YES Bank launches fully-automated Current Account for SMEs

This new product is an outcome of an extensive market research the Bank had commissioned in association with A C Nielsen, and data analytics derived from transactions of more than 1 lakh existing clients over a period of over 3 years to account for economic cycles

YES Bank, India’s fifth largest private sector bank, has launched a fully-revamped, first-of-its-kind Current Account proposition aimed at placing the power of choice in the hands of the business consumer.

This new product is an outcome of an extensive market research the Bank had commissioned in association with A C Nielsen, and data analytics derived from transactions of more than 1 lakh existing clients over a period of over 3 years to account for economic cycles. YES BANK discovered that most business clients would like to pay for what they use and not for the entire gamut of services that are typically bundled in the ready-made solutions offered by banks currently. At the same time, fluctuations in business requirements were not addressed adequately and quickly enough by the existing Current Account propositions, thus making banking a hassle.

Armed with these findings, YES BANK has launched a dynamic and integrated Current Account proposition which offers three tiers – Edge Business, Prime Business and Exclusive Business – and a business owner can choose to start at any of the three tiers according to his own business requirements but with the same minimum balance commitment. The Bank will periodically review the customer’s usage of the Current Account and, will automatically upgrade the Account to a higher tier if applicable. In addition to this, customers can avail a range of value-added banking facilities such as Cash Management Services, Trade Forex and Remittances, Doorstep Banking, Scan Banking and Payment Gateway.

Business owners who want the best-in-class products, dedicated relationship manager and lifestyle privileges can subscribe to YES First Business, the premium banking service for businesses.

Speaking about the launch, Pralay Mondal, Senior Group President, Retail and Business Banking, YES BANK Ltd. said, “We realize that businesses have heightened expectation of innovation and high quality service from banks. YES BANK has reinvented business thinking and has redesigned a traditional banking product like Current Account into a proposition which is on complete auto-mode and our clients, therefore, will not have to go through the trouble of constantly keeping track of operational end of their account. They can now focus completely on taking their business to the next level, with YES BANK being their trusted partner.”

YES BANK has been at the forefront of innovation through products and services that offer convenient Banking solutions. It recently launched 30 branches exclusively for offering banking products to SME segment. It has also set up more than 110 Cash Deposit Machines across the country which is a self-service kiosk that enables deposit of cash directly into a YES BANK account.

L&T bags order worth Rs. 1404 crore

A major order has been received for an electrif ication u pgradation work in the Middle East from a prestigious customer.

The construction arm of Larsen & Toubro Limited has won orders worth Rs. 1404 crores across various business verticals.

Power Transmission & Distribution:

The business has won orders worth Rs. 1014 crores.

A major order has been received  for an electrif ication u pgradation work in the Midd le East from a prestigious customer.

Another additional International order has also been bagged by Larsen & Tou bro (Oman ) LLC, a subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro Limited, for an additional third and fourth transformer unit of 132/33kV, 125 MVA at Madi nat Barka and Al Khad ra Grid Stations from Oman Electricity Transmission Company Limited.

Tata Steel gains 1%; to divest part of foreign ops

The company is expecting Rs. 3,000 Cr from Long Product Biz sale in Europe, says report.

Tata Steel stock was up by 1% at Rs. 252. Report says that the company is planning to divest Part Of Foreign Ops.The company will review European Ops, says report.

The company is expecting Rs.3,000 Cr from Long Product Biz sale in Europe, says report.

The scrip opened at Rs. 249 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 253.7 and Rs. 246.95 respectively. So far 2710028(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 24328.95 crore.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 384.2 on 06-May-2015 and a 52 week low of Rs. 200 on 29-Sep-2015. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 256.5 and Rs. 211.3 respectively.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 31.35 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 38.79 % and 29.86 % respectively.

The stock is currently trading below its 200 DMA.

Rupee & Bond markets shut today

The US dollar continued to hold on at higher levels seen in a week against a basket of currencies on Thursday, as investors eyed the release of US data later in the day.

On February 19, Indian Rupee and Bond Market will be closed on account of Shivaji Jayanti. USDINR pair closed neutral on Thursday. The US dollar continued to hold on at higher levels seen in a week against a basket of currencies on Thursday, as investors eyed the release of US data later in the day. The dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a trade‐weighted basket of six major currencies, was at 96.98. In US, minutes of the recent FOMC policy meeting revealed that several members of Federal Reserve concurred that the recent turmoil in financial markets calls for a pause in the process of policy normalization until calmness in restored in the markets.

