SBI revises interest rates on bulk deposits

SBI has cut the rates by 25 bps to 8.25% on its 5-10 years bulk deposits from April 10.

The SBI (State Bank of India) has revised the interest rate on bulk deposits after the RBI decided to maintain status quo on policy rates.

The bank has cut the rates by 25 bps to 8.25% on its 5-10 years bulk deposits from April 10, according to a media report.

Aurobindo Pharma receives USFDA nod for Atracurium Besylate Injections.

The approved ANDAs are bioequivalent and therapeutically equivalent to the reference listed drug product (RLD) Atracurium Besylate Injections USP of Eurohealth International Sarl. 

Aurobindo Pharma has received USFDA Approval for Atracurium Besylate Injections.

The approved ANDAs are bioequivalent and therapeutically equivalent to the reference listed drug product (RLD) Atracurium Besylate Injections USP of Eurohealth International Sarl. Atracurium Besylate Injections are indicated as an adjunct to general anesthesia, to facilitate endotracheal intubation and to provide skeletal muscle relaxation during surgery or mechanical ventilation

Aurobindo now has 11 ANDAs (represented by 8 product classes) approved out of Unit IV formulation facility in Hyderabad, India for manufacturing general injectable products and will be marketed and sold by Aurobindo's wholly owned subsidiary AuroMedics Pharma LLC

HDFC hopeful to maintain levels of NIMs post rates cut: Paresh Suthankar

As per the bank's point of view, the change in base rates will not have any impact on the margins.

On Tuesday, Reserve Bank of India decided to keep the repo rate and CRR unchanged at 7.5% and 4% respectively. Later during the day, Dr. Raghuram Rajan had a few tough words for the public and private lenders, who did not lower their rate, despite RBI's surprise rate cut on March 4 ‘15. He said, "The notion that banks' cost of funds hasn't fallen is "nonsense", Dr Rajan said at a press conference, coming down heavily on lenders for not passing the benefits of lower interest rates to consumers.

His words had a spiral effect on most of the banks. After the RBI's announcement, SBI cut its base rate by 15 basis points to 9.85% from 10% which will be effective from 10th April 2015. Following the SBI's steps, HDFC Bank also lowered its base rate by 15 bps to 9.85%. The cut in interest rates is expected to bring some relief to corporate and retail borrowers including for home and auto loans.

In an interview with CNBC TV18, Paresh Suthankar, Executive Director, HDFC Bank, said regarding the rate cut, "There are two elements which sort of enabled this. One, you first needed to get deposit rates to come off and that in turn would enable the dropping of the base rate. Second, we have always been on a marginal deposit rate calculation for the base rate. So, having dropped key deposit rate from 8.75 percent to 8.5 percent for one-year deposits and then recalibrating the base rate, we found that there was room to reduce the base rate".

As per the bank's point of view, the change in base rates will not have any impact on the margins. They tend to maintain the current levels of net interest margins.

Presently, the bank is not looking at further deposit rates cut. It has been reported though, that its competitor bank, SBI is planning to cut one-year deposit rate by 25 basis points in the next six to nine months.

Talking about the outlook towards credit growth, he said, "In terms of credit growth, we have traditionally remained comfortable with looking to grow a little faster than the system and I think we remain positioned for that. I don’t think the marginal change which we have seen in rates itself is going to be a huge figure to change the credit growth number. However, despite the somewhat muted system growth I think we remain positioned to grow little faster than that which is what we have traditionally done".

The range of rates in small savings banks like Indira Vikas Patra, Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), Public Provident Fund (PPF) are all at 8.75. When asked Suthankar, does that deter for the fallen deposits, he said, "By and large one could argue that there is some impact. The reality is that a larger portion of bank deposits as you are aware tend to be of shorter tenures than most of these instruments. So it is a fact that at the longer end clearly the retail depositor will be enticed with a slightly higher returns that they get on the instruments  mentioned but clearly the liquidity, the fact that a lot of retail depositors do look for shorter tenures means that there will be a section of depositors who would be happy to place deposits quarter percent less but with the flexibility which comes with bank deposits". 

Satyam Scam Verdict: Raju found guilty

The CBI found all accused guilty of conspiracy and criminal charges in the Satyam scam case 

The CBI Special Court in Hyderabad today said that former Chairman of Satyam Ramalinga Raju has been found guilty in the Rs 14,000-crore Satyam scam, according to a news on TV channel.

The CBI found all accused guilty of conspiracy and criminal charges in the Satyam scam case. The court would pronounce the sentence on April 10.

