Indian Bank revises interest rates

Public sector Indian Bank has revised interest rates on its foreign currency non-resident (Banking) deposits with immediate effects. 

The Chennai-based bank, in a statement said, it revised interest rate to 2.36 per cent from the existing 2.55 per cent on deposits of one year and above but less than two years. 

For deposits of two years and above, but less than three years interest rates have been revised to 2.76 per cent from the current 2.58 per cent. 

Interest rates have been revised to 3.71 per cent from 3.51 per cent for deposits of upto three years and above, but less than four years. 

For deposits of four years and above but less than five years, interest rates have been increased to 4.11 per cent from the existing 3.89 per cent. 

Interest rates have been fixed at 4.40 per cent for deposits of upto five years from the existing 4.18 per cent, the release said. 

Brent's premium to Dubai crude falls to lowest in nearly 4 years

Brent's premium to Dubai crude hit the lowest in nearly four years as plentiful supply weighed on the European marker, Reuters data showed on Monday. 

The drop in Brent against Dubai, combined with multi-year low differentials for West African grades, is expected to push more oil from the Atlantic Basin toward Asia. 

Brent-Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS) for September was valued at $1.22 a barrel, down 58 cents from Friday's close and the narrowest  since September 2010.

Marico reports Q1 net profit at Rs 185.27 crore

FMCG firm Marico Ltd  today reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 185.27 crore for the quarter ended June 30 on the back of net sales of Rs 1,619.23 crore. 

In the same period of the previous fiscal, the company had posted a net profit of Rs 157.72 crore and net sales of Rs 1,379.66 crore, it said in a BSE filing 

Marico said results are not comparable with corresponding quarter last year as its skincare business 'Kaya' was demerged in October 2013. 

Overall expenses during the quarter stood at Rs 1,376.85 crore as against Rs 1,173.28 crore in the same quarter last year. 

Aluminium futures up 0.12% on global cues, pick-up in demand

Aluminium futures edged higher by 0.12 per cent to Rs 121.35 per kg today as speculators enlarged positions amid pick-up in demand at spot markets. 

Besides, a firming trend in select base metals at the London Metal Exchange (LME) supported the upside. 

At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in August rose 15 paise, or 0.12 per cent, to Rs 121.35 per kg, with a business turnover of 256 lots. 

The metal for delivery in September also rose by a similar margin to trade at Rs 121.65 per kg in a turnover of three lots. 

Honda to set up world’s largest scooter plant in Gujarat

Honda Motors, which is swearing by scooters in India, is setting up the world's largest scooter plant in Gujarat to roll out 12 lakh units annually and achieve leadership position in the Indian two-wheeler market, especially with a growing number of customers shifting to this unisex multi-utility mode that has caught the fancy of many and outpaced almost every other segment.

Scooter sales have jumped by 29% in the ongoing fiscal, and now form 27% of the total two-wheeler market from just 8% a decade back. The ever-rising demand for scooters that has far outstripped supply has prompted Honda to set up its first dedicated scooter plant in Ahmedabad. "Even as we have more than doubled our scooter capacity in India, we have not been able to match up with the demand. 

The company, which leads the scooter market with a 53% share in the domestic market, would have two assembly lines for scooters, which would create 3,000 more jobs. The fourth plant would enhance its cumulative production capacity in India to 58 lakh units by 2015-16, including 16 lakh from its first plant in Haryana, 12 lakh from the one in Rajasthan, and 18 lakh from the Karnataka plant.


The sales from its Indian subsidiary have already climbed to the second spot for Honda's two-wheeler business worldwide, and it believes that the fourth plant would help India become its top global market. Honda's decision for a dedicated scooter plant is backed by an overwhelming response to its five scooter brands which have been runaway successes in India.

RBS Q1 PBT at Rs. 419.8 crores

RBS operating profit has improved from 2.07% to 3.11%.