On Thursday, the rupee ended at 68.46/$, marginally up 1 paise from its previous close of 68.47/$ on Wednesday. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reference rate for the dollar stood at 68.49 and for Euro stood at 76.32 on February 18, 2016. While, the RBI’s reference rate for the Yen stood at 60.15, the reference rate for the Great Britain Pound (GBP) stood at 97.8642.

State Bank of India raises Rs. 3,000 crore via bond issue

The bank issued 30,000, Basel III compliant, Tier-ll bonds in the nature of debentures, of face value of Rs.10,00,000/- each at par, with 10 year tenure, bearing 8.45% p.a. coupon and with call option after 5 years, aggregating to Rs.3,000 crore on a private placement basis.

State Bank of India has informed the BSE that the bank, on February 18, issued 30,000, Basel III compliant, Tier-ll bonds in the nature of debentures, of face value of Rs.10,00,000/- each at par, with 10 year tenure, bearing 8.45% p.a. coupon and with call option after 5 years, aggregating to Rs.3,000 crores on private placement basis.

Stock view:

State Bank of India is currently trading at Rs. 161.5, up by Rs. 1.95 or 1.22% from its previous closing of Rs. 159.55 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 158.3 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 162.8 and Rs. 157 respectively. So far 4507659(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 123855.11 crore.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 315.8 on 04-Mar-2015 and a 52 week low of Rs. 148.3 on 12-Feb-2016. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 171 and Rs. 148.3 respectively.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 60.18 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 28.55 % and 9.32 % respectively.

The stock is currently trading above its 200 DMA.

HDFC Bank carrying out modifications to $1.2 bn Bahrain bonds

S&P lowered its long and short term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on the Kingdom of Bahrain to BB/B (stable) from BBB-/A3 (negative).

HDFC Bank Ltd has informed BSE that the bank has outstanding bonds totaling to approximately USD 1.20 bn issued from Bahrain branch. These bonds have a dual rating from Standard & Poor’s (S&P) of BBB- and Moody’s of Baa3. Rating of HDFC Bank by S&P and Moody’s is at BBB- and Baa3 respectively.

On February 17, 2016, S&P lowered its long and short term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on the Kingdom of Bahrain to BB/B (stable) from BBB-/A3 (negative).

The rating criteria published by S&P restricts the rating of any bond issued in a jurisdiction to the host country rating. Consequent to the recent rating action on Bahrain, the bonds issued by HDFC Bank may also be subject to rating action by S&P. The bank is in the process of carrying out modifications to the structure of all the issuances done from Bahrain in order to ensure that the Bonds issued by HDFC Bank are insulated from any rating actions on the host country.

Stock commentary:
HDFC Bank Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 985, down by Rs. 4.6 or 0.46% from its previous closing of Rs. 989.6 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 989 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 989 and Rs. 982 respectively. So far 33451(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 249982.17 crore.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 1127.9 on 21-Jul-2015 and a 52 week low of Rs. 944.7 on 07-May-2015. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 996 and Rs. 959.1 respectively.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 21.51 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 43.59 % and 16.17 % respectively.

The stock is currently trading above its 200 DMA.

RIL, SpiceJet, Punjab National Bank, among 18 Stocks in focus today

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

Punjab National Bank: Vijay Mallya on Thursday dismissed Punjab National Bank's (PNB) move to declare him as a 'wilful defaulter', saying that PNB was not the only bank in the country and that he will do what he has to do.

RIL: Reliance Gas Pipeline Ltd (RGPL),  a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd has received the final environment clearance for its Rs 1,428 crore project to build a 486-km long pipeline.

Jet Airways: Etihad Airways is planning to increase stake in Jet Airways to 49% from 24%, according to reports.

SpiceJet: For the ninth consecutive month in a row, SpiceJet has once again recorded the highest passenger load factor of all airlines in India.

Indian Oil Corp: IOCL will likely take a 40% stake in the country's largest refinery project slated to come up on the western coast in Maharashtra, while two other state refiners—Bharat Petroleum ( BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum may own 20% each.

HDFC: Housing Development Finance corporation Ltd (HDFC) has announced that it will raise Rs. 500 crore via issuance of Secured Redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) via private placement.

Shriram EPC Limited: Shriram EPC Limited (SEPC) has been awarded multiple orders amounting to Rs 214 crore.

Pincon Spirit Ltd : PSL has acquired Orbitol Solutions Pte Ltd, a Singapore incorporated company for an undisclosed sum. OSPL is engaged in the business of merchant trading and agricultural commodities.

Indigo: Passengers carried by domestic airlines during Jan 2016 were 76.55 lakhs as against 62.45 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year thereby registering a growth of 22.58%, according to DGCA data.

Cairn India: Cairn, subsidiary of UK- based Vedanta group, cannot be allowed to export excess crude from its Rajasthan oil field as it is a policy to ensure that there can be no export till domestic demand is met, government has told the Delhi High Court.

