Provisional: Sensex falls nearly 2 pct; Re plummets

The currency fell as far as 62.78 to the dollar, breaching the previous low of 62.03 hit on Friday.

Indian stock markets ended on a weak note with 30-share Sensex shedding over 300 points, extending Friday’s 4 per cent slump on concerns that the recent measures announced by the government to support rupee may be inadequate and could hurt economic growth.

On a provisional basis, 30-share Sensex closed 320.19  points lower at 18,277.99 while the 50-share Nifty shed 93.10 points to end at 5,414.75.

The rupee fell to yet another record low on Monday as the government's steps unveiled last week seemed inadequate to stall the currency's fall.
The currency fell as far as 62.78 to the dollar, breaching the previous low of 62.03 hit on Friday.

India's benchmark 10-year government bond yield rose to 9 percent on Monday afternoon as the rupee continued to make a series of record lows as the government's measures were seen as inadequate to halt the free-fall in the currency.

Axis Bank slips below Rs 1,000 mark

On BSE, stocks of Axis Bank are trading 5.8% low at Rs 994

Shares of Axis Bank, India's third largest private lender, has slipped below Rs 1,000 mark in today's trade. Last the counter traded below this level was in September, 2012.

On the BSE, stocks of Axis Bank are trading 5.8% low at Rs 994. It bounced back after tasting day's lowest point of Rs 987.8.

The fall in Axis Bank's shares have been one of the sharpest among private lenders. In the last three months, after hitting a 52-week high of Rs 1,549 early this year in May. However, since then the counter has lost a whopping over 36%.

Siemens inches on wining two contracts worth Rs 144 crore

Siemens has won two contracts aggregating Rs 144 crore from the Rural Electrification Board, Bangladesh to construct 38 new 33/11kV substations. The projects are funded by Japan Bank for International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and are to be delivered on a turnkey basis. The substations would be located in the Rajshahi and Barisal zones in western Bangladesh.   The projects involve installing new and improving existing distribution facilities in the rural region west of Jamuna River. They aim to achieve an efficient power supply by reducing power distribution losses, strengthening and stabilizing the power supply system, thereby contributing to the progress and the economic development of western Bangladesh. In addition, the projects will contribute to reducing the impact of global warming by improving the efficiency of depreciated power distribution facilities.

The Rural Electrification Board of Bangladesh has been providing service to rural consumers for over 30 years by expanding and providing electricity to households, businesses and industries in Bangladesh. These orders that have been awarded to Siemens are a further milestone in the successful business conducted by Siemens in Bangladesh, where power demand continues to rise.

Benchmark bond yield hits 9 pct, highest since Nov 2011

India's benchmark 10-year government bond yield rose to 9 percent on Monday afternoon as the rupee continued to make a series of record lows as the government's measures were seen as inadequate to halt the free-fall in the currency.

The benchmark 10-year bond yield was trading at 9 percent, up 12 basis points on the day at 12:32 p.m., its highest level since November 15, 2011.
The partially convertible rupee was trading at 62.61/62 per dollar, after hitting a record low of 62.6250.

Sensex falls around 200 pts, Nifty touches 11-month low

The Sensex falls around 200 points, while the Nifty falls 1.3 percent after marking its lowest intraday level in 11 months, extending Friday's 4 percent slump as a record low of rupee weighs.

The rupee fell as much as 62.40 to the dollar in early trade, breaching the previous low of 62.03 hit on Friday as the government's steps unveiled last week seemed inadequate to stall the currency's fall.

Banks slump on tightening short term rates: ICICI Bank Ltd (ICBK.NS) falls 3 percent and HDFC Bank Ltd (HDBK.NS) is down 1.8 percent.

Also, foreign institutional investors sold 5.63 billion rupees of cash shares on Friday, ending a 3-day buying streak, exchange data showed.

Asian markets face a tense few days waiting to see if minutes of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting will provide some clarity on when it might start scaling back stimulus -- with far-reaching implications for borrowing costs across the globe.

BSE Sensex loses 1000 pts in 2 days; Tata Steel outperforms

Bears seem to be taken full control of Dalal Street dragging the equities. The Sensex is down 196.32 points or 1.06 percent at 18401.86, and the Nifty slips 67.55 points or 1.23 percent at 5440.30. About 677 shares have advanced, 1124 shares declined, and 121 shares are unchanged.

The Sensex has fallen 1000 points in the last two days. Laurence Balanco of CLSA believes the trading range for the Nifty has scaled down to 4700-5500 levels and he does not rule out a move on the rupee to 67-68 to the dollar if 63 breaks.

