Sensex crashes 601 points on heavy FII selling

Indian markets nosedived over 3.2 per cent at the pre-close session on heavy selling by FIIs as the rupee tumbled to a life-time low of 66.06 amid concerns that the Food Security Bill would raise the subsidy burden.

At 2.57 p.m., the 30-share BSE index Sensex was down 601.17 points (3.24 per cent) at 17,956.96 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 194.10 points (3.54 per cent) at 5,282.40.

Barring IT, all other BSE sectoral indices were trading in the red.

Among them, banking, capital goods, power and PSU indices plunged the most by 5.42 per cent, 4.79 per cent, 4.34 per cent and 3.8 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, IT index was up 0.23 per cent.

Among 30-share Sensex, Sesa Goa (1.64 per cent), Infosys (0.64 per cent), Dr Reddy's (0.6 per cent) and TCS (0.4 per cent) were the only gainers, while the major losers were HDFC (8.35 per cent), HDFC Bank (8.28 per cent), BHEL (8.2 per cent), Jindal Steel (6.03 per cent) and NTPC (5.86 per cent).

The S&P BSE Sensex slipped over 600 points in intra-day trade led by profit-booking in rate-sensitive stocks, metals and FMCG stocks.

The Nifty index too slipped over 3 per cent in intraday trade to mark its worst fall since August 16. The index is now trading below its crucial psychological level of 5,300.

According to brokers, foreign funds remained net sellers as the rupee hit a new record level of 65.94 against the dollar.

They said the passage of the Food Bill in Lok Sabha raised fears that the Government might face more subsidy burden, leading to widening of the current account deficit.

European and Asian stocks were down as US Secretary of State John Kerry said President Barack Obama will hold Syrian Government accountable for using chemical weapons.

But the US durable goods data, which is an indicator of a longer trend, fell for the first time in four months. This gave rise to hopes that the US Federal Reserve will continue its act of pumping $85 billion bond-buying programme to resurrect the economy.

Stoxx 50 fell 43.46 points or 1.54 per cent to 2,777.99, FTSE 100 shed 50.20 points or 0.77 per cent to 6,441.90 and DAX declined 127.17 points or 1.51 per cent to 8,307.98.

Japan's Nikkei fell 93.91 points or 0.69 per cent to 13,542.40, Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 128.30 points or 0.58 per cent to 21,877.00 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 5.81 points or 0.11 per cent at 5,141.22.

Empee Distilleries ties up with United Spirits for manufacturing IMFL

Chennai based Empee Distilleries has entered into an agreement with Bangalore based United Spirits for manufacture of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) for distribution in Karnataka. The agreement entered with United Spirits will initially be for a period of three years.

The manufacturing will be undertaken at its unit in Arabhikothanur Village, Kolar district, Karnataka and will improve the top line and Bottom line growth of the Company.

Empee Distilleries started over two decades ago in a small way in Chennai for manufacturing Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL); it has now expanded substantially with state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities not only in Tamil Nadu but also in Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Gujarat plant delayed due to slowdown: Maruti

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) today said it will miss the target of commissioning its Gujarat plant due to the ongoing slowdown in the Indian automobile market.

"It is unlikely that we would be able to commission the Gujarat plant even by the end of FY16. The slowdown in the auto sector is very acute," MSI Chairman Chairman R C Bhargava told reporters after the company's 32nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) here.

When asked by when the company would like to start work and commission the facility, he said the company is trying to access the sales projections and would accordingly decide.

Last year, Suzuki Motor Corp Chairman Osamu Suzuki had visited the site in Gujarat where MSI plans to set up its third plant at an investment of Rs 4,000 crore.

As per the original plans, the company had planned to roll out 2.5 lakh cars annually by 2015-16 from the Gujarat plant. MSI is looking at a total annual capacity of 20 lakh units once the Gujarat plant goes on stream.

MSI at present has a total installed annual capacity of about 15 lakh units, which will go up to 17.5 lakh units by September this year when its third unit at Manesar goes on stream.

Bhargava said even the company's vendors have not started work at the site in Gujarat so far.

"Vendors have not started work at the Gujarat plant because we have not started our work there. They will start only when they know the timeline when we will start and complete our work there. There work and ours go side by side and they do not want their capital lying idle" he added.

Commenting on the current economic scenario, Bhargava said he expects the ongoing fiscal to be another tough year.

"All the indications are that the GDP will grow below 5 per cent, the rupee is at an all time low, we do not see any change in the fundamentals, the situation will remain as difficult as before" he said.

He added that the only positive factor so far in the year has been the excellent monsoon season and hoped that the upcoming festival season would also be able to spur some growth.

"Elections are also coming up and during elections there is a spurt in sales but these are only temporary, so the real thing is that we need to see what happens after election and it would depend on what kind of government comes into power, whether it can bring reforms to spur growth" Bhargava said.

Nifty breaches 5,300; Rupee falls past 66/USD

The rupee weakened against the dollar in late trades on Tuesday due to month-end dollar demand, said currency dealers.

Markets slumped further in the afternon session this Tuesday on back of Rupee's free-fall amid growing concerns over the widening current account deficit after Congress-led UPA government approved Food Security Bill.

