US Stocks Jump After Report Of Stronger Consumer Spending-The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Contact Your Financial Adviser Money Making MC

http://moneymakingaimsee.blogspot.in
https://www.facebook.com/moneymakingmc

31 August  2017

Wall Street financial markets (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)

U.S. stocks are climbing Thursday after the Commerce Department said spending by U.S. consumers grew in July, along with wages and salaries. Health care companies are making some of the biggest gains, along with technology companies and retailers. Investors are also pleased with economic reports from Europe and China. Packaged food companies are slumping again after a weak quarterly report and disappointing guidance from Campbell Soup.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 10 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,467 as of 11:55 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average added 40 points, or 0.2 percent, to 21,933. The Nasdaq composite gained 46 points, or 0.7 percent, to 6,414, close to the record high it set in late July. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 13 points, or 1 percent, to 1,405.

The S&P 500 is down by a small amount in August, and September is typically the weakest month of the year for stocks. On average the S&P 500 falls about 0.5 percent in September.

ECONOMY VIEWS: The Commerce Department said consumer spending rose 0.3 percent in July, the best showing in three months, as wages and salaries increased. Stocks climbed a day ago after the government raised its estimate of second-quarter economic growth. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Elsewhere, inflation in the eurozone increased in August and a measurement of factory activity in China improved.

RETAIL RALLY: The consumer spending figures suggest Americans feel comfortable enough to spend more money, and consumer spending is responsible for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity. That helped companies like online retailer Amazon, which gained $10.78, or 1.1 percent, to $978.37. Toy maker Hasbro rose $1.82, or 1.9 percent, to $97.10 and jewelry seller Tiffany added $2.35, or 2.7 percent, to $90. Tool maker Stanley Black & Decker picked up $2.92, or 2.1 percent, to $142.70. Footwear retailer Shoe Carnival climbed $3.70, or 22.5 percent, to $20.12 after it posted a bigger profit and better sales than analysts expected.

HEALTHIER: Drugmaker Gilead Sciences rose to its highest price in more than a year as it moved up $1.82, or 2.2 percent, to $83.05, and health insurer Centene rose $1.75, or 2 percent, to $88.18. Scientific instrument maker Thermo Fisher gained $2.66, or 1.5 percent, to $185.61.

Technology companies rose for the fourth day in a row. Alphabet, Google's parent company, gained $11.94, or 1.3 percent, to $955.57 and Microsoft picked up 66 cents to $74.67. Chipmaker Nvidia rose $2.72, or 1.6 percent, to $168.40. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

WHO'S HUNGRY? Campbell Soup skidded to a two-year low after the company said it expects sales to keep falling over the next year as more people buy fresh foods instead of its canned soups and bottled juices. The company forecast a smaller-than-expected annual profit after it reported a weak fourth quarter that included disappointing sales of snack food. Its stock lost $3.28, or 6.5 percent, to $46.97. Competitor Mondelez dropped 67 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $40.96 and Kraft Heinz gave up $1, or 1.2 percent, to $80.93. All of those companies have seen their stocks tumble this year as Americans lose their appetite for packaged foods and seek fresher alternatives.

ENERGY: After three days of losses linked to Tropical Storm Harvey, benchmark U.S. crude jumped $1.22, or 2.7 percent, to $47.20 a barrel in New York as the rains hitting the Gulf Coast began to abate. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added $1.76 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $52.49 a barrel in London. Wholesale gasoline prices soared another 11 cents. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

DOLLAR DOUBTS: Discount retailer Dollar General reported a bigger profit and better sales than Wall Street expected, but it said rising discounts hurt its profit margins. The stock had rallied more than 10 percent since early July. On Thursday it lost $3.89, or 5.1 percent, to $72.84.