Meanwhile, Asian markets are mixed. Japan reversed its earlier losses after the yen resumed its decline against the usd. Japan's trade deficit came in wider than expected for the thirteenth straight month.

The dollar index inched higher to 81.3 gaining against the yen and euro amidst weak us economic data prompting risk aversion.

Commodities saw Brent crude rise to above USD 110 per barrel - up for the 6th straight session on the back of civil unrest in Egypt and Libya while gold rose to three-month highs and silver was up for the 8th consecutive session.

The rupee opened lower with a gap on the back of poor domestic sentiment and dollar strength in Asia. Some fiis bought dollars while sales came from corpraotes and some PSU banks. Volumes are exceedingly thin.

Volumes are even thinner in the bond markets with no one wanting to enter for fear they cant exit. The 10-year bond, which is the only one that traded a little is down over 50 paise, with yields rising 7 basis points to 8.95 percent on a mix of high crude and poor cash liquidity.

Sesa Goa surges as merger with Sterlite becomes effective

Shares of Sesa Goa and Sterlite Industries gained nearly 4 per cent in an otherwise weak market as the proposed merger of the Vedanta group companies becomes affective from today.  The group's Chairman Anil Agarwal will head the new entity.

"Anil Agarwal, Navin Agarwal and M S Mehta have been appointed as Chairman, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, respectively, for Sesa Sterlite," Vedanta said in a statement.

The statement said the group consolidation and simplification has received all the necessary approvals and thereby the merger of its subsidiaries Sesa Goa and Sterlite Industries has become effective, to create Sesa Sterlite.

Sesa Sterlite will have exposure to zinc-lead-silver, iron ore, oil & gas, copper, aluminium and commercial power, with assets located in India, Australia, Liberia, South Africa, Namibia, Ireland and Sri Lanka.

At 11:40AM, Sesa Goa gained 4 per cent at Rs 135.90 while Sterlite Industries rose 3.8 per cent to Rs 78.65 in today's trades.

MCX hits the roof on bargain hunting

MCX hit an upper circuit limit of 5% at Rs 255.40 at 10:28 IST on BSE on bargain hunting after the stock crashed 67.23% in the preceding 17 trading sessions to Rs 243.25 on 16 August 2013, from a recent high of Rs 742.25 on 22 July 2013.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 239.29 points, or 1.29%, to 18,358.89.

On BSE, 5.07 lakh shares were traded in the counter compared with average volume of 89,643 shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a low of Rs 238.30 so far during the day, which is also a record low from the counter. The stock hit a record high of Rs 1,617 on 13 November 2012.

The stock had under performed the market over the past one month till 16 August 2013, sliding 65.37% compared with the Sensex's 6.31% decline. The scrip had also under performed the market in past one quarter, falling 74.20% as against Sensex's 8.15% fall.

The small-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 51 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Shares of MCX witnessed selling pressure recently as National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL), was engulfed in a crisis after it suspended trade on 31 July 2013, raising concerns about possible default of Rs 5600 crore due to investors, including 7,000 small investors.

MCX and NSEL are group companies of Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL).

MCX issued a clarification during trading hours on Friday, 16 August 2013, that it has no exposure to crisis-hit NSEL.

MCX and NSEL are totally different entities with no financial commitments or exposure to each other whatsoever, MCX said in a filing with the BSE.

MCX is in full compliance with the directive of the Forward Markets Commission (FMC), the commodity markets regulator, on investments, loans and advances, it said in the filing.

That apart, the exchange has effective risk management system and monitoring of warehouses, it added.

MCX is a debt-free company and has a net worth of Rs 1214 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2013. The market share continues to be above 86% of the total commodity futures trade in the country, the filing added.

MCX's net profit fell 7.14% to Rs 60.11 crore on 3.02% increase in total income to Rs 151.35 crore in Q1 June 2013 over Q1 June 2012.

MCX is a dominant player in commodity exchanges in India.

SAIL gains on commencing projects worth Rs 2,700 crore in April-June'13

Steel Authority of India’s (SAIL) relentless drive to fast-track its modernization and expansion plan (MEP), resulted in commissioning of projects worth Rs 2,700 crore in April-June’13, the highest in any quarter , since inception. The company’s capital expenditure during Q1FY14 was Rs 2,082 crore. Under the MEP, the cumulative orders worth Rs 58,579 crore were placed and an expenditure of Rs 46,064 crore incurred until June ’13. In April-June’13 quarter, the significant projects which have commenced production, included the new 7 meter tall battery complex along with coke dry cooling plant and the 2500-mm wide slab caster, both at Rourkela Steel Plant.

