Rupee declines against dollar
Mumbai: The rupee declined against the dollar by around 10 paise on dollar buying by oil importers. The home currency opened at 40.81, touched an intra-day high of 40.77 to finally close at 40.85/87 against Wednesday's close of 40.78.

However, the RBI was not seen in the market said a dealer at a private bank.

Dealers expect the rupee to cross the 41-level in the next 10 days.

The six-month forward premia stood at 4.52 per cent (4.19 per cent) and 12-month premia at 3.97 per cent (3.82 per cent).
Bonds: Bond prices fell by around 10 paise on profit booking on Thursday.

Total traded volumes on the order matching system were Rs2,425 crore (Rs6,535 crore).

G-secs: The 8.07 per cent-10 year-2017 paper opened at Rs99.85 (8.09 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs99.65 (8.12 per cent YTM), against Wednesday's Rs99.78 (8.09 per cent YTM).

The 7.49 per cent-10 year-2017 paper opened at Rs95.70 (8.13 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs95.53 (8.15 per cent YTM), against the previous close at Rs95.69 (8.13 per cent YTM).

Call rates: The inter-bank call rate closed at 8-8.25 per cent (8.50-8.75 per cent).

Reverse repo: In the first one-day repo auction under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility, the RBI received and accepted 17 bids for Rs10,525 crore and there were no bids in the reverse-repo auction. In the second one-day repo, the central bank accepted and received 17 bids for Rs14,025 crore and in the reverse repo auction, there was one bid for Rs15 crore.

CBLO: The CBLO market saw 316 trades aggregating to Rs21,384.80 crore in the 7.70-8.08 per cent range.
Back to News Review index page  

LIC shortlists five banks for credit card venture
Mumbai: The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India has shortlisted five banks ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, UTI Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Visa as potential partners for its credit card venture.

Other than the banks the corporation may rope in another partner, likely to be Corporation Bank, to ensure that the credit card company is not a subsidiary. LIC began moving on its credit card venture again in 2007. Last month it appointed a chief executive Hemant Bhargava for the credit card project. Bhargav earlier headed LIC's microfinance and international businesses.

LIC wants the credit card business to add value to its core activity of life insurance. Although many multinationals are keen on partnering LIC, drawn by its customer base of 20 crore individuals, they have not been successful in convincing LIC that a card business would help increase insurance penetration.
Back to News Review index page  

HDFC Bank mulls IPO to raise Rs4,200 cr
Mumbai: HDFC Bank plans to raise around Rs4,200 crore from the equity markets in order to comply with Basel-II guidelines.
The bank added that further incremental capital would also facilitate meeting the changing regulatory requirements such as the proposed capital adequacy framework (based on Basel-II accord) and the new capital market exposure norms.

According to the bank the proposed equity issue will result in the reduction of the present shareholding of the promoter group, the HDFC Group, which is currently at 21.56 per cent. With a view to maintaining the shareholding of the promoter group at 23 per cent of the enhanced capital base, it is proposed to make a preferential offer of 13.58 million shares at Rs1,023.49 per share to the promoter group.

The balance amount of the proposed equity capital may be raised either through a domestic public offering or as public or private offerings in one or more international markets.
Back to News Review index page  

Barclays begins retail operations: to open branches in non-metros
Mumbai: Barclays Bank has begun its retail operations in India by opening three branches, two of them in non-metro centres in the South — Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu and Nelamangala near Bangalore. The third branch is in Mumbai.

The bank has also announced a range of retail services including credit cards, personal loans, business loans and investment services products. The bank has already invested $300 million and a further $70 million would be pumped in to expand the retail operations. Barclays has also applied for more licences from the RBI.
Back to News Review index page  

Banks tie up to offer fund transfer through ATMs
Mumbai: Now customers need not visit a bank branch or log on to internet for transferring money to another account. They can do it through automated teller machines (ATMs).

Six Indian have decided to offer fund transfer facility through ATMs through a shared network - Mitr. Punjab National Bank (PNB), Indian Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), Karur Vysya Bank, IndusInd Bank and UCO Bank, are part of the ATM sharing network, Mitr, with PNB as the settlement bank. This inter-bank network of 2,600 ATMs will be managed by FSSNet.

Besides options for balance enquiry, cash withdrawal and cash deposit, the main menu of the ATM would now also include a fund transfer option. The customer can transfer money by entering details of the account into which funds are to be moved.

PNB however, has to seek formal approval from the RBI. The limit under 'card to card transfers' will be as specified by the central bank. At present, cash withdrawals of up to Rs25,000 are permitted at ATMs.

The process is expected to be completed in 10-12 weeks.
Back to News Review index page