Rupee falls
Mumbai: The rupee declined against the dollar on Wednesday due to dollar demand and along with the fall in the euro.

The rupee opened at 44.46/48 and closed at 44.64/65, down from Tuesday's 44.4250.

Bonds: In the bond market, the sentiment was bearish despite the cancellation of the Rs5,000 crore Government auction earlier this week.

G-Secs: The 8.07 per cent 11-year 2017 paper opened at Rs105.45 (7.33 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs105.23 (7.36 per cent YTM), lower than Tuesday's Rs105.44 (7.33 per cent YTM). The 7.37 per cent eight-year 2014 paper opened at Rs100.84 (7.22 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs100.41 (7.30 per cent YTM).

Call rates: The call rate closed at 6.9 per cent (7-7.10 per cent).

Repo auction: In the first one-day auction, the Reserve Bank of India did not receive any bids in the repo auction, but received and accepted 28 bids for Rs14,525 crore in reverse repo. In the second auction, it received and accepted two bids for Rs50 crore and nine bids for Rs3,455 crore.

CBLO: In the CBLO market, there were 327 trades for Rs201,87.3 crore in the rate range of 6.43-7 per cent.
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Private fund acquires 5-per cent stake in Bajaj Auto Finance
New Delhi: Chrys Capital, a private equity fund has acquired almost a 5-per cent stake in Bajaj Auto Finance through the private placement route. Sources said the investment is part of a much bigger fund mobilisation exercise carried out by Bajaj Auto Finance which saw the company placing around 35 lakh shares among financial investors.

The Chrys Capital said the private placement took place at around Rs450 per share last month and netted Rs40-45 crore for Bajaj Auto Finance. Bajaj Auto Finance plans to raise Rs950 crore through a combination of equity shares, non-convertible debentures and warrants on a rights basis and preferential allotment to its parent company, Bajaj Auto, as well as financial investors. Apart from the preferential allotment, the company has also placed 10 lakh shares at Rs410 per share as well as convertible warrants with its parent company, Bajaj Auto.

A public or a rights issue is also likely to be on the cards.

The Bajaj Auto Finance scrip has risen by more than 25 per cent to Rs556 from Rs451 touching a a 52-week high of Rs574.80 on February 16.
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Allegro Capital begins investment banking services
Jaipur: Allegro Capital Advisors has launched its investment banking services in Rajasthan, with the opening of six branches, for advising medium income and corporate sector customers.

Five new offices of the company would come up at Ajmer, Kota, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Bikaner and Jaipur, said Kunal Kashyap, chief executive officer of the company here.

The company offers an entire portfolio of investment advisory services, including niche private banking service and extensive wealth management and risk advisory services, he added.

The company recorded a turnover of Rs20 crore in the last fiscal and plans to raise it to Rs50 crore, including Rs25 crore from Delhi, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Gurgaon, Kashyap said.
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UTI Mutual targets Rs500 crore from contra fund
New Delhi: UTI Mutual Fund is targeting to mop up a modest sum of Rs500 crore from contra fund, which opened today and is closing on March 22 since only long term investors with a time-horizon of six months to one year are expected to put money in the fund, sources said. The MF company plans to come out with around four funds, including a 'mega' fund, next fiscal.

Short-term investors should not invest in this fund and only those who have patience should come forward, said U K Sinha, chairman and MD, UTI MF.

UTI MF has raised Rs2,080 crore from its Leadership Fund, launched last month.

Contra funds invest money in fundamentally strong stocks, which are not performing well in the current market situation.

SBI Mutual Fund, Tata Mutual Fund, Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund and Chola Mutual Fund already have contra funds.
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LIC Housing predicts further rise in home loan rates
New Delhi: LIC Housing Finance Company said further hardening of housing loan rates is expected in the short term due to low spread between cost of fund and lending rates.

"Cost of funds has increased by 1 per cent in less than a year. So, in the short term we expect some more rises," said S K Mitter, CEO, LIC Housing Finance.

"The recent home loan rate hike is justifiable," he said. After the recent 0.5 per cent hike, LIC Housing finance home loan rates varies between 8.25 per cent to 9.25 per cent for both floating and fixed plans.
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