Besides, maintaining its thrust on higher sales, the company achieved a growth of 5% in total sales during the quarter April-June’13 which were 2.62 million tonnes (MT), as against 2.49 MT in the corresponding quarter of last year. Production of value added steel touched the best ever Q1 mark, at 1.29 MT, a y-o-y growth of 4%.

Further, efficiency in production also got a boost with specific energy consumption lower by 2% than corresponding period of last year, and BF productivity better by 1%. There was an improvement of 2% in concast production, and captive power generation increased by 8 % compared to corresponding period of last year.

Canara Bank launches two new products in Retail Expo 2013 in Goa

Canara Bank, a leading nationalized bank, had organized Canara Retail Expo 2013 in state of Goa on August 14, 2013. The bank launched two new products in the expo, Canara MSE Pragati and Canara MSE Unnati for entrepreneurs. The unique feature of these new products is that they only required a viable project and the bank would not insist on collateral or guarantee.

The chairman of the bank also disbursed loans worth Rs 1.01 crore to 1,000 borrowers to mark the occasion.

On standalone basis, the bank has posted a rise of 2.17% in its net profit at Rs 792.07 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2013 as compared to Rs 775.24 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income has increased by 14.65% at Rs 10507.88 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 9165.47 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2012.

Rupee slides to 62.35 despite RBI steps

The RBI steps included curbs on domestic firms investing abroad and on outward remittances by individuals

The Indian currency is trading at 62.35 against the US dollar today, despite RBI (Reserve Bank of India) having imposed curbs to prevent the outflow of dollars.

The rupee fell to a new low of 62.03 on Friday on rumours the RBI could tax FII outflows as part of measures to ease pressure on the rupee, already threatened by increasing oil prices and US treasury yields.

The RBI steps included curbs on domestic firms investing abroad and on outward remittances by individuals.

The central bank also reduced the limit for overseas direct investment (ODI) by domestic companies, other than oil PSUs, under the automatic route from 400% of net worth to 100%.

Govt set to make major changes in FDI pharma rule

With a view to safe-guard the domestic manufacturers of generic drugs from being acquired by multi-national firms, government is set to make major changes in the foreign direct policy (FDI) in the pharmaceutical sector. It is been seriously contemplated for reducing the 100% FDI limit in the sector, in order to safe-guard domestic interests.

After a high-level meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, it was decided that the Commerce and Industry would soon start a consultation process to address 'dangers inherent' in the current model of FDI in brown-field pharma units, and bring out a Cabinet note on the proposed overhaul of the policy in the pharmaceutical sector in consultations with the Ministry of Health.

Two dimensions were mainly deliberated in the meeting. One, the proposals which came under the existing policy, had some concerns, particularly with regard to oncology, injectibles and vaccines, which must be met at all cost and that the policy will ensure. Secondly, the proposals before the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) would go through the existing policy and if there were “safeguards that were required, to be discussed, as to what should be the nature of safeguards, to ensure that affordable life saving medicines to the public.

Among the main concerns that were raised in the meeting was, how to prevent MNCs from changing product mix from generics to branded generics or patented ones, after acquiring Indian companies, which could impact the cheapest price generic for the Indian population. Additionally, there were concerns that dominant MNCs could block small domestic players from establishing their presence in the global markets.

Indiabulls Real Estate buys entire stake of FIM in 7 project for Rs 1,172.16 crore

Indiabulls Real Estate has purchased the entire stake of FIM and its affiliates managed by Farallon Capital Management LLC and its affiliates, a leading US private equity fund, in its 7 project subsidiaries for a total consideration of Rs 1,172.16 crore. FIM held 49% equity stake in these JVs and had invested Rs 847.48 crore in 2006 to 2008. With the purchase of FIM’s entire stake, these project subsidiaries will now be 100% owned by Indiabulls Real Estate.

Indiabulls Real Estate is country’s third largest property company. It has various development projects in the residential, commercial, hotels, malls, and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) segments. The company’s projects portfolio includes high-end office and commercial spaces, premium residential developments, integrated townships, luxury resorts and SEZs.

Global mkts mixed; will D-street remain in red even today?

US markets finished marginally lower last week. Major indices posted their first back-to-back weekly losses since late June. European markets ended in the green.

Back home, panic gripped the street on Friday as key indices saw their biggest intraday fall in two years as the Nifty tanked over 230 points even breaking below the 5,500 mark in intra-day trade. The Sensex shed over 750 points to tumble way below the 19,000 mark. Rupee ended at an all-time closing low of 61.65 to the dollar. Kaushik Basu, the chief economist of World Bank says that the concern regarding the QE is a change from abundant liquidity to more normal times.

