Rupee flat against dollar
Mumbai: The rupee was flat against the dollar on Wednesday and opened at 45.74 to end the day at 45.74/75, against Tuesday's 45.75.

Forwards: In forwards, the six-month premium closed at 1.46 per cent (1.40 per cent) and the 12-month ended at 1.43 per cent (1.40 per cent).

Bonds: Bond prices moved up by around 12 paise. The news of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) investing in the debt market also helped sentiment.

G-secs: The 7.59 per cent-10 year-2016 paper opened at Rs100 (7.59 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs100.01 (7.58 per cent YTM) against the earlier close of Rs99.89 (7.6 per cent YTM). The 8.07 per cent-10 year-2017 paper opened at Rs103.05 (7.63 per cent YTM) and ended at Rs103.02 (7.64 per cent YTM) higher than the previous close of Rs102.88 (7.66 per cent YTM).

Call rates: Call rates were between 6.40 and 6.50 per cent against 6.50-6.60 per cent.

Reverse repo: In the first one-day reverse repo auction under LAF, the Reserve Bank of India received and accepted six bids amounting to Rs 8,295 crore and in the second one-day reverse repo auction, 14 bids for Rs16,145 crore.

CBLO: The CBLO market saw 303 trades aggregating to Rs16,021.70 crore in the 5.95-6.20 per cent range.
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RBI says passbook facility a must for SB account-holders
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has said banks must offer savings bank account holders the option of the passbook facility the cost of which will have to be borne by the bank. At present, some private sector banks do not offer the service and instead post or courier quarterly statements of the savings banks accounts.
If customers want more information they have to pay the bank a fee to get their statements.

In a circular issued to banks, the RBI said if the customer chooses to get the statement of account, the banks must issue monthly and not quarterly statements. Otherwise it has advised banks to offer pass book facility to all its savings bank account holders.
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No concessional finance for SEZs: Montek
New Delhi: Supporting the stand taken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBIs) on special economic zones (SEZs), the Planning Commission has said it too is not in favour of concessional finance for SEZ projects. While finance for SEZs is alright but it cannot be concessional finance said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.

The RBI has directed banks to treat lendings to SEZs at par with real estate which will make advances to these zones more expensive.

On the possibility of misuse of tax incentives, Ahluwalia said the finance ministry has assured they will plug all loopholes.
The chief minsters would have to take decisions on allocating agricultural land for SEZs keeping in view the fairness of price for acquiring land, he said.

Hluwalia's comments follow the prime minister's caveat to the states on excessive sops for projects in SEZs.
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HSBC to hike home loan rates
Mumbai: HSBC Bank plans to hike home loan rates from 9-9.25 per cent to 9.50-9.75 per cent (floating rate) effective October 6. Fixed rates on home loans will remain unchanged at 11 per cent. Home loans account for 65 per cent of HSBC's retail portfolio. This is the third time the bank has increased its rates this year, the previous 50 basis point hikes having come in April and July.
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J&K Bank applies to RBI for FII stake hike
Mumbai: Jammu & Kashmir Bank, which is the banker to the state government of Jammu & Kashmir, has applied to the Reserve Bank of India to increase the limit of foreign institutional investors in the bank to 40 per cent from 33 per cent.

As per the existing arrangement between the government and the bank, all state department accounts are maintained with the bank.
The government of J&K holds 53.17 per cent stake in the bank, FIIs hold 31.39 per cent, while public and others hold the remaining 15.44 per cent.
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