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Rupee in range; bonds recover
Mumbai: The rupee remained in a range on Wednesday and ended unchanged from Tuesday's close. The rupee opened at 44.05/06 against the US dollar and closed at 44.04/05 on Wednesday, the same as the previous level. It touched an intra-day low of 44.08.

Forwards: The forward premia was flat. Both the 12-month and 6-month premia closed at 0.65. Trades were thin in the forwards market, the dealer added. In the overseas market, other currencies were flat against the dollar.

Bonds: In the bond market, prices fell initially but recovered marginally on value buying. Dealers said with the rising US yields and the oil prices continuing to be of concern, the sentiment in the market was bearish.

Reverse Repo: Expectations of a 25-basis point hike in the reverse repo rate in the October monetary policy and a Rs8,000-crore auction in October resulted in lack of buying support. There was some value buying as a result of half-yearly closing. The traded volume stood at Rs 730 crore.

G-Secs: The 10.25 - 16 year- 2021 paper opened at Rs125.65 (7.45 per cent YTM), fell to Rs125.50 but closed at Rs125.78 (7.43 per cent YTM). This was higher than Tuesday's Rs125.56 (7.46 per cent YTM).

The 7.37-9 year-2014 paper opened at Rs102.21 (7.02 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs102.29 (7.01 per cent YTM), up from
Rs102.17 (7.03 per cent YTM).

Call Rate: The call rate closed at 5.10 per cent but deals were done at 5.75 per cent (5-5.10). In the one-day reverse repo auction, the Reserve Bank of India received and accepted 35 bids amounting to Rs20,415 crore. On account of the half-yearly closing, in the one-day repo auction, the RBI received and accepted two bids amounting to Rs1,640 crore.

CLBO: In the CBLO market, there were 265 trades for Rs 11,253.05 crore in the rate range of 4.50-5.85 per cent.
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ICICI Pru Life asset base crosses Rs 5,000 cr
Mumbai: The funds under the management of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance have crossed the Rs 5,000-crore mark.

Of this, Rs 1,200 crore was added in the current financial year.

According to the company, this is the largest asset base among all private life insurance companies.

ICICI Prudential's weighted received premium income (where single premium policies are given only 10 per cent weightage) for the April-August period stands at Rs 530 crore. Calculated on this basis, the retail market share stands at 32 per cent of private companies and 10 per cent of the total market for the same period.
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Kotak Mahindra to issue 1.5 cr shares
Mumbai: Kotak Mahindra Bank has announced a fresh issue of 1.5 crore shares.

The bank has informed the stock exchanges that this constitutes around five per cent of the current paid-up capital.

The actual timing, quantum, price, and other terms and conditions of the proposed issue shall be decided by the board, the notice said.

The issue will enable the promoters to bring down their stake from the current level of around 59 per cent to about 55 per cent, said a senior bank official.

The net worth of the bank is expected to increase by Rs 300 crore after the issue.

The fresh capital would help in improving capital adequacy of the bank and enable higher growth. The capital adequacy as on June 30, 2005 was 12.52 per cent. "We need to add equity for normal requirements of the bank as there is significant growth," Mr Gupta said.
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Tamilnad Mercantile Bank to distribute UTI MF products
Madurai: Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) has entered into a memorandum of understanding with UTI Asset Management Company for the distribution of the entire range of UTI Mutual Fund products, as part of its strategy to diversify into new areas to cater to the needs of varied investors.

TMB had also tied up with Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund.Initially, the bank has designated 75 major branches for distribution of the mutual fund products, according to a TMB release.
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S&P leaves Indian, Indonesian and Philippines bank ratings unchanged
Mumbai: Rating company Standard & Poor's (S&P) has revised its assessment of Government support for important banks in Asia.

S&P has raised its counter-party credit ratings and issued credit ratings of 18 banks in Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Thailand, it has not revised the credit ratings of banks in Indonesia, India, and the Philippines.

An S&P's release says, this is because the fiscal position of the Indonesian, Indian, and Philippine Governments are not as strong as those in Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Thailand.

S&P estimates show that the Governments in Asia have extended well over $500 billion in support - direct and indirect - to domestic banks in their jurisdiction during the past decade.

The Chinese Government has extended the most in absolute terms, followed by Japan, Indonesia, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, and India.
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Central Bank of India merges three RRBs in Maharashtra
Mumbai: Central Bank of India has merged three sponsored regional rural banks (RRBs) in Maharashtra with effect from September 12. The newly formed bank as a result of the merger is called the Vidharbha Kshetriya Gramin Bank and will be headquartered in Akola.

The banks that have been merged are at Akola, Buldhana and Yavatmal, a press release from the bank said.
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Andhra Bank to increase paid up capital to Rs485 crore
Mumbai: Andhra Bank is considering increasing in its paid-up capital from Rs400 crore to Rs485 crore by issuing 8.50 crore equity shares of Rs10 each aggregating to a face value of Rs85 crore, subject to shareholder approval, the company informed the BSE.

The decision to this effect would be taken at the EGM on October 24 and the issue price of the offer would be decided later.
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