ForexTime.com on the GBPUSD reaching 1.53 before the BoE decision

The GBPUSD is continuing to trade with high volatility, but the technical traders are probably enjoying some of the present opportunities available in the pair

Traders have once again received positive encouragement that the 1.51 level for the GBPUSD is a probable “bottom” this week after the pair managed to strongly rally away from this level, and towards a two-week high at 1.5320. The GBPUSD is continuing to trade with high volatility, but the technical traders are probably enjoying some of the present opportunities available in the pair. Not only is 1.51 looking like very stubborn support, but the daily timeframe points out that the GBPUSD is also strictly abiding to its Simple Moving Averages (SMA).
 
Despite the significant 200 pip rally over the previous two trading days, the daily timeframe shows that the pair is now facing heavy resistance at 1.5328 with this not only being yesterday’s high, but also the 200 SMA. If the GBPUSD is not able to surpass this resistance, there is actually a technical threat of another sharp pullback towards the 1.51 support. There is a risk for another sudden shift of momentum in the GBPUSD if Thursday’s Bank of England (BoE) interest rate decision suggests that the central bank are going to delay raising UK interest rates until far into the second half of 2016.
 
What happens if the GBPUSD continues to rally? There will be some anticipation over whether the pair can make its way towards 1.55 but this could be blocked by the 50 and 100 SMA’s, which are between the respective 1.5436 and 1.5488 levels on the daily timeframe. At the end of the day and if you are a long-term investor of the GBPUSD, you are likely going to want to wait until the pair surpasses its moving averages before gaining confidence that there is further potential for the GBPUSD to enter a stronger rally as we continue into the final quarter of the year.
 
Further USD weakness would help the chances of this, although we have noticed very recently that any risk-off attitude from investors can strongly damage investor attraction for the GBPUSD. 

ICICI Bank launches in-store mobile-based payments with ‘mVisa’

With this service, users of ‘Pockets’ can make cashless payments from their smartphones using their debit card by simply scanning a ‘mVisa’ Quick Response (QR) code at a merchant location without swiping the card at an EDC machine.

ICICI Bank Limited, India’s largest private sector bank, announced the launch of a service, enabling customers to make electronic payments from their smartphones at physical stores, e-commerce & other deliveries at home, radio taxis and utility billers among others. This service is based on ‘mVisa’, a new mobile payment solution from Visa. ICICI Bank is the first bank globally to launch a mobile app based ‘mVisa’ solution for consumers and merchants.
 
With this service, users of ‘Pockets’ can make cashless payments from their smartphones using their debit card by simply scanning a ‘mVisa’ Quick Response (QR) code at a merchant location without swiping the card at an EDC machine. This service provides customers the convenience of speed to complete a transaction along with enhanced security as the card remains in possession of the customer.
 
To use this facility, a customer is simply required to click on the ‘mVisa’ icon on the home screen of the ‘Pockets’ app. The app automatically activates the camera in the phone, allowing customers to scan the QR code and enter their debit card PIN.  
 
Speaking at the launch, Rajiv Sabharwal, Executive Director, ICICI Bank, said: “We have always leveraged technology to introduce digital innovations and provide a world-class banking experience to our customers. Many of these were firsts in the industry like Internet, Mobile, Tab and Touch Banking among others. We are delighted to partner with Visa to introduce yet another first - a payment solution that will allow cashless payments using smartphones at many more locations than are currently available. While there are 570 million debit cards in the country, there are only 1.1 million point-of-sale (POS) machines available for card payments. This restricts cashless payments to be made only at a certain category of merchants. We believe that the simplicity of this technology will allow us to address this market gap and enable digital payments for an array of untapped categories such as home deliveries, cab services, and small merchants. We believe that this solution will herald a shift in the adoption of electronic payments in the country.”
 
TR Ramachandran, Visa Group Country Manager India and South Asia, said: “We congratulate ICICI Bank on the launch of mVisa which brings the convenience of electronic payments into the phones of their customers. The mVisa solution will enable consumers to engage in secure and convenient payments, and more easily access funds in their existing bank accounts to make everyday purchases and pay utility bills. mVisa will provide the benefits of electronic payments to thousands of consumers and small merchants across India, in line with the Government’s digital India mission.”
 
