Rupee ends lower
Mumbai: The rupee ended lower against the US dollar as FIIs sold in the domestic equity market. The rupee opened at 44.35/36 and traded in the range of 44.35-44.38 for most of the day. It closed at 44.44, lower than Monday's close of 44.40/41. The dollar did not move much against other overseas currencies such as euro and yen.

Forwards: In the forward premia market the six-month closed at 2.75 per cent (2.57 per cent) and the one-year closed at 2.1 per cent (2.05 per cent).

Bonds: The bond market was positive today after the sudden gain on Monday. The 8.07 per cent-11-year 2017 paper opened at Rs105.08 (7.38 per cent YTM), touched a high of Rs105.23 and closed at the same level as the open, up from Monday's close of Rs105.04 (7.38 per cent YTM).

G-secs: The 9.39 per cent-5-year-2011 paper opened at Rs109.48 (7.19 per cent YTM), touched a high of Rs109.6 and closed at Rs109.44 (7.2 per cent YTM), up from the previous close of Rs109.4 (7.21 per cent YTM).

Call rates: Call rates hovered around 7-7.25 per cent (7.25 per cent). However, there were talks that the State Bank of India was lending in the overnight call market at 6.5 per cent.

Repo auction: In the one-day reverse repo, under the liquidity adjustment facility, the RBI received and accepted one bid, amounting to Rs100 crore and 23 bids for Rs22,860 crore through the repo window. In the second auction, the RBI received and accepted two bids for Rs75 crore through the reverse-repo and 12 bids for Rs3,215 crore in the repo.

CBLO: The CBLO market saw 262 trades, aggregating Rs18,160.3 crore in the rate range of 6.45-6.5.
Back to News Review index page  

IDFC to hike lending rate
New Delhi: Industrial Development Finance Corporation plans to hike lending rates by 0.50 per cent to 1 per cent by April 1.
Back to News Review index page  

Hiking FDI cap in insurance vital for attracting foreign investment: ABI
New Delhi: Raising FDI cap in insurance sector to 49 per cent is vital for attracting more foreign investment in the segment, said Stephen Haddrill director general of the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

He said the proposal would also enable existing joint ventures to raise more capital and serve more customers with a wider range of products. He said the British insurance industry was committed to increasing investments in India. The British insurers have already invested heavily with Indian joint venture partners.
Back to News Review index page  

ICICI Prudential against EET regime
Mumbai: Shikha Sharma, managing director and CEO, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, said the organisation favours a stable tax regime that recognises long term saving aspect and a framework that allows more product innovation for desired growth in the life insurance segment.

She said adopting EET proposed by the finance ministry would be detrimental for the insurance sector as it would discourage savings in totality and not only long term saving.
Back to News Review index page  

Bajaj Allianz to tap rural markets
Indore: Bajaj Allianz is expanding its network to tap the rural areas, according to its chief executive officer (CEO) and country manager, Sam Ghosh. He said the company has set a target of increasing its business in the vast rural market from current 18 per cent to 22 per cent in the fiscal 06-07.

The company would have over one lakh insurance agents in the country and is planning to set up nearly 1,000 branch offices from the existing 550 to expand its presence in major towns and cities of the country, Ghosh said.
Back to News Review index page  

BOB to buy back entire NHB stake in housing arm
Mumbai: Bank of Baroda (BOB) plans to buy-back 32.89-per cent stake that National Housing Bank (NHB) held in BOB Housing Finance Limited, making the housing finance arm its 100 per cent subsidiary.

BOB will buy 4,934,200 shares of NHB in the housing finance company, the Gujarat-based bank informed the stock exchanges.
Back to News Review index page  

Barclays to enter corporate banking with $70 million
Mumbai: Barclays plc plans to invest $70 million in India operations over two years from 2006 to foray into the corporate banking business. The UK-based bank, which has invested $150 million over the past few months to support investment banking business growth, is hopeful of strengthening its presence in the country following talks with the regulatory bank for corporate banking business.

Having operations in India for almost 30 years, Barclays confined itself mainly into investment banking and risk management services. The bank plans to look at organic growth in the country.

The bank would recruit around 150 people over the medium-term to streamline its corporate banking business and of these employees 40 would be appointed in the first year.
Back to News Review index page