Opec decides to hike output
Beirut: The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced that it would increase output by 2m barrels. This announcement had no immediate impact on high world oil prices. The pact among the 11-member OPEC effective July 1, also promised to add a further 500,000 barrels a day from August 1. Group output limits will be raised 8 percent to 25.5m barrels daily was a blow for those expecting OPEC to deliver more. Oil prices held strong. US crude by 1515 GMT was up 14 cents at $40.10 a barrel.

But the US welcomed the decision, saying sufficient supplies were critical to sustaining economic growth. Delegates said the agreement was a compromise between Saudi and countries like Iran and Venezuela, which feared a Saudi proposal for an immediate 2.5m increment could trigger a price collapse. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates confirmed to reporters they would deliver about a million barrels daily of real extra oil in June.
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Pak businessmen want closer trade links with India
New Delhi: A sixteen-member delegation of Pakistani businessmen from machine tools and electrical hardware business is at present in India to explore the possibility of imports and to meet their Indian counterparts for forging trade partnerships. The delegation is headed by Jalil Baig, circle chairman at Pakistan Hardware Merchants Association (PHMA), and is being hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry(CII).

The delegation includes members who are trading in all kinds of machine tools, hand tools, bearings, water meters, generators, diesel engines etc. A CII statement said Pakistan is quite impressed by the economic growth of India and added that the members of his delegation would be very keen to exchange ideas, technologies and expertise in the machine tools sector and seek joint cooperation with Indian companies.
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Intel's quarter on track
San Francisco: Intel Corporation's turbulent second quarter, during which it lost the head of its server chip business, faced defeat on a vote on a stock option expensing proposal, and scrapped the development of a pair of computer chips, is not expected, to show much impact on its financial forecast.

Analysts and investors said sales of Intel's desktop and notebook computer chips were healthy and better demand for cell phones will help sales of flash memory. On April 13, Intel forecast second-quarter revenue were in the range of $7.6 billion to $8.2 billion, at the lower end of analyst expectations. Analysts for the past four weeks have, on average, expect revenue of around $8.01 billion.
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