Rupee firmer against dollar
Mumbai: The rupee has appreciated against the greenback due to dollar selling by exporters. The rupee opened at 46.75/77 a dollar and touched an intra-day low of 46.7850. It, however, closed the day higher at 46.56/57 against the Wednesday's close of 46.70.

Forwards: In the forward premia market, the 6-month closed at 1.03 per cent (1.02 per cent) and the 12-month ended unchanged at 1.14 per cent.

Bonds: Bond prices ended flat and the traded volume was low. The total traded volume on the order-matching system stood at Rs1,285 crore. Dealers the 25 basis point hike by the Bank of England took the market by surprise and traders began selling in the bond market.

G-secs: The 7.59 per cent-10 year-2016 paper opened at Rs95.38 (8.29 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs95.36 (8.29 per cent YTM, almost the same level as Wednesday's Rs95.39 (8.29 per cent YTM). The 7.55-4 year-2010 paper opened at Rs99.33 (7.75 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs99.44 (7.72 per cent YTM).

Call rates: The call rate was unchanged at 6.05-6.10 per cent.

Reverse repo: In the first one-day reverse repo auction under LAF, the RBI received and accepted 25 bids amounting to Rs27,115 crore and in the second one-day reverse repo auction, 40 bids for Rs21,690 crore. There were no repo bids.

CBLO: The CBLO market saw 298 trades for Rs16,515.10 crore in the 5.78-5.88 per cent range.
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PSU banks asked to roll back rate hike
Mumbai: In a move that has taken even the Reserve Bank of India by surprise the finance ministry has directed public sector banks to keep in abeyance the hike in their prime lending rates (PLRs).

At least five public sector banks, led by the State Bank of India (SBI), had hiked their PLRs, in the range of a quarter to half a percentage point.

The list included Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of Baroda (BoB), Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), and Andhra Bank. The rest of the public sector banking industry would have hiked the rates by this weekend, though this is unlikely to happen now.

It has been learnt that the North Block did discuss the issue with RBI Governor YV Reddy.

The ministry's letter has stunned bankers as 15 of the 19 PSU banks, as well as SBI, are listed entities and answerable to shareholders.

Further the SBI is not even owned by the government. It is owned by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which holds a 59.73 per cent stake in the bank.

At a meeting with PSU bankers on July 21, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had asked them to be ready for a rate hike by the central bank.
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ICICI Prudential premium income rises 152 pc in Q1
Mumbai: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company has reported a 152 per cent rise in premium income in the first quarter of 2006-07 to Rs812 crore from Rs323 crore a year earlier. The company's retail business premium accounted for Rs690 crore, which is up 155 per cent over Rs270 crore a year earlier.

ICICI Prudential said its retail market share among private life insurers increased to 32 per cent in the first quarter of 2006-07 and 12 per cent of the total market.

The company underwrote over 3,02,482 policies during April-June 2006 and its total sum assured in force at the end of June 2006 stands at over Rs56,000 crore.

The funds under management increased by 121 per cent year-on-year to over Rs9,300 crore at the end of June 2006.
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SIB gets nod to hike FII stake to 49 pc
Mumbai: Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) can purchase shares of The South Indian Bank up to 49 per cent of its paid up capital, after its board passed a resolution to the effect, said Reserve Bank of India, in a press release on Thursday. FIIs can purchase shares under portfolio investment scheme (PIS) through primary and secondary markets in India, RBI said.
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UTI Bank launches credit card
Mumbai: UTI Bank has launched its credit car business jointly with Visa. The bank is offering four variants — gold, silver, gold plus and silver plus credit cards. Initially launched in Mumbai, the bank plans to roll out the credit cards in 12 cities by the end of this quarter and to 50 cities by end of this fiscal, said a press release from the bank.

The complimentary gifts on the cards include complimentary flight vouchers to 29 destinations in the country, discounts ranging from 10-50 per cent at 120 hotels in the country and 1,500 hotels worldwide, insurance packages on air accidents, personal accidents, loss of card and baggage and also fuel surcharge waivers, a press release said.

UTI Bank is also planning to launch its platinum card variant soon.
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BoI, UTI MF sign agreement for micro pension plan
Mumbai: Bank of India and UTI Mutual Fund have signed an agreement to provide a micro pension scheme to the bank's Self Help Groups (SHGs). This initiative is under UTI MF's Retirement Benefit Pension Fund.

UTI MF has customised the pension for the bank's SHG members and reduced the minimum amount to Rs100 per month, from Rs500 for the normal pension fund.

Bank of India will collect the monthly contribution from the savings of its SHG members for the pension fund. This will reduce the operational cost for UTI MF thereby making it possible to reduce the minimum contribution amount.

Investor would have to pay the monthly contribution of up to 55 years. They will receive pension in the form of periodical income after 58 years.
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Birla Sun Life hikes capital base
Mumbai: Birla Sun Life Insurance (BSLI) has hiked its capital base by Rs30 crore to Rs520 crore.

The company said it made the infusion to expand its distribution network and invest in technology infrastructure. The additional infusion as per the IRDA regulation is in the ratio of 74:26 between the Aditya Birla Group and Sun Life Financial respectively.

In terms of technology infrastructure, the company is investing in `document imaging' and web-site enhancement.

The company has seen a growth of 80 per cent in its Q1 new business premium to touch Rs145 crore. BSLI which has a predominantly Unit Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP) portfolio has modified eight of its products to conform to the new ULIP guidelines.
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