beyondbrics

*India to host F1 Grand Prix in 2011

*Bank of Korea leaves rates unchanged

*Vodafone loses landmark India tax case

*China surplus may exceed $20bn

*Korea Oil’s hostile Dana bid marks new aggression

*China bank regulator warns on risk

*Chinese truck makers take on global groups

*Glencore takes stake in coalminer PT Bumi

*Regional scramble for coal reaches Indonesia

*China and US likely to resume military contacts

*Nawras boosts share sale hopes

*Markets up

India to host F1 Grand Prix in 2011
India will host its first Formula 1 Grand Prix on October 30, 2011. The announcement came following an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Wednesday. The addition of an Indian GP to the F1 calendar will make 2011 a 20-race season, the longest in the history of the sport, the Economic Times reports.

Bank of Korea leaves rates unchanged
The Bank of Korea unexpectedly left its benchmark interest rate unchanged, a sign of concern that slowing external demand will hurt exports in Asia’s fourth- biggest economy, Bloomberg reports.

Vodafone loses landmark India tax case
Vodafone, the UK telecoms group, has lost a landmark legal battle against the Indian tax authorities in a case that is likely to have serious negative repercussions on future cross-border deals in the country, the FT reports.

China surplus may exceed $20bn
China may tomorrow say that its trade surplus topped $20 billion for a third month in August in a report that risks stoking American lawmakers’ calls for protection from Chinese imports, Bloomberg reports.

Korea Oil’s hostile Dana bid marks new aggression
Korea National Oil Corp.’s $2.6 billion bid for Dana Petroleum Plc, the state-owned company’s first hostile takeover attempt, shows South Korea is turning aggressive to lock up oil supplies after acquisitions by Chinese peers jumped eightfold in three years, Bloomberg reports.

Google ‘yet to apply for Web mapping nod’
No application has been received from Google Inc to provide Internet mapping services in China, authorities said on Wednesday, raising fresh uncertainty since the US search engine renewed its Chinese website license two months ago, the China Daily reports.

China bank regulator warns on risk
China’s main bank regulator has warned that serious risks are building up in the financial sector and specifically linked improving financial risk management to the “important task” of maintaining social stability in the country, the FT reports.

Chinese truck makers take on global groups
International truck makers are facing increasingly tough competition from Chinese commercial vehicle companies, which have already cornered the domestic market and are now aggressively moving on to the export market – especially south-east Asia and Africa, the FT reports.

Glencore takes stake in coalminer PT Bumi
Glencore, the world’s largest commodities trader, has stepped up its bet on coal, taking a nearly five per cent stake in PT Bumi, an Indonesian miner, which is one of the world’s top thermal coal exporters, for about $200m, the FT reports.

Regional scramble for coal reaches Indonesia
The battle for resources between India and China has arrived in Indonesia, where Asia’s emerging giants are scrambling to secure the vast supplies of thermal coal needed to fire their electricity plants and power economic expansion, the FT reports.

China and US likely to resume military contacts
China and the US are likely to resume military contacts before the end of the year, removing one of the disputes that has helped fan a period of rising diplomatic tensions between the two countries, the FT reports.

Nawras boosts share sale hopes
After many false dawns and premature predictions of a recovery, the Gulf may finally about to see a significant initial public offering outside Saudi Arabia, the only regional market to have witnessed a successful flotation so far this year, the FT reports.

Markets

Emerging Markets
MSCI Emerging Market Index up +0.17% at 1,006

Americas
DJIA up +0.45% at 10,387
S&P 500 up +0.64% at 1,099
Bovespa down -0.51% at 66,407

Asia
Nikkei 225 up +0.57% at 9,076
Topix up +0.68% at 826.54
Hang Seng down -1.46% at 21,089
Shanghai Composite down 0.00% at 2,695
MSCI Asia ex-Japan up +0.40% at 498.43
S&P CNX Nifty Index up +0.07% at 5,608

Currencies
€/$ 1.27 (1.27)
$/¥ 83.86 (83.85)

Commodities
Brent Crude (ICE) up +0.37 at 78.54
Light Crude (Nymex) up +0.43 at 75.10
100 Oz Gold (Comex) down -1.70 at 1,254