SCANDAL GROWS: The scope of Wells Fargo's fake accounts scandal widened after the bank revealed that 3.5 million accounts may have been opened without customers' permission between 2009 and 2016. That's well above the 2.1 million such accounts the bank disclosed a year ago, and said employees may have opened the accounts because of pressure to meet aggressive sales targets. Wells Fargo stock declined 38 cents to $50.98.

BONDS: Bond prices were little changed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note remained at 2.13 percent.

CURRENCIES: The dollar dipped to 110 yen from 110.36 yen. The euro rose to $1.1896 from $1.1890.

OVERSEAS: Germany's DAX rose 0.4 percent and the French CAC 40 gained 0.6 percent. The British FTSE 100 advanced 0.9 percent. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.7 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.4 percent and Seoul's Kospi lost 0.4 percent.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Nifty, Sensex Will Attempt to Head Higher – Wednesday closing report -The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Contact Your Financial Adviser Money Making MC

http://moneymakingaimsee.blogspot.in
https://www.facebook.com/moneymakingmc

30 August  2017

I had mentioned in Monday’s closing report that Nifty, Sensex might rise a bit more. On Tuesday, the market report was not published by Moneylife, as the office was closed due to heavy rains in Mumbai. Geo-political tensions, foreign fund outflows dragged the equity markets lower on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the major indices of the Indian stock markets rallied and closed with handsome gains over Tuesday’s close. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

A day after closing at their lowest levels in a week's time, key Indian equity indices bounced back to trade with substantial gains during the mid-afternoon session on Wednesday as positive global cues and buying in oil and gas, metal and banking stocks lifted investors' sentiments. According to market observers, buying in index heavyweights like HDFC, Reliance Industries, Adani Ports and Coal India aided the upward trajectory of the NSE Nifty50 and the BSE Sensex. On the NSE, there were 1,114 advances, 322 declines and 54 unchanged.

After a sharp fall in the previous session, the benchmark indices opened higher on Wednesday ahead of derivatives expiry of August series due on Thursday. Positive trend in Asian markets and on Wall Street, after concerns about North Korea's firing of a missile over Japan ebbed, aided the sentiment, pointed out market analysts.

Shares of Bank of Baroda, Tata Power, Tata Motors DVR and ACC fell up to 3% lower as these companies will move out of the NSE's benchmark Nifty 50 index from September 29. Top gainers on NSE were Indian Oil Corporation, Hindalco and Vedanta, while on the losing side were HCL, Zee and Tech Mahindra. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Maruti Suzuki India on Wednesday announced the upgrading of its retail channel for better customer service as the re-branded 'Maruti Suzuki Arena' that will require its dealers to invest in redesigned showrooms over the next five years. "Besides providing a more comfortable ambience for buyers, key to the new-look dealerships is the digital connectivity offering a seamless experience of the car going from online to offline at the showroom," an official of India's biggest car maker said here at the launch event. The company website has been suitably upgraded. The investment in re-doing the more than 2,000 dealerships across India would be made by the dealers themselves who have readily agreed to it, said R.S. Kalsi, Senior Executive Director (Marketing and Sales). "About 80 showrooms of the 2,050 in India will be converted to the Arena within this financial year," he said, adding the other "partners" will upgrade to the Arena format within three to five years. "With today's launch, the company will have four distinct retail channels -- Arena, Nexa, Maruti Suzuki Commercial and True Value. Arena is set to usher in a new chapter in our sales journey and help attract new buyers," said Chief Executive Kenichi Ayukawa. The company’s shares closed at Rs7,557.45, up 0.51% on the NSE.

