Rupee range bound — securities up
Mumbai: The rupee remained traded in a range against the US dollar on Monday and ended trade at 45.08/09, slightly lower than Friday's closing of 45.04/05.

Forwards: The forward premia saw some profit-taking at lower levels. The six-month premium closed at 1.1 per cent (1 per cent) and the one-year at 1.17 per cent (1.35 per cent).

G-secs: The 8.07-12-year 2017 paper ended at Rs106.74 (7.17 per cent YTM) up from Thursday's close at Rs106.58 (7.19 per cent YTM). The 10.25-16-year 2021 paper closed at Rs126.58 (7.34 per cent YTM), substantially higher than Thursday's Rs126.39 (7.36 per cent YTM).

Call rates: The call rates closed at 6.25 per cent but touched 7 per cent during the day.

Reverse repo: In the first one-day reverse repo auction, the RBI received one bid for Rs500 crore and 22 bids for Rs15,650 crore. In the second one-day reverse-repo auction, the RBI received four bids for Rs3,470 crore and two bids for Rs120 crore.

CBLO: In the CBLO market, there were 378 trades for Rs14,589.20 crore in the range of 5.35-6.60 per cent.
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No priority sector status for wind power loans
Chennai: The Reserve Bank of India has said there would be no priority sector status given to the wind power sector. The RBI said that with the banking system as a whole having reached the priority sector-lending target, addition of new segments in the priority sector would not necessarily lead to additional flow of credit to these segments.
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Hindujas to get into insurance
Mumbai: The Hinduja group is making a foray into the insurance business in India. The group has already tied up with an overseas partner for a life insurance venture according to senior company officials of the Hinduja Group who did not disclose the name of the partner and investment details.

IndusInd Bank, the group's bank may initially invest in the new business.

The company says it would bring innovative concepts in the insurance segment. The group is planning fresh investments in the existing business, including automobile, financial services and media.
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IDBI, Sidbi enter into agreement for SME funding
Mumbai: The Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) and Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) have signed a memorandum of understanding for financing small and medium enterprise (SME) business and related opportunities.

According to a press release issued by IDBI to the BSE, "a unique technology product based on the Finacle core banking solution would enable Sidbi-assisted SMEs to participate in various types of products and facilities of IDBI like EFT, CMS, debit cards and RTGS."

The release added that the risk sharing between Sidbi and the company for project funding and working capital facility would create a new synergy in expanding the horizon for funding SMEs in the country.
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BoB launches no-frills saving account
Mumbai: Bank of Baroda has launched a no-frills saving account with a minimum deposit limit of Rs50 for its customers. Any person eligible to open a savings bank account can open his or her account with an initial amount of Rs50 only in the "Nagrik Bachat Khata", an official release said.

There would be no service charge on the account even if balance goes below Rs50 while persons maintaining the accounts can withdraw money by using withdrawal slips.
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UB hikes interest rate on FCNR, NRE deposits
Mumbai: The Union Bank of India has hiked interest rates on foreign currency non-resident (FCNR) deposits and non-resident external (NRE) term deposits.

While rates for one year NRE (rupee) and FCNR(B) deposits of US dollars and Euro have been raised, interest rates on majority of deposits of longer maturity period have been reduced from the existing rates.

The revised rates are applicable with effect from January 1, 2006, a release stated on Monday.

The interest rate on NRE (Rupee) term deposits for 1-2 years has been raised to 5.64 per cent from 5.60 per cent, for 2-3 years it has been raised to 5.62 per cent from 5.60 per cent while for deposits of 3 years and above rate has been reduced to 5.61 per cent from 5.70 per cent.
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Exim Bank offers LoC to Mali
Mumbai: The Export Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has extended a line of credit to the Republic of Mali of up to US$27mn with effect from Dec 5, 2005 for financing exports from India.

The LoC is for purchasing equipment, goods and services for rural electrification to the extent of US$15mn, US$12mn for setting up of agro-machinery and tractor assembly plant in Mali, the RBI said in a release.

The terminal utilisation for the LoC would be 48 months from the scheduled date of contract in case of project exports and 72 months from the date of execution of the agreement which is Aug 7, 2011 in case of other supply contracts.
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