Bond prices rally - Rupee firms up
Mumbai: The rupee closed marginally stronger at 46.32 against the dollar compared to Tuesday's close of 46.36/3550.

Forwards Market: The six-month premium ended at 2.28 per cent (2.41 per cent), while the one-year premium closed at 2 per cent (1.95 per cent).

G-Secs: Bond prices rallied across maturities in the Government securities market on Wednesday. The 10-year benchmark paper, the 7.37 per cent 2014 closed at Rs.110.30. The 7.38 per cent 2018 paper went to a high of Rs.110.30.

Call Rates remained at 4.25-4.50 per cent in the inter-bank market.
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RBI clarification on coins
Thiruvananthapuram: The regional office of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has clarified that all coins, including those of 25 paise and 50 paise denominations, are legal tender and will continue to be so.

An official spokesman said here that the clarification was being issued in the context of reports suggesting that shopkeepers, traders, transport undertakings and Government departments were refusing to accept the coins on misplaced belief that they had ceased to legal tender and were not accepted by banks.
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SBT bags national award
Thiruvananthapuram: The State Bank of Travancore (SBT) has secured the national award for excellence in lending to the SSI sector during year 2003-04. The Ministry of Small Scale Industries instituted the award for commercial banks, a bank spokesman said here.

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, gave away the award and citation to P. P. Pattanayak, Chief General Manager, SBT, at a function held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.

Advances made by the bank to the SSI sector, as on March 31 this year, is Rs.724 crore. SBT has five SSI branches in the State at Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Alappuzha and Thrissur. It has also opened a specialised branch for women at Muhamma in Alappuzha.
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Bajaj Allianz to launch unit linked pension scheme
Kolkata: The growing demand for unit-linked insurance plans has prompted Bajaj Allianz Life to introduce a unitised variant of its existing pension product. It will now work towards fresh products, at least one of which will be aimed at women.

The new products introduced by it have helped bring in over Rs.180 crore gross written premium this fiscal.

This has enabled the company to occupy the third slot (among private sector outfits) in the industry on this front, according to IRDA figures pertaining to June 2004.
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NHB to fully guarantee mortgage-backed securities
Mumbai: The fledgling secondary market for residential mortgage-backed securities (MBS) is set to get a boost with home loan refinancier National Housing Bank donning the garb of market maker for such securities. An NHB official today said that the bank would fully guarantee the securities and offer two-way quotes.

An MBS is a representative security of a pool of housing loans, usually clubbed and sold by a home loan financier.

NHB has decided to provide 100 per cent guarantee for both principal and interest to investors in MBS.

The guarantee will provide credit enhancement to the MBS structure, helping secure better rating for the instrument and finer pricing for originators, a bank release said.
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LIC Housing raises $29.85 m through GDS
Mumbai: LIC Housing Finance Ltd has raised $29.85 million through its maiden issue of Global Depository Shares (GDSs).

The price, which is at a 1.5 per cent premium to the average closing price of the company's shares one week prior to launch date, was fixed at $5.97 per GDS comprising 2 equity shares at a price of Rs.138.368 per equity share of Rs.10 each, said a press release.

LIC Housing has issued five million GDS representing 11.77 per cent of the post offer equity capital of the company aggregating $29.85 million through this offering. The GDS are proposed to be listed on the Luxembourg stock exchange.

CLSA Asia-Pacific markets and Kotak Investment Bank acted as the joint global co-ordinators and book runners for the issue.
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