IT (information technology) major HCL Infosystems on Tuesday said that it will raise Rs500 crore by "rights issue of shares to existing shareholders". According to a BSE filing, the company's board approved the plans to raise the equity capital in its meeting held on Tuesday. "The Board of Directors... approved the recommendations of its Capital Raising Committee to go for a rights issue of shares to existing shareholders of the company as a mode of raising equity capital aggregating up to Rs500 crore," the filing said. The company’s shares closed at Rs47.75, down 0.10% on the NSE. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Hailing the return of co-founder Nandan Nilekani at the helm of his troubled global software major, Infosys founder N.R Narayana Murthy on Saturday hoped 'Acche Din' (good days) would be back at the $10 billion IT behemoth. "I wish Nandan the best of everything in his effort to bring back 'Acche Din' to Infosys," said Murthy, 70, in a statement to global institutional investors in a conference call here. Nilekani, 62, took over as non-Executive Chairman of the Board on August 24 after previous Chairman R. Seshasayee resigned along with Co-Chairman Ravi Venkatesan, Vice-Chairman and former CEO Vishal Sikka and Independent Directors Jeffery Lehman and John Etchemendy. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Demonetisation: Rs15.28 lakh cr of banned Rs15.44 lakh cr returned to system, says RBI -The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Contact Your Financial Adviser Money Making MC

http://moneymakingaimsee.blogspot.in
https://www.facebook.com/moneymakingmc

30 August  2017

 

R.B.I (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions) 

Revealing the low efficacy of last November's demonetisation of high-value currency, the RBI said on Wednesday that of the Rs 15.44 lakh crore of notes taken out of circulation, Rs 15.28 lakh crore had returned to the system by way of deposits by the public. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

According to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) annual report for the last fiscal, 89 million pieces of the banned Rs 1,000 totalling Rs 8,900 crore had not been returned, out of 6,700 million such notes. This amounts to 1.3 per cent of the Rs 1,000 notes in circulation before the demonetisation announcement on November 8, 2016.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

'Deadline for linking Aadhaar with government schemes is now Dec 31'-The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Contact Your Financial Adviser Money Making MC

http://moneymakingaimsee.blogspot.in
https://www.facebook.com/moneymakingmc

30 August  2017

The Centre told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that the deadline for linking Aadhaar to various government schemes for benefits will be extended till December 31.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Amitava Roy and Justice A.M. Khanwilkar said the challenge to the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme would be heard in the first week of November. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Attorney General K.K. Venugopal told the court that the existing deadline of September 30 would be extended by three months. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Venugopal made the statement after senior counsel Shyam Divan, appearing for a batch of petitioners, including former Karnataka High Court judge Justice K.S. Puttaswamy, said that if the government was inclined to extend the deadline, then the matter could be heard in November.

The hearing on the challenge to the validity of Aadhaar is the next step after the top court by its August 24 verdict declared that the right to privacy was a fundamental right.

Even in the course of the hearing by the nine-judge bench on the nature of the right to privacy, it was made clear that the bench would only decide on the correctness or otherwise of the judgments pronounced in 1954 by an eight-judge bench and in 1962 by a six-judge bench that the right to privacy was not a fundamental right. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

The court had said that after it had decided whether right to privacy was a fundamental right or not, then a regular bench would examine the challenge to Aadhaar scheme on the grounds of its being violative of the right to privacy. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, who was on the bench of nine judges, had in his judgment said that the challenge to the validity of Aadhaar on the grounds of its being violative of the right to privacy would be adjudicated by the original bench of three judges in the light of the decision elevating right to privacy as a fundamental right. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

It was contended that the State could not insist on the citizens to part with their personal data including iris scan and finger prints. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

The top court bench of Justice J. Chelameswar, Justice S.A. Bobde and Justice C. Nagappan had on August 11, 2015 referred to a larger bench the question whether privacy was a fundamental right or not. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

The three judge bench referred the matter to the larger bench after the Centre contended that a bench of eight judges in 1954 and subsequently of six judges in 1962 had held that right to privacy was not a fundamental right. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

However, from the mid-70s onwards, the benches of two or three judge strength consistently held that right to privacy was a fundamental right.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

China, India Rivalry Looms Over BRICS Summit-The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Contact Your Financial Adviser Money Making MC

http://moneymakingaimsee.blogspot.in
https://www.facebook.com/moneymakingmc

30 August  2017

BRICS (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)

China and India may have ended a tense border standoff for now, but their longstanding rivalry raises questions about the possibility of meaningful cooperation at an upcoming summit of major emerging economies.