Raju has been faced charges of forgery, criminal conspiracy and breach of trust.

The CBI claimed that Satyam scam caused Rs. 14,000 crore loss to Satyam shareholders. 

The case which rocked India Inc and led to a massive upheaval in the software and Information Technology Enabled Service (ITES) industry in the country was investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

During the last hearing on March 9, Special Judge BVLN Chakravarthi said, "On April 9, the judgement will be pronounced. I am making it very clear. April 9 will be the final date for the verdict. No question of further adjournments. Court will not wait."

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SREI Equipment Fin's NCD issue opens today

The company is considering to offer interest rate in the range of 9.75-10.25 per cent with tenures of three to seven years of different categories 

SREI Equipment Finance's NCD issue opened today for subscription and is scheduled to be closed on April 30.

The NCDs are proposed to be listed on BSE and NSE. SREI Equipment Finance proposes to raise up to Rs. 250 crore through a public issue of redeemable nonconvertible debentures with an option to retain oversubscription of an additional amount up to Rs. 500 crore.
The face value of the NCDs is Rs. 1,000 each, amounting to a base issue size of Rs. 250 crore.

The company is considering to offer interest rate in the range of 9.75-10.25 per cent with tenures of three to seven years of different categories, according to a media report.

SREI Capital Markets and Edelweiss Financial Services are the lead managers to the issue. 

SEBI revises FII limit for $-Re pair in F&O

FPIs shall ensure that their short positions at a stock exchange across all contracts in USD-INR pair do not exceed USD 15 million, says SEBI 

The SEBI has increased the limits in the rupee-dollar currency pair for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in the currency derivatives segment (for both long and short positions) from $10 million to $15 million without having any underlying exposure.

SEBI in a notification on Wednesday said, “FPIs may take long as well as short positions per stock exchange upto the following limit without having to establish the existence of any underlying exposure:

(i) USD-INR currency pair: USD 15 million;
(ii) EUR-INR, GBP-INR and JPY-INR currency pairs (all put together): USD 5 million”

SEBI further said, “FPIs shall ensure that their short positions at a stock exchange across all contracts in USD-INR pair do not exceed USD 15 million and do not exceed USD 5 million in EUR-INR, GBP-INR and JPY-INR pairs, all put together.”

In the event a FPI breaches the short position limit, stock exchanges shall restrict the FPI from increasing its existing short positions or creating new short positions in the currency pair till such time FPI complies with the said requirement.

To take long positions in excess of USD 15 million in USD-INR pair and in excess of USD 5 million in EUR-INR, GBP-INR and JPY-INR pairs, all put together, FPIs shall be required to have an underlying exposure in Indian debt or equity securities, including units of equity/debt mutual funds.

F&O total turnover stood at Rs 1,81,220.87 crore on April 8 and the total number of contracts traded on the day were 71,37,137.

Indices remain volatile

The market shaved-off all-the-early gains and slipped into the negative zone, owing to aggressive selling in Pharma shares after foreign investment firm downgraded ratings on the sector. 

The market shaved-off all-the-early gains and slipped into the negative zone, owing to aggressive selling in Pharma shares after foreign investment firm downgraded ratings on the sector.

The BSE Sensex tumbled 253 points from its intra-day high at 28,875 to touch a low at 28,622. The BSE benchmark index, however, is up 30 points at 28,737.

The NSE Nifty also shed 78 points from the day's high at 8,760 to a hit a low at 8,682. The Nifty-50 shares index is now up 18 points at 8,732.

The broader market is out-performing the BSE headline index, the Midcap and Smallcap indices have gained 0.4-0.5 percent each at 11,069 and 11,694, respectively.

In sectors, the BSE Healthcare index has witnessed heavy selling, and is now down over 1.5 percent at 18,278.

The Bankex has spurted a percent at 21,367 and the Metal index has added 0.3 percent at 9,903.

The breadth remains positive - out of 2,152 stocks so far traded on the BSE 1,189 stocks have advanced, while 880 stocks have declined.

Among Healthcare shares - Torrent Power has plunged over 3 percent at Rs. 1,223. Lupin and Sun Pharma have slipped over 2.5 percent each at Rs. 2,034 and Rs. 1,120, respectively.

Cipla, Strides Arcolab, Biocon, Wockhardt, Glenmark Pharma and Dr.Reddy's are the other prominent losers.

On the other hand, Piramal Enterprises has spurted almost a percent at Rs. 905. GlaxoSmithKline and Aurobindo Pharma have gained 0.4-0.7 percent each at Rs. 3,369 and Rs 1,333, respectively.