Said Swarup Choudhury, Managing Director, First Data India & ICICI Merchant Services: “ICICI Merchant Services is pleased to enroll merchants for accepting mVisa payments for purchases. It gives us immense pride to be the first acquirer in the country to launch such an innovative payment product to our esteemed merchants. Through our association with ICICI Bank & Visa, we are shaping up the retail electronic payments landscape in the country. With the introduction of mVisa, we continue to focus on delivering world class innovative payment solutions that help merchants win in their businesses every day. The rise of smartphones & surge in electronic payment acceptance has carved the way for this innovative yet cost efficient payment product. Going forward, we will continue to deliver leading & technologically advanced electronic payment solutions, transforming the way business is done.” ICICI Merchant Services is the company who enrolls merchants for accepting ‘mVisa’ payments for purchases.
 

SEBI forms a committee to improve disclosure standards of financial products, including mutual funds

SEBI has formed a committee on Disclosure and Accounting Standards (SCODA) to seek recommendation on improving disclosure standards of financial products including mutual funds.

SEBI has formed a committee on Disclosure and Accounting Standards (SCODA) to seek recommendation on improving disclosure standards of financial products including mutual funds through offer documents, application forms and advertisements.

The 17-member committee was formed on September 03. Ishaat Hussain, Director-Finance, Tata Sons is heading this committee as the chairman. Milind Barve, Managing Director, HDFC MF is the member from the mutual fund industry in this committee.

The committee will also give its recommendation on improving disclosure requirements of financial intermediaries registered with SEBI like Registered Investment Advisers (RIAs) and stock brokers.

Glenmark Pharma stock slips 2%; Delhi HC restrains from selling anti-diabetes drugs

Report says that Delhi High Court restrained Glenmark Pharmaceuticals from manufacturing and selling its anti-diabetes drugs Zita and Zita-Met, saying it has infringed the patent of the American company.

Shares of Glenmark Pharmaceutical Ltd were lower by 2% at Rs. 1014. 

Report says that Delhi High Court restrained Glenmark Pharmaceuticals from manufacturing and selling its anti-diabetes drugs Zita and Zita-Met, saying it has infringed the patent of the American company.

The scrip opened at Rs. 1032 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 1032 and Rs. 1010 respectively. So far 222680(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 29142.5 crore.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 1261.95 on 21-Aug-2015 and a 52 week low of Rs. 697.55 on 08-Oct-2014. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 1074.9 and Rs. 1025.95 respectively.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 46.45 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 42.81 % and 10.75 % respectively.

The stock is currently trading above its 50 DMA.

HDFC Mutual Fund files offer document for Dual Advantage Fund-Series II

HDFC Mutual Fund has filed offer document with SEBI to launch a close-ended income scheme named as “HDFC Dual Advantage Fund-Series II”.

HDFC Mutual Fund has filed offer document with SEBI to launch a close-ended income scheme named as “HDFC Dual Advantage Fund-Series II”. The New Fund Offer price is Rs. 10 per unit. Entry load and exit load will be Nil for the scheme. The scheme offers growth and Dividend option and seeks to collect a Minimum Target Amount of Rs. 20 crores.

The scheme will be benchmarked against CRISIL Debt Hybrid 75+25 Fund Index for Plan(s) having tenure up to 42 months and CRISIL Debt Hybrid 60+40 Fund Index for Plan(s) having tenure greater than 42 months to 66 months. The minimum application amount is Rs 5,000 and in multiple of Rs. 10 thereafter.

The investment objective of the scheme is to generate income by investing in a portfolio of debt and money market securities which mature on or before the date of maturity of the Scheme. The scheme also seeks to invest a portion of the portfolio in equity and equity related securities to achieve capital appreciation.

ITC Falls as Uttar Pradesh Bans Sale of Loose Cigarette Sticks

Around 70 per cent of the cigarette sales in India are in loose stick forms

Tobacco major ITC came under sharp selling pressure on Thursday, and languished at the bottom of the 50-share Nifty with over 2 per cent cut.

