Mumbai: The net loss of debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines widened to Rs 651 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2012, from Rs 264 crore a year ago.

Impact of high fuel cost, high interest rate, rupee depreciation and extraordinary expenses on account of return of aircraft to the lessors and costs associated with non-operating aircraft resulted in the loss, the airline said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Revenue dropped to Rs 301 crore in the April-June quarter from Rs 1,907 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

On Friday, shares of the airline tanked by over 11 per cent and closed at Rs 7.40 on the BSE. Intra-day, the scrip plunged 12.6 per cent to a record low of Rs 7.27.

Mumbai: Gold prices strengthened further at the domestic bullion market on consistent buying by stockists and jewellery retailers on the back of ongoing festival season demand

Apart from gold, silver also maintained its strong momentum owing to steady speculative off-take amid firm industrial demand. Standard gold (99.5 purity) surged by Rs 115 to end at Rs 29,880 per 10 grams from Thursday's closing level of Rs 29,765.

Pure gold (99.9 purity) spurted by Rs 120 to finish at Rs 30,020 per 10 grams from Rs 29,900. Silver ready (.999 fineness) rose by Rs 105 per kg to close at Rs 54,140 from Rs 54,035 previously.

On the global side, gold moved higher on weak dollar valuation supported by optimism over stimulus. Gold for December delivery advanced by USD 2.60 to settle at USD 1,622.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the NYMEX late yesterday. Silver for September contract eased to USD 28.06 an ounce.

Both the key indices, Sensex and Nifty, rose by over 2 per cent despite a steep fall in heavyweights such as SBI and Bharti Airtel amid unexpected decline in industrial output. Sustained buying by foreign funds was another major factor for the markets to remain firm.

Investors were enthused by comments made by Chidambaram to unveil a broad roadmap to regain investor confidence and the government will work with the RBI to moderate inflation.

Brokers also said the trading mood improved on global cues influenced by higher-than-forecast US jobs data at 163,000 for July that came out after Indian markets closed on August 3.

The BSE 30-share gauge resumed the week higher and improved further to an intra-trade at four-and-a-half-month high of 17,726.64 on Wednesday, levels not seen since March 16, 2012 when it had logged a high of 17,871.00.

However, it could not sustain the gains due to a decline in the country's industrial production announced on Thursday and a steep fall in telecom giant Bharti Airtel on dismal Q1 performance and also in SBI due to rise in non-performing assets (NPAs) respectively.
The Sensex later ended at 17,557.74, a net rise of 359.81 points, or 2.09 per cent. Last week, it had spurted by 358.74 points, or 2.13 per cent. The broadbased NSE 50-issue Nifty also flared up by 104.70 points, or 2.01 per cent, to end the week at 5,320.40.

Share values of Bharti Airtel was the top loser from the Sensex pack with a fall of 13.73 per cent after its profit dropped 37 per cent in April-June quarter, the tenth decline in quarterly profit. SBI was the second with a decline of 5.86 per cent, which restricted the rise in the Sensex, otherwise the gain would have been much more pronounced.

Auto, IT, metal, FMCG and refinery stocks were at the forefront, while some of the consumer durable and realty stocks were down on profit-booking.

Buying was seen in some of the key frontline stocks such as M&M, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, TCS, Infosys, Sterlite Ind, Hindalco, Jindal Steel, HUL, ITC, RIL, GAIL, L&T, NTPC and Tata Power, while second-line stocks underperformed the Sensex, indicating lack of interest from retail investors as the current unstable scenario.

Mumbai: Union Agriculture Minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Friday urged the Dalit leaders to join hands with his party to challenge the alliance of Shiv Sena-BJP and the Ramdas Athawale-led Republican Party of India.

Dalit leaders in the state must come together and join hands with the Nationalist Congress Party and fight for their issues, he said Addressing a huge gathering at the Dalit Bahujan Chetna conference, organised by the Panthers Republican Party (PRP).

Eyeing the 2014 Lok Sabha and state assembly polls, he said people from the Ambedkarite movement must remain with the NCP.

PRP president and former minister in the Maharashtra government, Gangadhar Gade gave a charter of Dalit demands to Pawar, which he directed state NCP president Madhukar Pichad and Minister of State for Housing Sachin Ahir to look into.

Pichad and Ahir should take up these issues with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and see to it that the 11 demands presented by them are looked into, he said.