The Royal Bank of Scotland N.V. (RBS) announced its India earnings for the year ending 31st March 2014, registering 58% in profit before tax at Rs. 662.11 crores up from Rs.419.8 crores last year. The profit after tax has grown 60% as well. This outstanding growth has been on the back of a steady and focused execution of a strategy (since 2009) of serving UK, Indian and International clients, a highly disciplined approach to cost management, in a year the market environment was muted and global liquidity put pressure on margins. Brijesh Mehra, Country Executive, RBS said, “We are pleased with the 2014 earning numbers, especially in the context of the fragile domestic as well as global economic environment. Our Debt Capital Markets (DCM) franchise continues to consistently play a lead role in landmark deals, helping the country’s leading corporates raise capital for their growth needs. We have been consistently among the top 5 foreign banks in the country in all our product offerings and in this year, our first in the market RCS product continued to dominate this space.” He further added, “India has firmly set itself on a growth trajectory and we are well poised to work closely with our clients in capturing this opportunity not only in India but globally as well.” Almost all of the key indicators have showed a positive trajectory over the previous year return on assets almost doubled to 1.67 pc, net NPA ratio came down to close to NIL as at 31 March 2014, Operating profit as a % of working funds has improved from 2.07% to 3.11%.

Indian Bonds Rise After Weekly Drop as Higher Yields Draw Buyers

The yield on the 8.4 percent notes maturing July 2024 climbed 13 basis points in the five days through Aug. 1 as the nation auctioned the securities for a second time in as many weeks, increasing supply. The sale saw primary dealers pick up 29.64 billion rupees ($486 million), or about a third of the 2024 debt offered by the government.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year notes fell three basis points, or 0.03 percentage point, to 8.49 percent as of 9:56 a.m. in Mumbai, according to the central bank’s trading system. The rupee rose 0.3 percent today, snapping a two-day decline.

The Reserve Bank of India will probably keep its benchmark repurchase rate unchanged at 8 percent at a policy meeting tomorrow, according to 34 of 36 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Two predict a 25 basis point cut.

One-year interest-rate swaps, derivative contracts used to guard against swings in funding costs, fell three basis points today to 8.36 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show. They dropped four basis points last week.

TVS Motor Company rallies over 6% on July sales numbers

 TVS Motor Company Ltd rallied as much as 6.6 per cent in trade on Monday, after the Chennai-based company reported a 32.15 per cent increase in its total sales at 2,03,092 units in July 2014. 

The company had sold 1,53,676 units in the same month last year, TVS Motor Company said in a statement. 

At 09:45 a.m.; TVS Motor Company was trading 3.9 per cent higher at Rs 158.50. It hit a low of Rs 157 and a high of Rs 162.55 in trade today. 

Total two-wheeler sales increased by 32 per cent to 1,94,128 units in July 2014 as against 1,46,671 units in the same month a year ago. 

Domestic two-wheeler sales stood at 1,64,571 units last month, up 30 per cent, from 1,26,531 units in the year-ago period, it added. 

Brent edges up to $105 but surplus oil still weighs on prices

Brent crude rose to $105 a barrel on Monday to come off of a four-month low hit in the previous session, with worries about global oversupply still outweighing concerns about violence in the Middle East and North Africa. 

Forecasts for a supply glut in West African and European markets help to push the Brent benchmark down 3.3 per cent last week, despite geopolitical tension in Iraq, Libya and Ukraine. 

Strong U.S. economic data that signalled a better demand outlook for oil in the world's largest economy was also unable to support crude markets against the surplus barrels. 

Downward pressure on oil prices is likely to continue, said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at Sydney's CMC Markets, forecasting that Brent could drop further towards $100 a barrel. 

Brent crude rose 16 cents to $105 a barrel by 0402 GMT after falling $1.18 on Friday to $104.84 a barrel, its lowest settlement since April 2. 

U.S. crude for September delivery edged up 10 cents to $97.98 after ending last week at its lowest settlement since Feb. 6. U.S. crude fell more than 4 per cent last week in its biggest weekly decline since January. 

Brent is in its longest contango since early 2011, reflecting weak physical demand, the bank noted. A contango market is when the front-month of a futures contract is trading at a discount to later months, signalling an expectation that prices will fall in coming months. 

Indian rupee opens at 60.90 per dollar; up 28 paise

Exporters will probably sell into any upticks towards 61-61.10/dollar and we will continue to see demand from FIIs as they hedge their open currency positions on dips towards 60.60-60.70/dollar

The Indian rupee gained in the early trade on Monday. It has opened higher 28 paise at 60.90 per dollar versus 61.18 Friday. The dollar index has erased some of its gains but still trades near 10-month highs. The dollar index is near 81.31 levels gaining  over 2 percent for the month. The euro was flat near 1.34.