Rupee firmer; gilts range-bound
Mumbai: The rupee closed marginally higher at 45.0350/0450 against the dollar as against its previous close of 45.08/10.

Forwards market: The six-month forward closed at 1.40 per cent (1.72 per cent) while the twelve-month at 1.15 per cent (1.41 per cent).

G-Secs: Prices were in a narrow range of 30 paise. The 11-year benchmark 7.38 per cent 2015 paper settled lower at Rs102.22. The yield on the paper closed higher at 7.07 per cent. The 7.55 per cent 2010 paper closed at Rs103.50.

Call Rates: eased off in a range of 5.50-5.75 per cent.

CBLO market: 146 trades aggregating Rs5,843.45 crore were transacted in the rate range of 5.30-5.75 per cent.
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Floating Rate Bonds rate set at 5.37 per cent
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India set the rate of interest on the Floating Rate Bonds, 2006 (FRB, 2006) at 5.37 per cent per annum applicable for the half-year November 22, 2004 to May 21, 2005.

According to a RBI release, the variable base rate based on the average rate of the implicit yields at cut-off prices of the last six auctions of Government of India 364-day Treasury Bills worked out to be 5.42 per cent. The coupon rate on FRB was decided as per the mark-up of (-)0.05, as per the auction held on November 21, 2001. The coupon rate was accordingly worked out at 5.37 per cent.
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Banks hike deposit rates
Mumbai: The Union Bank of India has decided to raise the rates on fixed rate loans by 50 basis points, while floating rates have been hiked by 25 basis points, with immediate effect.

The bank will also hike interest rates on domestic term deposits by around 25 basis points, effective December1, the bank has said.

The prime-lending rate has been left unchanged at 10.75 per cent.

The Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait BSC, a scheduled commercial bank, have also announced an upward revision in interest rates on deposits of less than Rupees one crore with effect from Monday.

In a press release, the bank said the rate for deposits of 15 days to 30 days was increased to 4.25 per cent from 3.75 per cent, 31 days to 45 days at 4.5 per cent (4 per cent), 46 days to 90 days at 4.5 per cent (4.25 per cent), 91 days to 180 days at 4.75 per cent (4.5 per cent), 181 days and up to one year at 5 per cent (4.75 per cent) and rate on deposits of above one year and up to five years at 5.25 per cent (4.75 per cent).

The South Indian Bank Ltd too has hiked the interest rate on domestic deposits for periods extending beyond 180 days by 50 basis points from November 22.

The bank has revised the rate from 5.25 per cent to 5.75 per cent for deposits with tenure of 180 days to less than one year and from 5.50 per cent to 6.00 per cent for deposits between one and three years. The hike is 25 basis points at 6.25 per cent for deposits beyond 3 years.
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Capital Gains bond rates hiked by SIDBI
Mumbai: The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has revised interest rates on its capital gains bonds upwards by 25 and 35 basis points effective November 24.

The rate on investments of less than Rupees one crore will now be 5.25 per cent while investments of Rupees one crore and above will now attract an interest rate of 5.35 per cent.

SIDBI had earlier launched an on tap issue of capital gain bonds under section 54 EC of Income Tax Act, 1961 on private placement basis on July 15.
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SBI Home Finance served show-cause notice by NHB
Mumbai: SBI Home Finance Ltd has been served a show-cause notice by National Housing Bank (NHB), New Delhi, which threatens to cancel the registration of the company in the light of the erosion in its net worth and the losses incurred over the past several years.

The notice, dated November 10, asks SBI Home Finance to explain why the certificate of registration issued to the company should not be cancelled under sub-section (6) of Section 29A of National Housing Bank Act, 1987 in light of disclosure in the Company's Annual Report for the year ended March 31, 2004 that its net worth stands totally eroded and the total liability exceeds its total assets.

The Net Owned Fund of the company was Rs230.35 crore (negative) and housing loan portfolio was nil as on March 31, 2004. The company's branches have been closed down and all the employees have been voluntarily separated.

The company has been incurring losses for past several years, mainly on account of high NPAs. The accumulated losses increased from Rs82.35 crore as on March 31, 2001 to Rs248.11 crore as on March 31, 2004.

In a notification to the BSE, SBI Home Finance Ltd said that the company would be responding to the show cause notice appropriately.
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SBI staff to strike work on Dec.6 and 7
Thiruvananthapuram: More than two lakh staff and officers working at 9,000-odd branches of State Bank of India (SBI) across the country are gearing up for a two-day strike on December 6 and 7.

The strike, being jointly organised by All India State Bank of India Staff Federation and the Officers Federation, has been called in view of the management's cold response to the token strike on November 5, according to a statement from State Bank Staff Union here on Saturday.

The federations are also planning an indefinite strike from December 27 if the two-day strike fails to elicit a favourable response from the management to their various demands raised the last one year.
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Andhra Bank to make second public offer
Hyderabad: The Andhra Bank has informed the stock exchanges that it intends to make a second public offer, subject to regulatory approvals. However, the bank said the size, price and timing of the issue would be communicated separately at the appropriate time.

The market views the primary objective of the issue as raising funds to meet the business expansion plans of the bank and to have a comfortable capital adequacy ratio even after the Basel II norms were enforced.

As at the end of last fiscal, the bank's capital to risk assets ratio (CRAR) stood at 13.71 per cent.
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