Cipla: The pharma company announced that its UK arm, Cipla (EU) has closed the USD 550 mn deal to acquire two US-based firms, InvaGen Pharmaceuticals and Exelan Pharmaceuticals.

RPP Infra Projects: The company has said in a notice to BSE that it has bagged two additional orders from Engineering Projects India Ltd (A Govt of Indian Enterprise) worth Rs. 585mn.

BHEL: The company successfully commissioning a 270 MW coal-based power project in Punjab.

NTPC: NTPC Energy Technology Research Alliance (NETRA), the research and development arm of NTPC will be collaborating with two German institutions for research in solar thermal and solar photovoltaic technologies.

BPCL: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has purchased 50% stake held by Financial Institutions (FIs) in Sabarmati Gas Limited (SGL) at a total cost of Rs. 102.24 crore. The remaining 50% holding of FIs has been purchased by Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Limited (GSPC)/Gujarat State Petronet Limited (GSPL). 

  Blue Star: Blue Star is aiming for a 12 per cent market share in room ACs in FY17 with the launch of its new star-rated inverter air-conditioners, reports a business daily.

ARSS Infra: ARSS Infrastructure Projects Ltd has announced that a work order amounting to Rs.40.42 crores namely “Plant Road Network, Phase II” of 3.0 MTPA Integrated Steel Plant of NMDC Limited at Nagarnar, Chattishgarh, has been awarded to the Company” by NMDC.

NTPC: NTPC Ltd has informed BSE that 2nd Unit of 660 MW of Barh Super Thermal Power Station Stage II (Unit#5 of Barh STPS) is declared on commercial operation on Feb 18.

Sensex, Nifty to open on a flat note

The Nifty is trading precariously close to the elementary support of 200-WMA. As seen earlier in 2011, 2012 and 2013, during corrective phases; Nifty usually tends to make panic lows near its 200-WMA.

Fridays have been good for the stock market in recent weeks and investors will hope this week it’s no different. Moody's Investors Service estimates a stable GDP growth at around 7.5% in 2016 and 2017 for India. OECD has pegged India's growth at 7.4% from 7.3% suggested earlier. IIFL’s Enterprising India conference which is celebrating its 7th year has over 100 companies in attendance and the mood is not yet upbeat as one may want to but optimism is never short among corporate and funds alike.

The outlook is flat to weak opening. The Nifty is trading precariously close to the elementary support of 200-WMA. As seen earlier in 2011, 2012 and 2013, during corrective phases; Nifty usually tends to make panic lows near its 200-WMA. We already have seen a pullback in last week’s trade from this moving average. Moreover, Index has provided a pullback from lower-end of the orbit placed 6889 and in the process it has crossed above the mid-point of the cycle, suggesting a rally towards 7225 in the near term. Sustenance above the same, could lead an extended pullback towards 7390. 

IPOs which were spoken about with great vigour just a month ago have turned depressing. Quick Heal Technologies will require a healing touch to its price as it listed at a discount and closed with losses.

The week-long Make in India event has secured investment commitments worth Rs 15.2 lakh crore.

Asian markets are depressed. US stock indices closed modestly lower on Thursday, as investors stepped back after a three-day rally. US stocks have advanced this week on the back of rising oil prices. Among Indian ADRs, Wipro and ICICI Bank rose while Vedanta dropped.  Dow which swung between slight gains and losses, lost 40.40 points, or 0.3%, to end at 16,413.43. The S&P 500 index shed 8.99 points, or 0.5%, to finish at 1,917.83 after spending the session in a 15-point range.  The S&P 500’s telecom and utilities sectors both rose more than 1% while other eight sectors finished lower. The Nasdaq Composite index declined by 46.53 points, or 1%, to settle at 4,487.54.

San Francisco Fed President John Williams said that the US economy is still looking pretty good despite volatile markets. Williams is not a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) this year.

Separately, media reports indicated that Saudi Arabia was not prepared to cut oil production on the heels of the output-freeze proposal, citing Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir.

First-time claims for unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level and three months last week, while a gauge of manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area contracted for a sixth straight month.

Indian Oil Corp is reportedly planning to acquire 40% stake in the country's largest refinery project which is slated to come up on the western coast in Maharashtra, while two other state refiners—Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum—may own 20% each.

US fighter jet maker Lockheed Martin reportedly said it is ready to manufacture F-16 aircraft in India.

Passenger traffic continues to grow in double digits in 2016, according to DGCA data.

Textiles Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar said that the long awaited National Textile Policy is nearing finalization and is likely to be issued before the end of April, 2016.