The annual summit of the BRICS grouping encompassing Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa gets under way this weekend in the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen, hoping to advance its vision of an alternative to the Western dominance of global affairs. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

The leaders of all five nations are expected to attend, offering the best opportunity for Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to talk since the border tensions flared in June. While both their countries view BRICS as a significant forum for progress, their rivalry for global influence and fears of containment by the other threaten to overshadow those aspirations. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

The two countries' militaries are "prowling the same spaces" along their land borders, in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean, said Sreeram Chaulia, dean of Jindal School of International Affairs in the Indian city of Sonipat. Even beyond the region, they are vying in Africa and Latin America "for the leadership of the developing world," Chaulia said.

"There is a contest, whether it is acknowledged or not, and it is because of the ambitions of both nations to be superpowers and to be inheriting the Asian century," Chaulia said.

Attempting to start the BRICS summit off on a positive note, Beijing and Delhi on Monday announced a resolution of their most protracted and potentially explosive border standoff in years. The saber-rattling had raised fears of renewed conflict between the nuclear-armed Asian giants, who fought a bloody border war in 1962 and remain locked in disputes over extensive chunks of territory along their border.

Yet, while India's Ministry of External Affairs said that troops were leaving the face-off site, China's official response avoided any mention of Chinese concessions or the fact that troops from both sides will continue patrolling in the area. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"The attempt is to paint India as the aggressor," said Sriparna Pathak, an assistant professor in international relations at Assam Don Bosco University in the northeastern Indian state of Assam. "Clearly, China wants to somehow portray itself as the winner in a conflict which India had started and has now ... been forced to withdraw by China."

Other sources of distrust include:

— Indian fears of Chinese encroachment in the Indian Ocean. China announced Friday it had carried out military drills in the western Indian Ocean, advertising its growing presence there. China is also cooperating with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and other coastal nations on port access, including for its navy.

— Indian wariness about the motives behind Beijing's flagship "One Belt, One Road" infrastructure initiative, which includes a key component in Pakistan — India's archrival but one of China's staunchest allies. That adds to Indian frustration over lopsided trade that saw China record a trade surplus of about $40 billion with India last year.

— China has thwarted attempts by India to gain permanent membership on the U.N. Security Council and join the Nuclear Suppliers Group, or to label Pakistani militant Masood Azhar a terrorist.

— Beijing resents India's providing a base for the Dalai Lama, and complained bitterly when the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader was permitted to visit an Indian region claimed by China earlier this year.

— Beijing fears what it sees as a U.S.-led encirclement of China by Washington's allies and neighbors, including India and Japan. Modi has sought to balance relations between China and the U.S., along with others such as Russia and Japan, but Beijing continues to view New Delhi as an upstart rival.

Given the recent hostility between China and India, "the air between the two even at the upcoming BRICS summit will not be a calm one," although they will likely seek to maintain appearances so as not to be portrayed as the spoil sport, Pathak said. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Still, the BRICS grouping holds considerable allure for both countries, underscoring their support for regular meetings over the past decade to discuss economic concerns and issues such as climate change.

Some observers see a multilateral arena like BRICS as being one of the few places where the world's two most populous countries can work together despite tensions. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"There is competition and mistrust but also some maturity where they are able to convert these face-offs into face-saving solutions," said Chaulia. He said it was "quite feasible" to put aside "bilateral bad blood" and have worthwhile cooperation at BRICS. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"Both countries cannot hold the other three, as in South Africa, Russia and Brazil, hostage to our narrow nationalistic rivalries," he said. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

The recent border standoff has shown that BRICS now needs to establish a method for sorting out "problems and contradictions" between China and India when they arise, said Zhang Yansheng, chief research fellow at the Beijing think tank China Center for International Economic Exchanges.