Meanwhile, Asian markets were cautious in morning trade today.

In the latest from the National Spot Exchange's (NSEL’s) settlement crisis, sources indicate that NSEL investors met with Jignesh Shah. He assured NSEL that he will repay all investors and seeks help from investors for repayment.

The prime minister on Saturday released the fourth volume of the history of the RBI covering 1981-1997. The PM told CNBC-TV18 that the current situation is not comparable with 1991 and that the best is yet to come from the RBI.

Stocks in news

Sesa Goa said that all-share merger of Sterlite and Sesa Goa has become effective with Anil Agarwal appointed as the chairman of Sesa Sterlite.

ICICI Bank has hiked rates on some deposits by 25-75 bps.

Andhra Bank has hiked base rate by 25 bps to 10.25 percent and has increased the BMPLR by 25 bps to 14.50 percent.

The Goa senior division court has granted an interim injunction against any coercive action by lenders of Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) in respect of the company's property in Goa, leased to United Spirits .

In a CNBC-TV18 exclusive, sources indicate that Oberoi Realty promoters will sell 3.5 percent stake via offer for sale (OFS). The share sale will be to aid company comply with minimum public shareholding norms.

US

Stocks finished marginally lower in what was a lacklustre trading day, extending their losses for a third-straight session. Major indices posted their first back-to-back weekly losses since late June. The Dow posted its biggest weekly decline this year. The CBOE volatility index ended below 15.

The US 10 year bond yields rose to two year highs @ 2.83 percent.

On the economic data front, July housing starts in the US increased 5.9 percent to an annual rate of 896,000. Permits to build homes rose 2.7 percent in July to a 943,000-unit pace a tad less than expected. Meanwhile the University of Michigan August Consumer Sentiment Index fell to 80.0.

Europe

Markets closed higher after a weak start to the day, despite continued market worries about the end of the Federal Reserve's bond-buying program.

Currency

The euro was trading above 1.33 to the dollar. The dollar index stood at 81.30 levels. Back home, the rupee fell to a fresh record low against the dollar as dealers ignored fresh measures to provide support.

Commodities

Brent crude last week posted the biggest weekly percentage gain in six weeks as turmoil in Egypt and Libya stoked worries about oil supply security. It was trading above USD 110 a barrel. From precious metals space, gold traded near two-month highs supported by further inflows.

Markets see rupee gaining this week on NRI inflows

The rupee, which plunged to a record low of 62.03 to a US dollar on Friday, is likely to claw back to the 61 level this week on more capital inflows from overseas, according to analysts and treasury heads of banks.


"The RBI steps announced last week will start bearing the fruit this week as more NRI remittances are likely to flow in. The rupee is likely to trade in the 60.50-61.40 range this week," IDBI Bank treasurer NS Venkatesh told PTI.

India Forex Advisors' Abhishek Goenka said: "On Friday, the stock market plunged by 4%, but the rupee depreciated by only 30-40 paise due to some appreciation pressure. This week we may see a recovery because of the RBI measures."

The central bank last Wednesday announced more measures to lure NRI deposits to boost capital inflows. The market, since May 22, has seen a whopping USD 11.4 billion being pulled out by FIIs, mostly from the debt market.

However, no banks have so far announced any increases in NRI deposit rates, which are already in the range of 10.25- 10.50% since last December when RBI deregulated NRI deposit rates.

The rupee fell to an intra-day historic low of 62.03 on Friday after RBI on August 14 announced more steps to restrict forex outflows and gold imports.

The rupee closed the week at 61.51, but there was bloodbath on the stock markets which shed more than 4% on capital control worries, coupled with an earlier-than- expected end to the US bond purchase programmes, on solid growth numbers from the Western economies.

The RBI steps included curbs on domestic firms investing abroad and on outward remittances by individuals which sparked fears of a throwback to the 1991 era of capital control.

The central bank also reduced the limit for overseas direct investment (ODI) by domestic companies, other than oil PSUs, under the automatic route from 400% of net worth to 100%.

The RBI steps spooked investors as they thought that the government may move to a capital-control regime.

"Had the US jobs data would not be better, we would have seen a measurable impact of the RBI steps announced on Wednesday on the rupee," said Harihar Krishnamoorthy, treasurer at FirstRand Bank India.

Krishnamoorthy further said the fundamentals of the domestic economy have not deteriorated since the beginning of the fiscal, but sometimes sentiment overpower fundamentals.

Although the government as well as RBI last Friday claimed that they were not considering any capital-control regime, it did not either help the rupee or the markets, which saw investors losing more than Rs. 2 lakh crore in a single day.