SBI gains on plan to spend Rs 4, 000 crore on digital services upgrade

State Bank of India is currently trading at Rs. 273.00, up by 2.10 points or 0.78% from its previous closing of Rs. 270.90 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 270.60 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 274.60 and Rs. 270.25 respectively. So far 373648 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 335.90 on 28-Jan-2015 and a 52 week low of Rs. 234.52 on 08-Oct-2014.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 274.60 and Rs. 261.90 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 206822.29 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 58.60% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 30.45% and 8.81% respectively.

State Bank of India (SBI) has increased its information technology (IT) budget by a third this financial year as part of its strategy to improve its digital offerings. The bank will spend nearly Rs.4,000 crore before March 2016 and significantly upgrade its IT back-end, while also investing in new equipment for the 250 InTouch Lite branches it plans to add during the year.

The InTouch Lite branches will have devices for customers to help themselves while opening a new account, getting a new debit card, transferring or depositing money, planning for savings and applying for new loans.

The bank has posted a rise of 65.52% in its net profit at Rs 134.42 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 as compared to Rs 81.21 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the bank has increased by 11.55% at Rs 1308.04 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 1172.58 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014.

Transformers and Rectifiers bags order worth Rs 124 crore

Transformers and Rectifiers (India) has bagged order worth Rs 124 crore from Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation (GETCO). With this order, the company’s order book as on date stands around Rs 900 crore.

Transformers and Rectifiers (India) is one of India’s leading transformer manufacturers. The company is the main supplier of transformers to the Sardar Sarovar hydel project, state electricity boards and major international clients.

Yes Bank enters into partnership with Citrix

Yes Bank, India’s fifth largest private sector Bank, has entered into partnership with Citrix to achieve workspace mobility and faster rollout of new branches. The bank has announced the adoption of Citrix Workspace Cloud and Netscaler ADC to empower workforce mobility and ensure faster rollout of new branches.

With this adoption, Yes Bank sets a new standard of service delivery management, allowing secure and controlled delivery of all enterprise and cloud services to maximize the end user experience including mobile clients.

Citrix is a leader in mobile workspaces, providing virtualization, mobility management, networking and cloud services to enable new ways to work better.

Union Bank launches digital initiatives for its customers in Mumbai

Union Bank of India has launched digital initiatives for its customers in Mumbai. In this regard, the bank is looking for open 100 digital branches. The digital culture has percolated to other employees of the bank and is now being extended to the customers as well.

The bank’s net profit slipped by 23.34% at Rs 443.77 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 as compared to Rs 578.91 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014. Its total Income grew by 11.11% to Rs 9383.71 crore for the quarter under review from Rs 8444.95 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Gold futures end higher on Monday

Gold futures ended higher on Monday, after Greek voters rejected terms of a bailout plan demanded by its international creditors, deepening the country's economic woes, and offsetting pressure from a rising US dollar.

Gold futures for August delivery gained $9.70 or 0.8 % to settle at $1,173.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. While, spot gold was up by 0.2 percent at $1,170.01 an ounce.

Developments in Greece could have implications on international currency market: Sitharaman

The day Indian chief economic advisor (CEA) tried to soothe the nerves of the investors, dismissing the possibility of any material impact on the Indian economy from the developments in Greece, anticipating some impact on the rupee from investors pulling out in fear, the Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has supported the view and said that the government is “very closely” monitoring the developments in Greece as that could have implications on the international currency market. Sitharaman stated that 'I think the Greece affair is going to play out for a few more days and we will certainly have to watch that...India's foreign exchange reserves are comfortable. The RBI and the government are very closely monitoring the developments. I think we have to be alert and keep watching what is happening.' The Commerce and Industry Minister though said that is too early to gauge the impact on the domestic currency as it is euro vs dollar taking a fluctuation with euro resulting in further weakening and all this is going to have an implication on the international currency market. Sitharaman also said that negotiations of India-EU free trade agreement will not get impacted by the development as chief negotiators have been mandated. India and the European Union are expected to resume negotiations in August on the proposed free trade agreement for boosting two-way commerce and investment.

Crude oil slumps to three months low on Greek development

Crude oil futures plunged on Monday to end at three months low; on demand growth concerns after Greek voters rejected a bailout offer proposed by its international creditors. The 'no' vote in the referendum has added to recent concerns about Greece defaulting and exiting from the eurozone. Prices were also impacted on rising concerns of a global oversupply situation with a potential nuclear deal between Iran and the West in the offing. The two sides are expected to come to an agreement over Iran's nuclear program, the deadline for which is Tuesday.