The summit is "a great opportunity to communicate face-to-face and exchange views on the two countries' problems and contradictions and the solutions to them," Zhang said.

The timing of the summit is also significant, coming as the U.S. under President Donald Trump appears to be abandoning the traditional global order, said Alka Acharya, professor at the Centre for East Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Both China and India see BRICS as "a very significant platform, particularly this time when the West is disengaging from globalization as it had operated until now," Acharya said.

Yet, she added, "unless China and India cooperate, this is not going to produce very good results. So this is something I think is realized at the highest levels."The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Global Stocks Higher As Investors Shrug Off Korea Tensions-The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Contact Your Financial Adviser Money Making MC

http://moneymakingaimsee.blogspot.in
https://www.facebook.com/moneymakingmc

30 August  2017

financial markets (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)

Global stocks recovered their poise Wednesday, a day after concerns over North Korea's latest missile test, which flew over northern Japan, had stoked another bout of risk aversion across financial markets. With geopolitical concerns set aside, investors can now focus on a raft of economic data over the rest of the week.

KEEPING SCORE: In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 0.4 percent at 7,365 while Germany's DAX rose 0.5 percent to 12,000. France's CAC 40 was 0.5 percent higher at 11,999. U.S. stocks were poised for a steady opening after turning around Tuesday, with Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures up 0.1 percent. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

NORTH KOREA: The recovery in stock markets, as well as the modest fall in the value of gold, suggests that investor fears over the developments in North Korea have abated somewhat. The country's leader, Kim Jong Un, has called for more weapons launches targeting the Pacific Ocean to advance his country's ability to contain Guam. U.S. President Donald Trump said North Korea had signaled its "contempt for its neighbors" and that "all options are on the table" in terms of a U.S. response. The U.N. Security Council strongly condemned the launch.

ANALYST TAKE: "Thoughts of nuclear apocalypse appear far from everyone's minds this morning, as markets rebound from yesterday's lows," said Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG. "Once again U.S. markets put the bears back in their box, rallying in fine style off the lows." The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

FOCUS ON DATA: Over the rest of the week, investors can focus on the economic fundamentals, starting Wednesday with the latest update on U.S. growth and the monthly private payrolls report from ADP. The big event though is likely to be Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for August which could determine the pace of rate hikes from the Federal Reserve this year. On Thursday, there's also crucial inflation data for the 19-country eurozone, which could have an impact on market expectations over next week's policy meeting of the European Central Bank.

ASIA'S DAY: Asian markets finished mostly higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.7 percent to 19,506.54 and South Korea's Kospi was up 0.3 percent to 2,372.29. Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.2 percent to 28,094.61 while Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.1 percent to 3,363.63. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was flat at 5,669.70. Stocks were higher in Taiwan and Singapore but lower in Indonesia.

OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude dropped 31 cents to $46.13 per barrel in New York while Brent crude, the international standard, fell 24 cents to $51.42 per barrel in London. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

CURRENCIES: The euro, which on Tuesday breached the $1.20 mark for the first time since January 2015, fell 0.3 percent to $1.1937. The dollar rose 0.2 percent to 109.93 yen.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

BSE board approves re-appointment of Ashishkumar Chauhan as MD & CEO -The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Contact Your Financial Adviser Money Making MC

http://moneymakingaimsee.blogspot.in
https://www.facebook.com/moneymakingmc

29 August  2017

Stock exchange major BSE on Monday said its board has approved a five-year extension for its Managing Director and CEO, Ashishkumar Chauhan, subject to shareholders approval.

According to the BSE, the company's board had approved Chauhan's re-appointment as at its meeting on August 3, 2017. The extended term starts from November 2, 2017 and will run to November 1, 2022. 

The company at that time saught regulatory clearence from Sebi.

