Rupee falls marginally
Mumbai: The rupee fell against the dollar due to sustained dollar purchases by the central bank. The rupee opened at 44.45/46 and dipped to close at 44.50/51. On Tuesday, the rupee had closed at 44.43/44.

Forwards: In the forward premia market, the six-month premium closed at 2.5 per cent (2.57) and the 12-month ended at 2 per cent (2.05).

The bond market was lacklustre and the traded volume was low.

G-secs: The 8.07 per cent-11-year 2017 paper opened and closed at Rs105 (7.39 per cent YTM), down from Tuesday's Rs105.23. The 9.39 per cent-5-year-2011 paper opened at Rs109.35 (7.22 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs109.40 (7.21 per cent YTM), lower than the previous close at Rs109.44 (7.2 per cent YTM).

Call rates: The call rate closed today at 7.10 per cent (7-7.25 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 24 bids for Rs20,635 crore through the repo window. In the second auction, the RBI received and accepted one bid for Rs15 crore through the reverse-repo and 14 bids for Rs4,220 crore in the repo.

CBLO: There were 270 trades in the CBLO market, aggregating Rs18,065.9 crore in the rate range of 5-7 per cent.
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ICICI Bank sells stake in South Indian Bank
Mumbai: ICICI Bank has sold its entire 6.7 per cent stake in South Indian Bank for more than Rs30 crore. It sold 47.22 lakh shares at an average rate of Rs64.25 per share, according to information published by the stock exchanges.

Market sources say that this move could help ICICI Bank present a better balance sheet for the current fiscal.

Goldman Sachs Investments and India Capital Fund have bought ICICI Bank's stake. While Goldman Sachs Investment bought 12 lakh shares, India Capital bought 25.7 lakh shares. Both these entities are existing shareholders in the company with India Capital owning 3.08 per cent of South Indian Bank before the deal and Goldman Sachs holding 1.80 per cent.

ICICI Bank has divested its entire holding in the Kerala-based bank through this deal. Earlier on Monday, ICICI Bank sold 40.74 lakh shares of Federal Bank. IFC Washington was the buyer and the deal was struck at Rs179.15 per share. Through this deal, the bank divested the entire 4.7 per cent of its stake in the bank.

Selling off the stake helps the bank to adhere to the Reserve Bank of India's restriction in cross holdings to five per cent.

The ICICI Bank shares closed lower by Rs5.64, or about one per cent from Tuesday's close. South Indian Bank touched an intra-day high of Rs66.25, before profit booking dragged it down to Rs61.80. The scrip had ended trade on Tuesday at Rs62.65. Over 50 lakh shares were traded at this counter on Wednesday.
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Allbank Fin to trim capital base to Rs15 crore
Kolkata: Allbank Finance, a wholly owned subsidiary of Allahabad Bank, will reduce its capital base from Rs60 crore to Rs15 crore. The proposal on capital reduction is part of the bank's plan to have a leaner outfit and also because the parent bank wants to revitalise its operations.

Allbank Finance is now expected to play a role in distribution of insurance — an area that Allahabad Bank is trying to enter through the joint venture route. The bank's proposed insurance venture, which will have a couple of other banking entities as local partners, is expected to rope in a foreign insurance major as well. A couple of overseas insurers, including Sompo of Japan, have been shortlisted already, sources mentioned.
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BoM, BoB, OBC may get RBI nod for Malaysian venture
Pune: Bank of Maharashtra (BoM), in partnership with Bank of Baroda and Oriental Bank of Commerce, has received RBI approval to establish a joint venture banking company in Malaysia.
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