Gold rates dropped to a one-week low on Thursday (April 17) as higher U. S. equities broke safe-haven demand, and the bullion market showcased signals of a slump in investment demand and technical selling.

Slow physical buying was also offering little support to prices. U. S. gold future for June delivery fell $13.70 at $879.80 per ounce on the COMEX Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Nirmal Bang Research has suggested investors to 'sell' ONGC stock as there are full chances of a downward trend in this stock in the coming days.

According to report, investors can sell the stock with a strict stop loss of Rs 880 to achieve a target that lies between Rs 790-740.

Today (April 17), the stock opened at Rs 860, as against its last closure at Rs 851.75 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Thursday (Feb 16). Current EPS & P/E ratio stood at 76.03 and 11.47 respectively. The share price has seen a 52-week high of Rs 1124 and a low of Rs 538.10 on BSE.

Vienna- The price for oil produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) hover

San Francisco  - Californians could soon be powering their homes, and no doubt their hot tubs, from a space-based solar electricity program.

The plan by the state's massive energy company PG&E calls for the generation of 200 megawatts over 15 years to be collected by space-based solar arrays and beamed down to earth via radio frequency.

PG&E hopes to have the system running by 2016 and is seeking permission from regulators to contract with a company called Solaren to put the system in place.

Rio de Janiero - Brazil's state-run energy company Petrobras has announced the discovery of a new offshore oil find. The light-oil field, referred to as Iguacu, is located in the Santos Basin in the Atlantic Ocean about 340 kilometres off the Sao Paulo coast at a depth of 2,140 metres, Petrobras said Tuesday.

The find was made in a new well in the BM-S-9, or Carioca field, that was discovered in April 2008. Petrobras did not give estimates of the field's size or volume.

The oil giant heads a consortium with Britain's BP Group and Spain's Repsol that jointly explores the field.

Tokyo - Japan signed an agreement Tuesday to offer Jordan assistance in developing nuclear power plants, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said. The Japanese government agreed to help the Middle Eastern nation introduce nuclear power generation and guarantee non-proliferation of nuclear technology, the ministry said.

With Japan's support, Jordan is aiming to become self-sufficient in generating energy by 2030 and plans to begin operating a nuclear plant by 2017.