Rupee gains
Mumbai: The rupee gained against the US dollar on strong inflows into the domestic equity market. The dollar was weak against all global currencies, due to strengthening of the yen. The rupee opened at 44.58/60 and touched a low of 44.63. However, it gained towards close to end about 20 paise higher at 44.43/45 against the previous close of 44.64/65.

Bonds: The bond market was flat to weak after the auction of state government loans yesterday. Dealers remained worried about lack of liquidity.

The 8.07 per cent 11-year 2017 paper opened at Rs105.05 (7.39 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs105.15 (7.37 per cent YTM), up from the previous close of Rs105.23 (7.36 per cent YTM).

G-Secs: The 9.39 per cent 5-year 2011 opened at Rs110.10 (7.09 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs110.15 (7.08 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).

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.

Call rates: Call rates closed at 6.8-6.9 per cent (6.9 per cent).

CBLO: In the CBLO market, there were 320 trades for Rs21,573.35 crore in the rate range of 6.40-6.53 per cent.
Back to News Review index page  

UCO Bank to hike retail advances
Kolkata: UCO Bank plans to increase its retail-lending portfolio in the coming years and treat retail lending as a major focus area. V Sridhar, chairman and managing director of UCO Bank said retail advances, as a proportion of total advances for the bank would stand at 19 per cent by the end of March. He said that the bank would increase this percentage to 35 per cent in the next three to five years.

UCO Bank has decided to form retail sales forces in various regions of the bank.

Initially, retail sales forces would be launched in the four regions of Chennai, Howrah, Bangalore and Nagpur, following which this would replicated in all regions of the country. UCO Bank would also launch sales forces for the small and medium enterprises in the next two months, he said.
Back to News Review index page  

OBC to decide on lending rates after budget
New Delhi: After a spate of hikes in lending rates announced by SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC, the Delhi-based Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) is mulling over hiking lending rates but will announce the decision after the budget.

OBC expects some sops for bank deposits to make it an attractive investment option as banks are facing difficulties in mobilising cheaper funds, forcing them to hike deposit rates. Tax incentives are offered to investments in mutual funds and insurance under Section 80C, the same should be offered to bank deposits also said a senior official in the bank.

The Indian Banks Association has also asked the government to exempt interest earned on fixed deposits, relaxation in fringe benefit tax, to keep lending rates stable.
Back to News Review index page