Traders attributed the selloff in ITC shares to Uttar Pradesh government's decision to ban the sale of loose cigarette sticks in the state. UP is India's most populous state, and contributes 3-4 per cent to ITC's volumes.

Around 70 per cent of the cigarette sales in India are in loose stick forms, so the ban on sale of loose cigarette sticks will hit ITC's sales volume, analysts said.

UP is the second state after Punjab to ban the sale of single stick cigarette sales. According to reports, Maharashtra is also planning to ban sale of loose cigarettes.

ITC has also been weighed down by repeated hikes in excise duty on cigarettes; excise duty on cigarettes has gone up by 30 per cent in the past 18 months.

The selloff in ITC impacted the broader Nifty, which traded lower after six days of rally. ITC is the fourth most influential stock in the blue chip Nifty index.

As of 09.50 a.m., ITC shares were down 2.1 per cent at Rs 340 as compared to 0.4 per cent fall in the Nifty.        

Nifty Struggles at Around 8150, ITC Falls 2%

BSE Sensex and Nifty struggled today as the six-day rally showed signs of stalling. The Sensex was down 9 points at 27,026 while Nifty was off 3 points at 8,173.

Here Are Top 10 Developments:

1) IT stocks rebounded following losses in the past two sessions. HCL Tech, Infosys and Wipro were up over 1 per cent. HCL Tech had suffered nearly 17 per cent losses in the past four sessions following a revenue warning.

2) Selling pressure was seen in banking stocks with ICICI Bank, SBI and Bank of Baroda among losers.

3) Some profit-taking was seen in oil & gas and metal stocks following their sharp gains in yesterday's sessions. Also, the recent global rally in commodity prices showed signs of softening.

4) ITC fell nearly 2 per cent after Uttar Pradesh banned the sales of loose cigarettes.

5) Analysts don't see significant upside for domestic markets from current levels in the short term. Traders are likely to turn cautious ahead of the earnings season and 8200-8300 is a tough nut to crack for Nifty, says Sanjiv Bhasin of IIFL.

6) Avinnash Gorakssakar of Precision Investment Services says that as long as 8100 level is held markets may see a consolidation in the near term. The Street has muted expectations about the September quarter earnings so any positive surprise could take markets higher, he added.

7) IndusInd Bank kicks off the earnings season this Friday when announces its September quarter results.

8) Foreign investors have been big buyers of Indian stocks so far this month. This is a big turnaround after they sold over Rs 20,000 crore worth of Indian equities (net) in the previous two months. The resumption of buying from foreign investors has provided strong support to domestic markets. Analysts don't see significant downside risks from current levels.

9) However, domestic institutional investors, who have all along been buyers of Indian equities in the past few months, have been net sellers in the past two sessions, putting pressure on stocks at higher levels.

10) Asian markets were mixed today despite overnight gains on Wall Street. Japan's Nikkei was down 0.44 per cent. But China stocks surged more than 3 per cent as investors returned from a week-long break that saw a rally across global markets.

Tech Mahindra jumps on collaboration with Transport Systems Catapult

The company agreed to collaborate with Transport Systems Catapult to develop Intelligent Mobility solutions that address the growing capacity, operational efficiency and interoperability challenges faced by the UK supply chain and freight and logistics industries.

Tech Mahindra has gained in early morning deals on the BSE, after the company agreed to collaborate with Transport Systems Catapult (TSC), to develop Intelligent Mobility solutions that address the growing capacity, operational efficiency and interoperability challenges faced by the UK supply chain and freight and logistics industries. TSC is one of the nine elite technology and innovation centres established by Innovate UK.

The scrip opened at Rs. 567.7 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 572.5 and Rs. 564.2 respectively. So far 186460(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 54396.07 crore.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 749.5 on 02-Feb-2015 and a 52 week low of Rs. 458.7 on 06-Jul-2015. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 578.6 and Rs. 538.2 respectively.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 36.68 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 48.15 % and 15.17 % respectively.

The stock is currently trading below its 200 DMA.

17 Stocks in focus today

Check out the companies which will be in focus during trade today based on recent and latest news developments.

