SAIL, Tata Steel, Bhushan, JSW hike prices.

Steel companies SAIL, Tata Steel, Essar, Bhushan and JSW have hiked prices of their products by up to Rs 2,000 a tonne on the back of a rise in demand in the domestic market. - Tata Steel MD terms new year challenging - When the world was not enough - Tata Steel invests Rs 5 cr on Keonjhar sports complex - Steel PSUs" budgetary estimates may be inflated: Panel - Burn Standard"s units may soon get govt nod for sale - Flat steel to cost Rs 1,500/tn more from January 1 The country’s largest steel producer SAIL increased the prices of flat and long products by Rs 1,500, while Tata Steel hiked the rates of flat products by up to Rs 1,500. Bhushan Steel hiked the prices of its long and flat products by up to Rs 2,000 a tonne. Flat steel products are primarily used by the white goods and auto industries, while long products are used in the construction sector. Executives at Essar Steel said they raised flat products’ prices by up to 4 per cent from the current range of Rs 28,000-30,000 a tonne. Stucco in Toronto

Lacklustre trade continues.

The Sensex is trading at 17,398 - up 38 points. - Gammon India slumps on Kota mishap - Fortis gains on Rs 250cr investment plans - Sensex lacklustre; Sun Pharma down 2% - UTV, Sun shine on talks of new channel - Sensex flat in opening trades - Sensex opens up 40 pts Earlier in the day, the markets had touched its highest in more than a year after re-opening for trade after four days. The Sensex touched a high of 17,442. Reliance Infrastructure has surged 2.7% to Rs 1,130. Bharti Airtel has gained 2% at Rs 327. NTPC, HDFC and Hero Honda have added 1.5% each. ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, Reliance Communications and Tata Power are the other gainers in the market today. basement waterproof toronto

PE companies resort to salary freeze as investments tank.

As many as six out of every 10 private equity companies have either frozen salaries of employees or are mulling to do so in near future as investments take a hit amid lower returns, says a study. - Bailouts for British banks hit 850 bn pounds - "Barclays investment bankers to get 150% hike" - AIG approves $7 mn pay package for CEO - Air India pilots defer strike by six days - Pandit will continue with $1 salary - EPFO proposes salary cap rise to Rs 10,000 With the declining returns from private equity investments, about 38 per cent of PE firms have already implemented a salary freeze and a further 22 per cent of the firms are considering a freeze, according to Preqin survey. plasma cutting

Indian PE funds see light, finally.

Over 100 global endowment funds intend to invest in this asset class - Completion funding catches PE's fancy - PE funds from corporate families on the rise - PE fund raising to gather steam; to touch $100 bn by 2012 - Institutional investors reduce commitments in PE funds: Preqin - Fund raising by realty-focused PEs slows, slumps 72% in Q2 - Global PE fund raising in June qtr up 28%, at $76 bn Private equity funds in India who are in a fund-raising mode can heave a sigh of relief as a recent global research of 100 global endowment funds have indicated they intend to maintain their allocations to this asset class over the next 12 months. Global endowments are major investors in private equity, typically allocating a large proportion of their assets under management to the asset class. According to a global research of 100 endowment funds by Preqin, the average target allocation was to the tune of 11.8 per cent to private equity.