvement of credit markets "presented an ideal opportunity" to refinance. The company that makes glass-containers said it foresees a lower interest expenditure this year thanks to the refinancing deal. However its total debt outstanding should remain the same.

Owens-Illinois estimated this year's net interest expenditure would be $280 million at current debt levels and foreign currency rates, without including the result of redemption premiums and the write-off of finance fees.

The company plans to use proceeds from the new borrowings to repay its 2006 credit agreement maturing next year as well as to redeem 6.75% senior notes due 2014.

The company makes containers for beverages in 21 countries. In its latest quarterly results, it reported higher revenue, and though profit slumped due to higher costs like inflation, its bottom line unexpectedly did well. It had been reporting falling revenue and profits of late, with demand high globally for food, spirits and wine but poor for beer bottles in more mature markets.

Shares in Owens-Illinois increased by 43 cents to $31.53 in aftermarket trading. The stock plunged 73 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $31.10 during the regular session in the midst of a wide market downturn.

Owens-Illinois anticipates no substantial change in its total debt outstanding as a result of the new credit agreement, but it definitely expects to incur a reduced interest expense.

Owens-Illinois will use sums from the new credit agreement to repay debt borrowed against the 2006 credit agreement of the company, which had been set to become due in June 2012.