Rupee higher against dollar
Mumbai: The rupee moved up against the dollar due to selling by some nationalised banks. The rupee opened at Rs46.75 and touched an intra-day low of Rs46.82. It then recovered to finally close at Rs46.70/71. On Monday, the rupee closed at Rs46.75.

There were reports that nationalised banks sold dollars, due to of RBI intervention. Global currencies such as euro and sterling also recovered against the US currency.

Forwards: In the forward premia market the 12-month closed at 1.19 per cent (1.16) and the 6-month ended at 1.07 per cent (0.96).

Bonds: The bond market was weak as participants stayed on the sidelines ahead of the Rs5,000-crore auction of government securities slated for the second half of July and the monetary policy announcement next week.

Dealers said volumes in the bond market were about Rs700-800 crore.

The 7.59 per cent-10 year-2016 benchmark paper opened at Rs94.9 (8.36 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs94.87 (8.37 per cent YTM) marginally lower than the previous close of Rs94.89 (8.36 per cent YTM). The 9.39 per cent-5 year-2011 paper opened at Rs106.05 (7.88 per cent YTM) and closed almost unchanged at Rs106.07 (7.88 per cent YTM).

The 8.07 per cent-11 year-2017 paper opened at Rs97.53 (8.43 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs97.50 (8.43 per cent YTM).

Call rates: Call rates remained unchanged between 5.75 and 5.85 per cent.

Reverse repo: In the first one-day reverse repo auction under LAF, Reserve Bank of India received and accepted 25 bids amounting to Rs29,810 crore and in the second one-day reverse repo auction, 27 bids for Rs15,265 crore. There were no repo bids.

CBLO: The CBLO market saw 308 trades aggregating to Rs17,579.85 crore in the 5.60 -5.71 per cent range.
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HDFC Q1 net up 20 pc at Rs297-cr
Mumbai: HDFC has reported a 20 per cent growth in net profit for the first quarter of the current fiscal. Net profit amounted to Rs296.82 crore for the quarter ended June, against Rs247.28 crore for the corresponding previous period. Income from operations grew 33.6 per cent to Rs1,245.72 crore (Rs932.55 crore), while income from interest on loans rose 36.3 per cent to Rs1,037.19 crore (Rs760.67 crore). Total expenditure rose 39.5 per cent to Rs868.08 crore (Rs622.37 crore).

Interest and other charges increased by 41.4 per cent to Rs801.41 crore (Rs566.86 crore). HDFC'S gross profit, after interest and before depreciation and taxation, rose 21.8 per cent to Rs380.45 crore (Rs312.39 crore). Loan approvals were higher by 30 per cent at Rs5,998 crore, while disbursements grew by 28 per cent to Rs4,386 crore.

The housing loan portfolio (including loans outstanding, deposits and investments in preference shares and debentures for financing real estate related projects) as on June 30, 2006 amounted to Rs49,234 crore, an increase of 26 per cent.

Capital adequacy ratio stood at 13.3 per cent of the risk weighted assets against the minimum requirement of 12 per cent.

Tier-1 capital adequacy was at 7.8 per cent against a minimum of six per cent.

HDFC will take a view on its lending rates by the end of the month, according to Deepak Parekh Chairman HDFC. He said he expected interest rates to go up marginally and property prices to come down, 20-30 per cent.
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BoB, BOI hand over dividend cheques to government
Mumbai: Bank of Baroda has paid dividend of Rs98 crore while the Bank of India (BoI) has paid a dividend of Rs101.57 crore to the Central Government for the financial year 2005-06.
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SBI dividend payout to RBI at Rs440-cr
Mumbai: State Bank of India has paid a dividend of Rs440.07 crore to Reserve Bank of India for the shares held by the latter. O.P. Bhatt, chairman, SBI, handed over the cheque to Dr Y.V. Reddy, Governor, RBI, on July 17, according to a press release from SBI.

The bank has declared a dividend of 140 per cent for the year 2005-06 as compared to 125 per cent the previous fiscal.
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Metlife launches new versions of ULIPs
Bangalore: Metlife India has launched two new versions of unit-linked insurance plans in compliance with the new guidelines of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority. The insurance plans branded as Met Smart Plus and Met Smart Premier would have minimum sum assured of Rs60,000 with no upper limits.

Both these plans would have a flexible premium paying option after the third year. The plans also provide policyholders the option of skipping or increasing the premium payments when the situation demands, the release added.
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UCO Bank unleashes retail sales force
New Delhi: UCO Bank has started its `small enterprises and retail sales force' in the national capital region (NCR) in order to popularise and attract a large customer base for its retail loan and deposit products. The sales force would consist of bank officials who would market liability products, asset products and even third party products such as LIC and mutual funds.

The bank plans to open a branch in the Guangzhou province of China by the end of this fiscal.
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BoI to raise Rs600-cr thru tier II capital
Kolkata: Bank of India proposes to raise about Rs600 crore by way of tier II capital, and has received board approval for this. The bank will raise the money through issue of unsecured, redeemable subordinated bonds, said M. Balachandran, the CMD of the bank. He said that approval has also been received for private placement of upper tier II capital to the extent of about Rs500 crore. There will be a green shoe component of another Rs500 crore.

The capital-raising plan will help improve the bank's capital adequacy ratio and shore up its long-term resources. Currently, the Government holds 69 per cent of BoI's equity.
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