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Rupee steady - gilts in range
Mumbai: The rupee marginally weakened against the dollar on Wednesday but ended nearly unchanged at 43.49/50, from Tuesday's 43.49.

Forward market: The six-month premium closed at 1.5 per cent (1.55), while the 12-month premium ended at 1.42 per cent (1.35)
G-Secs: Securities opened about 3 to 4 paise higher, but profit-booking pulled the market down. The 7.38-10 year-2015 benchmark paper ended at Rs101.64 (7.15 per cent YTM), up from Tuesday's close at Rs101.55/60 (7.16 per cent YTM). The 7.55-5 year-2010 paper was traded at Rs103.10 (6.80 per cent YTM) and closed lower at Rs102.98 (6.83 per cent YTM), lower than Tuesday's close at Rs103.08 (6.81 per cent YTM).

Call rates:The inter bank rates were steady at 4.95-5.05 per cent.

CBLO market: 163 trades aggregating Rs8,876.20 crore, in the rate range of 4.85-4.99 per cent were realized, which marks the highest volume the CBLO market has seen.
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Bank of Rajasthan to hike capital base
New Delhi: The Bank of Rajasthan is planning to raise Rs1,000 crore from the domestic or overseas markets to hike its capital, and has kept its options open for an ADR or GDR issue in the near future.

The private bank may also go in for a public issue or debenture issue or sell preference shares to strategic investors. The bank's Board of Directors has also decided to increase the authorised capital from Rs150 crore to Rs250 crore, and has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange accordingly.

The Board has approved a resolution to seek the approval of shareholders for issuing, offering and alloting equity shares with or without warrants up to Rs1,000 crore.
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ICICI Bank to hike agriculture finance portfolio
Mumbai: The ICICI Bank plans to hike its 'points of presence' in the rural areas throughout the country from about 3,500 to about 17,500 by FY06. The bank has an agriculture finance portfolio of Rs6,373 crore and hopes to create an asset base of up to Rs200,000 crore, officials said.

The 'points of presence' include rural branches, franchisees, kiosks and tie-ups with micro-finance institutions (MFIs) and co-operative banks.

Officials also said that the bank hoped to tie up with around 80 more micro-finance institutions by the end of this year and with 200 more in two to three years. Currently, ICICI Bank has tie-ups with 45 MFIs and NGOs and an asset base of around Rs400 crore.

The bank has over 200 rural branches, 1,500 franchisees and 5,000 kiosks.
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RBI: T-bill auctions fully subscribed
Mumbai: Auctions for 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 RBI received 54 competitive bids, amounting to Rs7,723 crore. Of these, RBI accepted six bids. The cut-off price was Rs98.73. The partial allotment percentage amounted to 81.30 per cent from five bids. The weighted average price was Rs98.73.

The apex bank also received two non-competitive bids, amounting to Rs1,000 crore, which were accepted. The partial allotment was 100 per cent. The notified amount was Rs1,500 crore for the 182-day treasury bill.

The RBI received 38 competitive bids, amounting to Rs3,453 crore. Of these, RBI accepted 30. The cut-off price was Rs97.39. The partial allotment percentage amounted to 10.31 per cent from 13 bids. The weighted average price was Rs97.40.
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IDFC files draft prospectus for IPO
Mumbai: The Infrastructure Development Finance Co Ltd (IDFC) has filed a draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a public issue of 40.36 crore equity shares of Rs10 each.

This comprises a fresh issue of 12 crore shares and an offer for sale of 28.36 crore shares of Rs10 each at a price to be determined through 100 per cent book-building process.

The objects of the issue include benefits of listing, raising capital to support the future growth in assets and meeting the applicable capital adequacy requirements.

IDFC has appointed Kotak Mahindra Investment Banking as the Book Running Lead Manager, DSP Merrill Lynch Ltd as the senior co-BRLM, SBI Capital Markets and JM Morgan Stanley as co-BRLMs.

According to IDFC officials, during the last four years the company's net loans have grown at over 30 per cent.
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United Bank targets Rs.50,000 crore business
Kolkata: The United Bank of India has targeted Rs50,000 crore of business over the next two years, which will be a marked step-up from the current level of Rs37,000 crore.

It also expects to clock a post-tax profit of Rs500 crore in the current fiscal, up from Rs310 crore recorded in 2004-05.

The bank, which has also targeted a corresponding increase in profitability, hopes to expand its customer base substantially over the next couple of years in order to meet its growth expectation. Bank officials said that the bank would soon embark on a customer acquisition drive. Already, it has improved its capital adequacy and recorded an increase in advances. The bank also proposes to set up a representative office in Dhaka.

The bank has also entered into a strategic partnership with Western Union, the money transfer specialists, and the arrangement will be available at 96 United Bank branches in the first phase. This is expected to be scaled up to cover an additional 135 branches.
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