Foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee, on his first day in the finance ministry, expressed satisfaction over credit policy adopted by RBI and said economic booster released by government is working well and yield more results very soon. He also reviewed the preparation of the vote-on-account, to be present in the forthcoming session of Parliament, with top officials of finance ministry, all the secretaries in the ministry, chairman and members of the Central Board of Direct Taxes and the Central Board of Excise and Customs.

The Union Government has finally announced hike in minimum support price of Wheat to Rs 1080 per quintal, ahead of harvesting season of rabi crops. The decision, to revise MSP, was taken in the recent meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday, chaired by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, in the absence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The hike of 8 per cent in wheat prices, despite reservation by Planning Commission and Finance Ministry, would effective on crop marketed from April onward.

The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC) again revised Gross Domestic Product (GDP) projections for the current financial year. The EAC said that ongoing financial crisis would impact Indian economy in a long run. However, it ruled out possibility of any financial recession in country due to its strong economic fundamentals.

Mumbai, Jan 22 : The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark sensex finally showed some good results after two days on Thursday by gaining 34.67 points at 8,813.84.

The National Stock Exchange index Nifty also improved by 7.65 points at 2713.80.

Though the 35 points gain is minimal, the investors felt encouraged by Bharti Airtel's announcement of handsome results for the third quarter which came as a gain of 6.19 percent to Rs. 619.70.

The announcement has also increased expectations from Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), which is expected to announce its results later on Friday.

Mumbai, Jan 19 : The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex ended WITH a fair gain of six points. The investors expressed disappointment over slow third-quarter earnings in the blue-chip firms.

The Sensex moved in a restricted range of 9,409.51 and 9.273.47, with a mini gain of 5.98 points.

The 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty also gained 17.75 points at 2,846.20. It moved between 2,868.20 and 2,819.90 points during the day.

Major market players encashed on every single rise in the market keeping the barometer limited to a tight range.

Inflation rate continues to decline and presently stands at 5.24% for the week ended January 3. It stood at 5.91% last week and relieved marginally on account of the fall in prices of almost all primary, manufactured and food articles.

The annual inflation rate stood at 4.26% during the corresponding week of the previous year.

The median estimate of 11 economists was for a 5.28% increase in WPI during the 12 months to January 3, as against 5.91% in the last week.

In June 2008, inflation raced into double digits after the administration increased fuel prices.