Rupee firms up - securities rise
Mumbai: The rupee opened stronger at 43.54 against the greenback against Tuesday's close of 43.69. The domestic currency moved in the range of 43.52-43.54 and ended at 43.48.

Forward premia: The 12-month premium closed at 1.32 per cent (1.45 per cent) and the 6-month premium ended at 1.49 per cent (1.70 per cent).

G-Secs: Bond prices rose after Tuesday's successful auction of the Rs6,000-crore 7.55 per cent-5 year-2010 paper which received bids of Rs21,000 crore. Bond prices opened higher with the 7.55 per cent-5 year-2010 paper opening at Rs102.80/85 (6.88 per cent YTM) against Tuesday's close of Rs102.65 (6.92 per cent YTM). The paper saw a high of Rs102.90 (6.85 per cent YTM) and ended at the same level as the opening.

The currently active 8.07 per cent - 12 year-2017 security opened at Rs104.80/85 (7.46 per cent YTM) against Tuesday's closing of Rs104.50. The paper ended at Rs104.77 (7.45 per cent YTM). The 7.38 per cent-10 year-2015 paper was traded at Rs101.15 (7.218 per cent YTM) against Tuesday's close of Rs100.90 (7.25 per cent YTM)

Call rates: Steady at 5 per cent.

CBLO market: 166 trades aggregating Rs7,114.05 crore in the rate range of 4.80 to 4.95 per cent.
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RBI T-bills auction fully subscribed
Mumbai: The auctions of the 91-day treasury bill and the 182-day treasury bill on Wednesday were fully subscribed. The notified amount for the 91-day treasury bill was Rs2,000 crore.

The Reserve Bank of India received 74 competitive bids, amounting to Rs7,437 crore. Of these, RBI accepted 37 bids. The cut-off price was Rs98.72. The partial allotment percentage amounted to 45.80 per cent from 28 bids. The weighted average price was Rs98.73.

The RBI also received one competitive bid, amounting to Rs18.16 crore, which was accepted. The partial allotment was 100 per cent.

In case of the 182-day treasury bill, the notified amount was Rs1,500 crore. The RBI received 50 competitive bids, amounting to Rs6,645 crore. Of these, the RBI accepted eight bids. The cut-off price was Rs97.41. The partial allotment percentage amounted to 68.63 per cent from 4 bids. The weighted average price was Rs97.42.
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Banking Results: Union Bank
Union Bank fiscal net up at Rs.719 crore
Mumbai: The Union Bank of India has reported a marginal increase of 1.27 per cent in net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2005. The net profit was at Rs239 crore against Rs236 crore last year.

The total income was Rs1,501 crore, up 4.16 per cent, from Rs1,441 crore. This consists of interest income, which increased by 19.75 per cent to touch Rs1,322 crore (Rs1,104 crore) and non-interest income, which fell 46.88 per cent to Rs337 crore (Rs179 crore).

The bank announced a dividend of Rs3.50 per share for 2004-05, inclusive of the interim dividend of Rs2 announced earlier. The face value of the share is Rs10.

For the financial year 2004-05, Union Bank recorded a net profit of Rs719 crore, against Rs712 crore last year. For the same period, total deposits increased by 22.69 per cent to touch Rs61,822 crore (Rs50,559 core), while advances grew 35.1 per cent to Rs30,424 crore (Rs41,103 crore).

The profit on sale of investments was Rs260 crore (Rs435 crore), down by 40.23 per cent.

The NPA for 2004-05 was 2.64 per cent and will hopefully fall below 2 per cent this year, officials said. Demand for credit is likely to come from sectors such as textile, infrastructure, steel and power.

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FII holding in OBC hits upper limit
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that FII investment in Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) has reached the upper limit of its paid-up capital.

The apex bank also notified that no further purchases of equity shares of the bank should be made by FIIs through stock exchanges in India without its prior permission. FII holding in OBC has reached the trigger limit of 18 per cent.
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Global Trade Finance turnover up at Rs.1,913 crore
Mumbai: Global Trade Finance (GTF), a joint venture promoted by EXIM Bank and West LB, Germany, has recorded a total turnover Rs1,913 crore, a growth of 136 per cent over last year's Rs808.4 crore. The export-factoring turnover stood at Rs643.2 crore, up by 47 per cent.

GTF accounts for 65 per cent of India's export factoring business.
The net profit of the company was up by 340 per cent at Rs6.69 crore ( Rs1.52 crore). GTF has declared a dividend of 5 per cent to its shareholders for the current financial year.

EXIM Bank has 40 per cent shareholding in it.
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