Obama visit: Good or bad for the Sensex?

The enthusiasm revolving around US President Barack Obama's second visit to India seems to have a rub-off effect on stock markets. 

During his previous visit on November 6, 2010, the Sensex had hit an all-time high of 21,005 a day earlier.

This time, the Sensex closed at 29,279 on Friday, another all-time high. However, market players would hope the coincidence ends there.

After his previous visit, the Sensex crashed and it took four painful years to top the 21,000 mark. 

Another liberal report from Sahoo Committee? 

The M S Sahoo-led committee on external commercial borrowing is likely to come out soon, with some indication that it could be in place in less than a month.

His report on depository receipts was widely lauded for its liberal approach. It conceived a framework for the issue of depository receipts on debt securities and even mutual fund units.

The market is sure to expect more of the same from the latest report, too. 

BSE brokers gear up for commodities trading 

Even before the Bombay Stock Exchange received its commodity trading licence, the BSE Brokers' Forum was gearing up for trading.

The forum is introducing a new operations manual for its members. BSE recently applied for a commodity exchange permit to the Forwards Market Commission.

The commodity traders' manual has been in the works for six months and is ready for launch, said the forum's members.

This is the second such free-of-charge manual introduced by the forum for its members, after the launch of the equity traders' operations manual some time earlier.