Re declines 7 paise against dollar
Mumbai: The rupee weakened by around 7 paise against the dollar to close at 40.92/93 on Wednesday against the previous close of 40.85/86.

The Indian currency opened at 40.93/95, went to an intra-day high of 40.87 and an intra-day low of 41.02. The market expects the rupee to trade in the 40.75-41.15 range in the coming week.

In forwards, the six-month premia closed at 5.39 per cent (5.52 per cent) and the 12-month ended at 4.55 per cent (4.73 per cent).

Bonds: Bond prices rose by 15 paise and yields came down two basis points on easy money supplies. The auction of Rs10,000 crore on Friday is likely to drain out excess cash from the system opined a dealer at a private bank.

G-secs: The 8.07 per cent-10 year-2017 paper opened at Rs99.77 (8.11 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs99.92 (8.08 per cent YTM) against Rs99.77 (8.10 per cent YTM) on Tuesday. The 7.55 per cent- 2010 paper opened at Rs98.67 (8.06 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs98.79 (8.01 per cent YTM).

Call rates: Call rates closed lower at 3.25 - 3.50 per cent on Wednesday against the previous close of 4.50 - 4.75 per cent.

Reverse repo: In the first one - day reverse repo auction, the RBI received 19 bids for Rs18,740 crore while it accepted Rs2,000 crore. There was no repo bid in the first one - day auction. In the second one - day reverse repo auction, it received 17 bids for Rs14,770 crore while it accepted three bids for Rs 999 crore. In the second one - day repo auction, the RBI received and accepted one bid for Rs150 crore.

The CBLO market saw 491 trades aggregating Rs22,779.90 crore in the 0.10 - 4 per cent range.
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Corporation Bank offers credit card
Mumbai: Corporation Bank plans to launch its own credit card this month. Six months ago it had forged a strategic alliance with Oriental Bank of Commerce and Indian Bank for joint business forays, including for launching a credit card.

With the joint credit card service expected to take at least another nine months to get off the ground, Corporation Bank has decided not to delay its credit card foray any longer.

Corporation Bank will formally launch its credit card on May 19. While back-end processes will be outsourced, marketing and credit approval will be done by the bank. Another alliance partner, Indian Bank, already has its own credit card service.

The banks are in the process of sharing their ATM network, surplus cash, currency chests and training infrastructure. The alliance has also identified 50 branches from each of the three banks for cheque collection and demand draft payment.
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BNP subsidiary picks up 49.9 per cent stake in Sundaram Home Finance
Chennai: Paris-headquartered international bank BNP Paribas SA's arm Union de Credit pour le Batiment SA (UCB) has acquired a 49.9 pc stake in Sundaram Home Finance Ltd, a subsidiary of Sundaram Finance Ltd for Rs196.98 crore.

UCB specialises in mortgage financing. According to the information provided by Sundaram Finance to the stock exchange, UCB will buy the stake through an agreement with Sundaram Finance. Of the total purchase value, Rs146.98 crore will go to Sundaram Finance and Rs50 crore will be invested in Sundaram Home Finance. Following statutory approvals, Sundaram Finance's holding in Sundaram Home Finance will be 50.10 per cent.

According to a press release, Sundaram Home Finance has a loan portfolio of Rs1,250 crore and offers housing finance products focussing on retail customers.
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Citibank gets into microfinance
Hyderabad: Citibank and SKS Microfinance have entered into an alliance to launch a Rs 180-crore programme to extend micro credit in rural areas. As per the alliance, each individual loan generated by SKS would be purchased by Citibank, which shares credit risk in the transaction. Citiobank expects the deal to add 2.5 lakh clients to its existing clientele of 6.5 lakh. The programme would deliver loans ranging from Rs5,000 to Rs20,000 in over 7,000 un-banked villages in the country where SKS was present through its 49 branches. The Grameen Foundation, a global non-profit organisation, would offer a limited guarantee to SKS in the programme.

An interest of 24 per cent would be charged on the loans advanced under the programme in Andhra Pradesh while it would be at 28 per cent in other parts of the country.

The origination and servicing of loans would rest with SKS while Citibank would extend the funds and would have it reflected in its balance sheet.

On each loan advanced, SKS would be given a service fee that would be inclusive in the interest rate.
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