Rupee declines
Mumbai: The rupee declined against the dollar on Tuesday on reports of RBI's intervention in the forex market. The Indian currency opened at 44.20/22 and appreciated to 44.1550/16. Sustained demand for the greenback then drove the rupee to close at 44.23/24, lower than Monday's close at 44.18/19 Dealers said the rupee edged up initially, buoyed by dollar selling by foreign banks.

Bonds: Bonds have gained by almost 20 paise (yields dropped by three basis points) as the government cut import duties on metals, cement and other chemicals. The bonds opened around five paise higher and gained significantly towards the end of trading, the dealer added.

G-secs: The 8.07-10 year-2017 benchmark paper opened at Rs101.24 (7.88 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs101.37 (7.86 per cent YTM) against Monday's Rs101.17 (7.89 per cent YTM).

The 7.59 per cent-9 year-2016 paper opened at Rs98.73 (7.78 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs98.60 (7.80 per cent) against Monday's Rs98.04.

Call rates: ruled at 7.70-7.9 per cent against Monday's close of 7.8-8 per cent.

Reverse repo: In the first one-day reverse repo auction under the liquidity adjustment facility, the RBI received and accepted one bid for Rs35 crore and in the first one-day repo auction, the RBI received and accepted 15 bids for Rs4,015 crore. In the second one-day reverse-repo auction, the RBI accepted and received three bids for Rs170 crore and in the second one-day repo auction, the RBI received and accepted 15 bids for Rs8,100 crore. The CBLO market saw 294 trades aggregating to Rs17,575.65 crore in the 7.2 per cent-7.35 per cent range.
Back to News Review index page  

SBI Q3 net rises marginally by 4 pc
Mumbai: The State Bank of India (SBI) reported a marginal 4 pc increase in consolidated net profit at Rs1,524.42 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2006 against Rs1,466 crore in Q3FY06.

The total income of the bank increased to Rs17,483.20 crore from Rs15,484.26 crore in Q3FY06. On a stand-alone basis, the bank posted a net profit of Rs1,065.06 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2006 as against Rs1,115.19 crore in Q3FY06. Total income increased to Rs11,546.97 crore from Rs11,398.62 crore in Q3FY06.
Back to News Review index page  

Kalam assents to SLR ordinance
New Delhi: The president, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, has assented to an ordinance that would empower the Reserve Bank of India to lower the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) below 25 per cent.

An official spokesperson of the Government confirmed that the Ordinance has been promulgated. With this, the RBI would get more operational flexibility in the conduct of monetary policy and could peg the SLR anywhere from 0 per cent to 40 per cent.

Present requirement mean banks have to keep at least 25 per cent of their net demand and time liabilities (i.e. deposits) in the form of liquid assets comprising cash, gold and approved securities, mainly government bonds. Any move to lower SLR would allow banks to offer more credit to industry.

The ordinance assumes importance, as the RBI is to come up with its quarterly credit and monetary policy review on January 31.
Back to News Review index page