The rupee weakened against the dollar in late trades on Tuesday due to month-end dollar demand, said currency dealers.

The currency fell to 66 per US dollar compared with Monday's close of Rs 64.31 on the Interbank Foreign Exchange .

At 1:55PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 570 points at 17,988 and the 50-share Nifty slipped 181 points at 5,296.

Rupee breaches 66/dollar

Benchmark 10-year bond yield was trading up 13 basis points on the day at 8.47%.

The rupee breached the 66 per dollar mark on Tuesday to hit a record low, as a steep decline in the domestic share market following the approval of the food security bill in the lower house of Parliament hurt sentiment.

It had recouped some losses after the RBI sold dollars via state-run banks, starting at Rs 65.90 levels. But, the intervention could not prevent it from breaching the 66 level.

The currency hit a new low of 66.0750/dollar.

The benchmark 10-year bond yield was trading up 13 basis points on the day at 8.47%.

CCI sets 60- day deadline to clear 36 mega infrastructure projects

In a move to boost the infrastructure development in the country and to enhance business sentiment in a slowing economy, the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has set a 60- day deadline for ministries to clear 36 mega infrastructure projects including 28 power plants that were stuck due to delay in sanctions.

The government had set up the CCI, to clear the bottlenecks holding back big infrastructure projects. Recently, the CCI cleared the proposal of setting up two hydro power projects in Arunachal Pradesh. The panel has so far cleared 171 projects worth Rs 1.69 lakh crore.

Further, in order to speed up the implementation of infrastructure projects, the government has also set up special cell, special project monitoring group, which is meant to supplement CCI's efforts and has been tasked with monitoring the progress of projects cleared earlier by CCI. 

Further, a web-based information system has also been put in place wherein firms can provide details of their project as well as the issues that are restraining smooth implementation of projects. Meanwhile, for the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17), the government has set the $1-trillion investment target for the infrastructure sector.

Gold price hits record high of Rs. 32,526/10gm

Gold price hit its all-time high of Rs 32,526 per 10 grams Tuesday on sustained buying as rupee plunged to its new record low of 66 against the US dollar.

At the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), gold for delivery in October gained further by Rs 650 to Rs 32,526 per 10 grams as against its previous close of Rs 31,876.

On Monday, gold traders kept to the sidelines waiting resumption of imports, even as prices hit their highest level in more than nine months.

India is likely to re-start imports this week after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) clarified a new rule that brought the flow of gold into the world's top gold consumer to a stand-still at the end of July.

CRISIL to sell 49% stake in IISL for Rs 100 crore

CRISIL will be selling its equity stake in India Index Services & Products (IISL), comprising 6, 37,000 equity shares of face value Rs. 10 each and representing 49% of the total equity share capital of IISL, its Joint Venture with National Stock Exchange of India (NSE). The above stake will be sold to NSE Strategic Investment Corporation for a total consideration of Rs 100 crore.

CRISIL is a global analytical company providing ratings, research, and risk and policy advisory services. The company’s majority shareholder is Standard and Poor’s (S&P). S&P, a part of The McGraw-Hill Companies, is the world’s foremost provider of credit ratings.

SREI Infrastructure Finance raises Benchmark Rate by 50 bps to 18.00% p.a.

SREI Infrastructure Finance has hiked its benchmark rate by 50 basis points (bps), from 17.50% per annum to 18.00% per annum with effect from September 01, 2013. The company’s asset liability management committee after reviewing the cost of borrowing decided to increase its benchmark rate. It had last increased its SBR in September 2011 by 75 basis points.

SREI Infrastructure Finance’s businesses include infrastructure equipment leasing and finance, infrastructure project finance, advisory and development, insurance broking, venture capital, capital market and Sahaj e -Village.

Rupee breaches 65 a dollar mark a day after House passes food bill

The rupee weakened to 65 to the dollar in opening trade on Tuesday, not far from its record low of 65.56 reached last week, as the Lok Sabha cleared the food security bill that would cost about Rs. 1.3 lakh crore to the exchequer.

At 10.30 am the rupee was trading at 65.33 against a dollar, below its close of 64.30/31 on Monday.

The bill, which seeks to provide foodgrains at highly subsidised rates to an estimated 810 million people across the country, is a key part of the ruling UPA government's strategy to win a third term.

However, analysts say the new legislation, entailing massive government expenditure, will only widen deficit and fuel inflation.

India's benchmark 10-year bond yield dropped 4 basis points at open to 8.30% as the Reserve Bank of India announced an open market purchase of bonds but soon edged higher, tracking weakness in the rupee.

   The slide comes hours ahead of a crucial debate on the state of the Indian economy in Parliament on Tuesday.

In the wake of the rupee's depreciation and doubts over revenue increase targets, the government has repeatedly asserted it will meet the fiscal deficit target of 4.8%.

Global ratings agency Fitch on Monday had said India's fiscal numbers "look weak" and warned of a downgrade if the country is unable to meet the fiscal deficit target.

A strengthening dollar overseas and late weakness in local stocks also put pressure on the rupee, a forex dealer said.