Benchmark crude oil futures for August delivery slumped by $4.40 or 7.7 percent, to settle at $52.53 a barrel after trading in a range of $55.34 and $52.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for August delivery fell by around 6 percent to $56.55 a barrel on the ICE.

Nifty holds 8500 amid consolidation; HDFC, Wipro, CIL gain

10:15 am Oil Update: Oil rebounded in Asia today on bargain-hunting after prices plunged a day earlier as Greek defiance against austerity measures imposed by its creditors sparked turbulence in global markets. Prices rose ahead of an emergency summit on Greece by eurozone leaders in Brussels on Tuesday, after Greek citizens overwhelmingly rejected creditors' demands for further belt-tightening in a referendum. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August delivery advanced 47 cents to USD 53.00 in late-morning Asian trade after plummeting nearly 8.0 percent, or USD 4.43, in US closing deals yesterday. Brent crude for August gained 69 cents to USD 57.23 after retreating more than 6.0 percent, or USD 3.78, in London. 10:00 am Market Check The market entered into consolidation mode after pricing in Greece crisis. The near term key trigger for the market would be April-June quarter earnings and monsoon. The Sensex rose 43.93 points to 28252.69 and the Nifty advanced 16.15 points to 8538.30. The broader markets outperformed benchmarks; the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.6 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively. The market breadth remained positive as about 1398 shares have advanced against 465 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange. HDFC, Wipro and Coal India topped the buying list on Sensex, up 1-2 percent followed by ICICI Bank, Infosys, State Bank of India, Axis Bank and M&M with marginal gains. However, Reliance Industries, HUL, Lupin, Tata Motors, ITC, NTPC and ONGC declined 0.2-1 percent.

Warburg Pincus eyes stake in L&T Finance, stock up 9%

Shares of  L&T Finance Holdings climbed 9 percent intraday Tuesday. Sources told CNBC-TV18 that US private equity firm Warburg Pincus is in talks to buy 25 percent equity stake in the company. The deal with L&T Finance will trigger an open offer, if successful but L&T , the parent company, will continue to retain majority stake in company, said sources. The PE firm is also in talks with more than one financial services player and is keenly looking to acquire significant interest in business and finance services companies. Media report indicated that the financial services arm of L&T has pitched for a deal price of Rs 83 per share and the offer price translates to a deal size of Rs 3,574 crore for a 25 percent stake. However, L&T Finance said it does not comment on speculative news reports. "We regularly meet investors as part of our investor relations exercise," it reasoned. Larsen and Toubro holds 72.95 percent stake in L&T Finance Holdings (as of June 2015) that reported a profit of Rs 854.7 crore on revenue of Rs 6,196.2 crore in the financial year 2014-15. At 09:50 hours IST, the scrip of L&T Finance Holdings was quoting at Rs 71.85, up Rs 5.40, or 8.13 percent on the BSE.

Nifty at 8550, Sensex firm; Asian Paints, BPCL gainers

After a massive rally in late trade yesterday, the market has opened with gains on Tuesday. The Sensex is up 85.75 points or 0.3 percent at 28294.51 and the Nifty is up 28.55 points or 0.3 percent at 8550.70. About 657 shares have advanced, 107 shares declined, and 59 shares are unchanged. HDFC, Tata Steel Wipro, Cipla and Coal India are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Hindalco, Dr Reddy's Labs, Reliance, NTPC and ONGC. Asian Paints, BPCL are top Nifty gainers on weak crude prices. Crude tumbled over 7 percent overnight amid the Iran nuclear deal negotiations, the Greece debt drama and volatility in Chinese stocks. Nymex crude fell more than 7 percent to USD 52 per barrel after Greece’s rejection of debt bailout and China rolling out emergency measures to support its stock market. Brent crude fell 6.3 percent to USD 56.50/bbl, below 100 DMA, biggest slide in last three months. Adding to the pressure on oil markets, Iran and global powers were trying to meet a July 7 deadline on a nuclear deal, which could add more oil to oversupplied markets if sanctions on Iran are eased. The self-imposed deadline could be extended again, officials at the negotiations said. Asian markets are mixed bag after the sharp knock yesterday. Nikkei has bounced back smartly though the yen is hovering sub 123. The Kospi has come off 0.7 percent from day’s high while the rest of Asia is trading in the green. US stocks closed mildly lower, recovering from sharp opening losses on selloff overseas, as traders shook off concerns of contagion from the Greece debt crisis. Bond yields held lower, with the 10-year yield near 2.30 percent. In Europe, equities closed lower, after Greece voted "no" to reform proposals in the country's referendum on Sunday and the Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis resigned. Peripheral indices suffered the most, with Italy’s FTSE closing around 4 percent lower.