Tech Mahindra: Tech Mahindra agreed to collaborate with Transport Systems Catapult (TSC), to develop Intelligent Mobility solutions that address the growing capacity, operational efficiency and interoperability challenges faced by the UK supply chain and freight and logistics industries. TSC is one of the nine elite technology and innovation centres established by Innovate UK.

Corporation Bank: Corporation Bank further revised its benchmark lending rate by 0.05 per cent to 9.65 per cent.

Reliance Infrastructure Ltd: Reliance Infrastructure has decided to exit the cement business by putting privately held Reliance Cements up for sale.

Aban Offshore Ltd: The company informed BSE that Deep Drilling 1 Pte. Ltd ("DD1PL"), a wholly owned step down subsidiary of the company announces that DD1PL is considering certain amendments to the bond agreement dated December 20, 2011.

Jubilant Life Sciences: The pharma company has received approval from the US health regulator to market Indomethacin capsule used for treating pains.

Dhanlaxmi Bank: Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance and Dhanlaxmi Bank have tied-up for the latter to become a corporate agent of the insurer.

DLF: The company said that its board will meet on October 8 to discuss the recommendations made by a committee on ways to drive the growth of company's rental business worth Rs 2,400 crore.

Tata Motors Ltd: The company has launched its two latest car models in South Africa after a gap of three years in a bid to become a bigger player in the highly competitive market of the country.

NMDC: The company announced it has incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary company by the name Jharkhand Kolhan Steel on 24 September 2015 for development of Steel Plant in the State of Jharkhand through SPV route.

Tata Steel: The company which will commission a three million ton steel plant in Kalinganagar by December, plans to scale up its operations gradually, as per media reports.

Glenmark: In a relief for US drug major Merck Sharp and Dohme, the Delhi High Court today restrained Glenmark Pharmaceuticals from manufacturing and selling its anti-diabetes drugs Zita and Zita-Met, saying it has infringed the patent of the American company.

Cairn India: The Government will reportedly seek a higher share of revenue from Cairn India’s Barmer hydrocarbon block as a pre-condition for extending the production-sharing contract (PSC) for the same by 10 years to 2030.

Apollo Hospitals: Apollo Sugar Clinics Ltd (ASCL), a group company of Apollo Hospitals Group, has opened four single specilaity and diabetes clinics in Vile Parle, Kandivali, Chembur and Tardeo. The company is planning to raise up to Rs.1,000 crore through a rights issue and private equity investment to expand its hospital network and specialty clinics, as per media reports.

Man Industries:The company has announced that it has bagged orders worth Rs. 700 crores. With these new orders, the outstanding order book stands at Rs. 1300 crores to be executed over the next 6-8 months.

KEC International: The company has secured new orders amounting Rs. 6.68 billion in its transmission and distribution and cables business. 

Redington India: Redington (India) Ltd, through its step down subsidiary Redington Gulf FZE, is planning to acquire Turkey-based Oracle distributor Linkplus over a period of time.

Punj Lloyd: The company announced receiving Rs. 488 crore worth of projects in the power sector including its first two wins in the Transmission and Distribution segment.

Indices slip into red; banking, FMCG stocks drag

Some buying activity is seen in IT, consumer durables, pharma, auto and metal sectors, while banking, fmcg and oil & gas sectors are showing weakness on BSE. The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading down 0.05% at 11,051, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 0.29% at 11,377.

At 9:17 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 27,019 down 17 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,172 down mere six points.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading down 0.05% at 11,051, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 0.29% at 11,377.

Some buying activity is seen in IT, consumer durables, pharma, auto and metal sectors, while banking, fmcg and oil & gas sectors are showing weakness on BSE.

Vedanta, Wipro, Infosys, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Dr. Reddy's and Maruti Suzuki are among the gainers, whereas ITC, Hindalco, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries are losing sheen on BSE.

Indian Rupee today opened at 65.03/$ lower by 5 paise in early trade on Thursday. On the global front, the US market, biotechnology companies boosted the S&P 500 to its highest level in three weeks. The Dow rose 0.73% while NASDAQ added close to a percent. The S&P 500 ended 0.8% percent higher. Japan is down as its core machinery orders unexpectedly fell 5.7% in August from the previous month raising worries about the strength of capital expenditure there.