London - Energy giant British Energy has rejected a takeover bid worth 12 billion pounds (24 billion dollars) by French firm EDF which had been expected to carry out a massive renewal of nuclear energy plants in Britain, it was reported Friday.

The deal would have involved the sale of most of Britain's outdated nuclear power stations to the French state-owned energy firm, and was the centrepiece of the British government's future plans for a revival of nuclear energy.

A deal was expected to have been announced Friday. But according to reports, EDF said in a statement that conditions were not right for it to proceed with the deal.

Stock market analysts have maintained ‘buy’ rating on Suzlon Energy stock with an intraday target of Rs 227.

According to them, interested traders can purchase the stock above Rs 219 with a strict stop loss of Rs 215. If the stock market remains on positive track, the stock pricing becomes more attractive, and reach above Rs 228.
 
Shares of the company, on Wednesday (July 30), closed at Rs 218.80 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The total volume of shares traded at the BSE was 1582826. Current EPS and PE Ratio stood at 8.46 and 26.14 respectively. The share price has seen a 52-week high of Rs 460 and a low of Rs 174.50 on BSE.

Vienna - If the board of the UN nuclear watchdog approves an inspection agreement with India on August 1 as planned, it could set a precedent for other nuclear weapon-capable countries to also seek limited IAEA inspections in return for wider benefits.

While the inspection agreement will bring New Delhi closer to international nuclear nonproliferation norms, experts warn that the so-called Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) does little to limit the Indian nuclear weapons programme.

The IAEA Board of Governors is likely to adopt the agreement unanimously, Vienna-based diplomats said. Even India's regional rival Pakistan has indicated it will not ask for a vote on the issue, they added.

Stockholm - Swedish state-owned energy group Vattenfall posted higher operating profits for the second-quarter of 2008, boosted by its operations in the Nordic region, the group said Wednesday.

Operating profit before tax and interest was 6.3 billion kronor (1 billion dollars), up 11 per cent on the corresponding business period in 2007.

Second-quarter turnover increased by 9.9 per cent to 35.4 billion kronor.

Vattenfall Chief Executive Lars G Josefsson said the group's Nordic Business unit contributed to the increased operating profit.

Higher electricity prices on the local electricity market in the Nordic region contributed to the profits.

Stock market analysts have maintained ‘buy’ rating on Cairn India stock with an intraday target of Rs 233.

According to them, interested traders can purchase the stock around Rs 229 with a strict stop loss of Rs 226.

Shares of the company, on Tuesday (July 29), closed at Rs 228.21 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The total volume of shares traded at the BSE was 20009511. The share price has seen a 52-week high of Rs 342.50 and a low of Rs 134.60 on BSE.

The outlook for the stock is very strong, and it will achieve the target price as the company has strong growth plans and strong operating capabilities.