BUSINESS HIGLIGHTS

New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI) Following are the top business stories at 2200 hours:
    
     DEL35 BIZ-LD INFLATION
     * Wholesale price inflation inches up to 2.38 pc in Feb
     New Delhi: Wholesale price inflation marginally rose to 2.38 per cent in February due to expensive manufactured food items like vegetables oil and beverages, government data released on Monday showed. *
    
     DEL81 BIZ-LD TRADE
     * India's exports contract to USD 36.91 bn in Feb; trade deficit narrows sharply
     New Delhi: India's exports declined for the fourth month in a row in February to USD 36.91 billion due to volatility in petroleum prices and global uncertainties, even as the country's trade deficit narrowed sharply. *
    
    DEL53 BIZ-LD-STOCKS
     * Sensex bounces back 341 pts on gains in banking shares, global rally; snaps 5-day losing run
     Mumbai: Benchmark BSE Sensex rebounded by 341 points on Monday, snapping its five-day losing streak following buying in banking stocks and a sharp rally in global shares. * PTI

    DEL71 BIZ-2NDLD AUTO-PRICE HIKE
     Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors to hike vehicle prices from April
     * New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India and Tata Motors on Monday announced plans to increase vehicle prices from April, the second time in this year, in order to partially offset the impact of rising input costs. *
    
     DEL92 BIZ-LD RUPEE
     * Rupee jumps 24 paise to close at 86.81 against US dollar
     Mumbai: The rupee appreciated 24 paise to close at 86.81 against the US dollar on Monday on positive domestic equities and weakness of the American currency in the overseas market. *
    
     DEL57 BIZ-TAX-COLLECTION
     * Net direct tax kitty rises 13 pc to Rs 21.26 lakh crore till Mar 16
     New Delhi: Net direct tax collection grew 13.13 per cent to over Rs 21.26 lakh crore so far this fiscal aided by by higher advance tax mop up, government data showed on Monday. *
    
     DEL54 BIZ-GOLD-PRICE
     * Gold, silver rally Rs 1,300 to hit record levels in Delhi amid strong global cues
     New Delhi: Gold and silver prices hit fresh record levels on Monday, rallying Rs 1,300 each, tracking strong trends in the global markets amid uncertainty over US tariffs, trade tensions and growing expectations of monetary policy easing by the Federal Reserve. *

    
     BIZ-RBI-MALDIVES
     * RBI permits settlement of trade transactions with Maldives in local currencies
     Mumbai: Reserve Bank on Monday said India's bilateral trade transactions with Maldives may also be settled in INR and/or MVR in addition to the ACU mechanism. *
    
    

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)