"BSE Limited is pleased to announce that Sebi has given its no objection to the re-appointment of Ashishkumar Chauhan as Managing Director & CEO of the company vide its approval letter dated August 24, 2017," the company said in a statement. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"The said re-appointment will be effective subject to shareholders' approval."The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Huge gap between action, perception on ease of doing business: NITI Aayog -The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Contact Your Financial Adviser Money Making MC

http://moneymakingaimsee.blogspot.in
https://www.facebook.com/moneymakingmc

29 August  2017

There is a huge gap between what the state governments have done to improve ease of doing business and what the enterprises know of these improvements, a NITI Aayog report has found.

In its "Ease of Doing Business" survey report, released by Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Industry and Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday, the government's premier policy think-tank found that enterprises are often unaware of initiatives taken by states in recent years for clearances and permissions. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"For instance on single-window clearance: are enterprises even aware of this facility? We got surprising results," said NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya.

He said that even among start-ups -- which are set up in the last three years, only 20 per cent of them said that they were aware of the existence of single-window facility.

According to the report, even among the experts, only 41 per cent reported having knowledge of the existence of the facility. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"There is clearly a huge gap between what has been done and what enterprises know," Panagariya said.

"To actually take full advantage of ease of doing business that has been created, there is a need to disseminate information about what is there to be known for enterprises which are the ones doing business." The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

While releasing the report which covers more than 3,000 enterprises across India, Sitharaman said it may be the last but the "most important" contribution from Panagariya, who leaves the NITI Aayog on August 31 to return to his academic career in the US. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

She said the report would give a complete and true picture of the business environment of the country.

The minister added that the ease of doing business was the priority of the government and is getting full attention. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Prasad said that the nation was making huge strides in the field of digital infrastructure and called for a separate index for measuring digital ecosystem of states.

The survey, which covers over 3,000 enterprises across India, makes an effort to assess ease of doing business from their perspective as opposed to the perspective of policy makers.

Panagriya said that while this report takes the entire country into account and tries to bring forward national trends on different issues, there will be a second report based on the survey which will focus on individual states. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Renault-Nissan, China's Dongfeng Announce E-Car Venture-The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Contact Your Financial Adviser Money Making MC

http://moneymakingaimsee.blogspot.in
https://www.facebook.com/moneymakingmc

29 August  2017

Automakers Renault and Nissan say they will develop electric cars with a Chinese state-owned partner, adding to a series of tie-ups between global auto brands and local partners in the biggest electric vehicle market.

The venture Dongfeng Motor Corp. aims to develop a vehicle based on an SUV platform shared by Renault and Nissan, the companies announced Tuesday. Production is due to begin in 2019.

Global automakers are investing heavily to develop electric vehicles for China, responding to rising demand and government pressure on the industry to speed up technology development.

Chinese planners see electrics as a promising industry and a way to clean up smog-choked cities. They have supported sales with subsidies to buyers, while a proposed quota system will require automakers to meet targets for electric vehicle production or buy credits from competitors that do.

Sales of pure-electric and gasoline-electric hybrids in China rose 50 percent last year over 2015 to 336,000 vehicles, accounting for 40 percent of global demand. U.S. sales totaled 159,620.

Renault SA and Nissan Motor Corp. have a wide-ranging alliance to share technology and production that also includes Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and has more limited ties with other auto brands.

Dongfeng assembles vehicles for Nissan, Kia and other foreign brands and owns a share of France's PSA Peugeot Citroen. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"The establishment of the new joint venture with Dongfeng confirms our common commitment to develop competitive electric vehicles for the Chinese market," said Carlos Ghosn, chairman and CEO of the Renault-Nissan alliance, in a statement. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Ford Motor Co. announced last week it was looking at setting up a possible electric car venture with a Chinese partner. General Motors Co., Volkswagen AG and other brands also have announced plans to manufacture electric vehicles in China.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions