Re at eight-year high
Mumbai: The rupee soared to an eight-year high of 43.04/05, after eight years. The rupee opened at about 43.14/15 and touched an intra-day high of 43.01/02. On Monday, the rupee had ended at 43.30.

The six-month forward premia ended at 5.31 per cent (5.45 per cent) and 12-month forward premia closed at 4.04 per cent (4.15 per cent).

Bonds: Bond prices were volatile on Wednesday as cash shortage remained a concern. Total traded volumes on the order-matching system were Rs1,310 crore (Rs1,805 crore). The 10-year benchmark paper hardened to 8 per cent YTM.

The 8.07 per cent-10 year-2017 paper opened at Rs100.50 (7.99 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs100.69 (7.96 per cent YTM), against Monday's Rs100.48 (7.99 per cent YTM).

The 7.37 per cent-7 year-2014 paper opened at Rs96.60 (8.01 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs96.55 (8.01 per cent YTM), against Monday's Rs96.54 (8.02 per cent YTM).

The apex bank is believed to have bought $8 billion from the forex market between November and January.

Call rates: The sentiment was initially bearish as the call rate rose to touch an intra-day high of 25-30 per cent and global crude prices inched up. Call rates eased to close at 7.5-8 per cent. The auction cut-off for the 6.65 per cent - 2009 paper for raising Rs6,000 crore under MSS was 8.15 per cent, was considered bearish. "The pressure on liquidity is likely to ease as government spending of around Rs15,000 crore will enter the system," said a dealer.

Banks borrowed Rs27,395 crore from the RBI through the repo window even as call closed lower at 7-9 per cent on Wednesday against Monday's ending at 13-15 per cent. Reverse repo: In the first one-day repo auction, RBI received and accepted thirty-three bids for Rs26,725 crore. In the second one-day repo auction, RBI received and accepted three bids for Rs670 crore. In the second reverse repo auction (there was no reverse repo auction in the morning), the central bank received eleven bids for Rs3,215 crore while accepting Rs1,000 crore.

CBLO: The CBLO market saw 397 trades aggregating Rs18,064.70 crore in the 2 per cent-20 per cent range.
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BOI lists debt instruments on S'pore Stock Exchange
Mumbai: Bank of India has raised funds to the tune of USD 85 million (Rs365 crore) through its debt instruments which have been listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

The bank has raised the funds, through Innovative Perpetual Debt Instruments (IDPI) with a call option after 10 years, to augment its Tier I capital, a statement to the BSE said.

This borrowing would help the bank in meeting capital adequacy ratios as a part of Basel II norms.

The Bank had earlier announced medium-term notes (MTN) programme of USD one billion which it plans to raise from overseas markets.
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Canara Bank opens first branch in Hong Kong
Shenzhen: Public sector bank Canara Bank has opened its first branch in Hong Kong, aiming to tap the growing financial, economic and trade ties between India and the greater China region.

As part of the bank's Greater China expansion plans, Canara Bank also has a representative office in Shanghai and is applying for a branch license to expand its operations in the Chinese mainland.

Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong, Mark Michelson congratulated the Canara Bank on its expansion plans.
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Reliance Life Insurance gets ISO 9001-2000 certification
New Delhi: Reliance Life Insurance has received the ISO 9001-2000 certificate, making it the second company operating in the life insurance space in the country to get this quality standard covering all functional areas.

Reliance Life Insurance Company (RLIC), an associate firm of Reliance-ADAG company Reliance Capital, bagged the certification on account of superior management systems in key areas of quality, customer and process orientation, a statement here said.

The latest certification, awarded by Bureau Veritas, is valid till 2010 subject to certain provisions like operation of RLIC's systems.
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IndusInd to set up wealth management venture
Mumbai: Private bank IndusInd Bank is scouting for a foreign partner to set up a capital market subsidiary to offer wealth management services to Indians living abroad. The bank also plans to set up an insurance broking venture and an offshore banking unit (OBU), besides taking a 20-30 per cent stake in an asset reconstruction company, Bhaskar Ghose, managing director and chief executive officer of IndusInd Bank said.
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HDFC Bank plans retail gold push
Mumbai: HDFC Bank is ready to push sales of retail gold products through at least 100 new outlets in 2007/08, a senior bank official said. HDFC Bank sells gold coins and bars ranging from 2.5 grams to 50 grams across more than 500 branches spread in the country and plans to widen the variety.

The bank targets to quadruple its in the next fiscal year as it says it is able to sell gold quantities in one month what it sold in six months earlier.

Though Indians love gold jewellery, volatile gold pries and a shift in buying pattern last year saw investment-led purchases rising 38 percent to 186 tonnes, data from World Gold Council shows. HDFC Bank would cash in on this trend by launching a 20-gram coin and tapping newer customer segments such as corporate sales.
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Banks seek RBI approval to offer doorstep services to individuals
Mumbai: Banks have sought approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to provide doorstep cash delivery services to individuals also. The apex bank had earlier permitted banks to offer cash delivery services only to corporates, government departments and public sector units.

Under the aegis of the Indian Banks' Association (IBA), banks suggested the service could be extended only to select customers such as high net worth individuals (HNIs) and individuals with whom the bank has a strong relationship, which would help mitigate risk.

The RBI had also mandated that a cheque should be received at a bank branch prior to providing doorstep cash delivery and demand draft delivery services.

Banks have assured the central bank that they would not compromise on know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) guidelines. All AML control measures and reporting requirements as prevalent when the customer visits the branch would be applicable. They would build in adequate risk control measures and safeguards while accepting instruments or delivering cash at the customer's doorstep.
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