Bush pushes bailout as GE cuts profit outlook

President George W Bush will press for agreement on a massive bailout of US financial firms on Thursday in an emergency meeting with lawmakers including the two men battling to succeed him.

The meeting takes place after the United States' biggest industrial conglomerate, General Electric Co, cut its earnings forecast in the face of a slowing economy and cited "recent dramatic developments in the financial markets".

Troubles at Wall Street firms have triggered the proposed $700 billion rescue that is the subject of a fierce political debate and drawn global markets into their worst crisis since the Great Depression. The crisis has forced central banks to pump in billions of extra dollars each day as nervous banks refuse to lend to each other.

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Rupee slide persists

The rupee fell the sharpest in a decade on speculation that the trouble on Wall Street would lead to emerging-market asset sell-offs by jittery global investors.The currency hit its lowest level against the dollar in more than two years. The Sensex also fell for a sixth day in tandem with equity markets world wide. It lost a marginal 12.47 points to end at 13,518.80, heading for its first annual loss since 2001.

The rupee may come under more intense pressure as FIIs continue to hawk Indian equities. The Indian currency ended at 46.89/90 against the dollar, off a trough of 46.99-its lowest since July 24, 2006-as banks arbitraged with a weaker overseas market. Dealers suspected RBI intervened to halt the slide just short of 47 against the greenback. JPM organ forecasts the rupee to drop to 47 by the end of the year. The rupee was the second biggest loser among the ten most active currencies in Asia outside Japan on Tuesday.

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