Indices to open positive

Resistance could set in soon as investors will remain cautious ahead of the earnings season.

India has grown faster than similarly rated peers over the last decade due to favorable demographics, economic diversity, as well as high savings and investment rates, says Moody’s. The rating agency just affirmed the Government of India's Baa3 issuer and senior unsecured ratings and changed the rating outlook to positive from stable. Moody's has also affirmed India's P-3 short-term local currency issuer rating. The driver for the rating outlook change is Moody's view that India's policymakers are establishing a framework that will likely allow India's growth to continue to outperform that of its peers over the medium-term; and improve India's macro-economic, infrastructure and institutional profile.

The Modi government will feel a bit elated as Moody's decision to revise the ratings outlook to positive from stable is based on its view that there is an increasing probability that actions by policy makers will enhance the country's economic strength and, in turn, the sovereign's financial strength over coming years. The government has been pitching with rating agencies for an upgrade saying India deserves a better rating.

Indian equity indices, which ended higher on Wednesday, could see a spurt at start. Resistance could set in soon as investors will remain cautious ahead of the earnings season.

Reliance may remain in focus after it hit upon a very significant gas discovery in the MJ-1 field of the KG-D6 basin. US indices ended with marginal gains reacting to minutes from Federal Reserve meeting which hinted the Fed was on track for an interest rate hike this year.

The Dow rose 0.15%, the S&P 500 added 0.27% and Nasdaq closed 0.8% higher.  Asian indices are in the green but not really very up.

A group of investors led by bulge-bracket private equity firm Advent International along with Temasek, the investment company of the government of Singapore, are set to buy the consumer business of Crompton Greaves, said multiple sources who are directly involved in the deal, according to a report.

The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, said that supporting the small entrepreneurs of India is the biggest way to help the Indian economy grow and prosper. He was speaking at the launch of the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency) Yojana in New Delhi. Stressing the contribution of small entrepreneurs in the economy, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that within a year’s time, the major banks would also adopt the MUDRA model.  

Snapdeal announced that it has acquired FreeCharge, India’s fastest growing mobile transactions platform. This is one of the biggest acquisitions in the history of the internet industry in India and sets up Snapdeal to build the most impactful digital commerce ecosystem in India.

Marking the first divestment of the current fiscal a success, the OFS of Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) was fully subscribed. The REC OFS has received bids for 5.45 crore as against the issue size of 4.93 crore shares. The issue is subscribed 1.1 times which in the general category, it was subscribed 1.24 times.

Earlier, the government had fixed the floor price for the proposed 5% stake sale in Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) at Rs 315 per share. The indicative price was at Rs.316 per share as compared to floor price of Rs.315 per share.

Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Shell has reportedly agreed to buy out Britain-based BG Group, and the estimated size of the deal is GBP 47 billion in cash and stock. If the deal comes through, it would be the first merger in a decade for two oil firms, which would then look to close the gap with the world's largest oil major, ExxonMobil. 

Shares of real-estate companies were in focus after the government approved setting up of a regulator to protect home buyers and improve the credibility of the real estate sector.

Sobha and HDIL were up over 3% each at Rs. 412 and Rs. 133, respectively. Unitech and Indiabulls Real Estate rallied 2.3 percent each to Rs. 17.50 and Rs. 72, respectively.

Videocon Industries ended 3% higher to Rs. 160 after company's arm Videocon d2h made its debut on Nasdaq, raising $ 325 mn through issuance of American Depository Receipts (ADRs).

Glenmark Pharma ended 5% higher to Rs. 884 after the company approved hike in FII investment limit from 35.07 percent to 49 percent.

Dr.Reddy's Laboratories closed 2% up at Rs. 3,755 on the back of filing three new NDAs (New Drug Applications) with the US FDA. 

Coal India stock ended 6% higher to Rs. 380 on reports that the government lifted its ban on the limit of e-auction sales. 

IFCI stock ended 3% higher to Rs 34 after the Government of India increased its holding from 47.93 percent to 51.04 percent of the paid-up share capital of the company.

Reliance Industries closed 4% higher to Rs. 865 on reports that a foreign investment firm (Morgan Stanley) has retained its overweight stance on the company.

Ceat is trading on a positive note on media reports that the company is planning to raise around Rs. 250-300 crore from private equity firms and has mandated Kotak Investment Banking as advisor.

Sesa Sterlite stock ended 2% lower  following a ratings downgrade on the parent company.