Rupee at five month high
Mumbai: The rupee strengthened to a five-month high closing at 45.20/21 against the dollar on Thursday. The rupee gained 17 paise over the previous day's close at 45.37/3750.

Forwards Market: The six-month forward closed at 3.00 per cent (2.75 per cent), while the one-year premia finished at 2.35 per cent (2.25 per cent).

G-Secs: The 11-year benchmark 7.38 per cent 2015 paper closed at a yield of 6.95 per cent, lower by 20 paise to Rs103.20. Another actively traded paper 6.65 per cent 2009 paper ended lower at Rs100.93.

Call Rates: Touch a high of 6.00 per cent with tight liquidity in the system.

CBLO Market: 126 trades worth Rs4,380.30 crore were transacted in the rate range of 5.61-6.00 per cent.
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RBI cancels MSS auctions of Rs.2,500 crore
Mumbai: The central bank has cancelled auctions for Rs2,500 crore, scheduled under the Market Stabilisation Schemes for November 10.

"Taking into account all relevant factors, the Reserve Bank has decided that the auction of 91-day Treasury Bills for Rs1,500 crore and the auction of the 364-day Treasury Bills for Rs1,000 crore scheduled for November 10 under quarterly indicative schedule for MSS will not be conducted," said RBI in a press release.

Meanwhile, RBI has announced the auction of 91-day Government of India Treasury Bills for notified amount Rs500 crore and the auction of 364-day Government of India Treasury Bills for notified amount Rs.1,000 crore, under the regular auction calendar.

The auctions will be conducted using "Multiple Price Auction" method. The allocation to the non-competitive bidders will be outside the notified amount, at the discretion of the bank, said the release. Tenders should be submitted in the prescribed form on November 10 while payments by successful bidders will be on November 13.
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Indian firms raise $1.5 billion through ECBs in Sept.
Chennai: Indian companies took in $1.5 billion through external commercial borrowings (ECBs) in September, according to the latest figures put out by the Reserve Bank of India. The total ECBs for the corporate sector have crossed $6.6 billion in the first half of this fiscal.

The Reliance Group accounted for more than half the borrowings in September 2004. Reliance Infocomm borrowed about $600 million for import of capital goods while Reliance Industries borrowed $212 million for the purpose of refinancing old loans.

According to RBI guidelines, companies are permitted to refinance old foreign currency loans to reduce their cost of borrowing.

The group has so far borrowed $1.4 billion through external commercial borrowings since the beginning of this fiscal.
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Panel seeks screen-based order matching system
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India Working Group on `Screen Based Trading In Government Securities' has called for the immediate introduction of a screen-based anonymous order matching system on the Negotiated Dealing System (NDS). This would ensure transparency and better price discovery in debt market transactions.

The operationalisation of the NDS order matching system needs to be spread over sequential phases for proper implementation and smooth migration. The members must be allowed sufficient time to gain experience in handling an order matching system, the group has recommended in its report to the apex bank.

It has also been suggested that a corporate agency or body should conduct an independent technical study of the Indian Financial Network (INFINET) maintained by Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT).

"An urgent review of the performance and technical capability of INFINET is necessary, as it has a significant bearing on the performance of the NDS," the group has said in its report.

The group has argued that given the situation of a very high fiscal deficit in India, there is a strong case in favour of keeping the wholesale government security (G-sec) market of NDS members separate from the retail-mid segment market that would be developed on the stock exchanges. The group has also suggested that as long as the levels of gross government market borrowings remain high, it was desirable that the management and regulation of wholesale debt market (WDM) remain with RBI.

The group has said that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and stock exchanges need to initiate steps to build awareness amongst the mid-segment investors about the facilities available for gilt trading on the exchanges.
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