Re marginally down against dollar
Mumbai: The rupee was marginally down against the dollar as nationalised banks bought dollars. The rupee opened at 40.40/42, touched an intra-day high of 40.36 and finally closed at 40.40, against the previous close of 40.38. Market participants said dollar buying by nationalised banks, possibly on behalf of the Reserve Bank prevented the rupee from appreciating beyond 40.36.

In forwards, the six-month closed at 1.87 per cent (1.71) and the 12-month ended at 1.98 per cent (1.82).

Bonds: Bond yields dropped by around one basis point tracking the US yields, which fell by about 10 basis points to 5 per cent. The bonds opened around 30 paise higher. The total traded volumes on the order matching system were Rs5,790 crore (Rs7,720 crore).

G-secs: The 7.49 per cent 10-year 2017 paper opened at Rs96.5 (8 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs 97. 06 (7.92 per cent YTM) against Rs97.02 (7.93 per cent YTM) on Tuesday. The 7.99 per cent 10-year 2017 paper opened at Rs100.80 (7.88 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs 100.73 (7.89 per cent YTM) against yesterday's close of Rs100.67 (7.89 per cent YTM).

Call rates: The inter-bank call rates remained unchanged and closed at 0.5-0.6 per cent on Wednesday.

Reverse repo: The Reserve Bank of India received bids worth Rs91,995 crore through the reverse repo window under the two sessions of Liquidity Adjustment Facility while it accepted bids to the tune of Rs2,997 crore. The RBI did not receive any bids through its repo window. In the firs t one-day reverse repo auction, the central bank received 43 bids for Rs56,590 crore while it accepted Rs1,995 crore. In the second one-day reverse repo auction, it received 32 bids for Rs35,405 crore while it accepted Rs1,002 crore. There were no repo bids in the first and second one-day auctions.

CBLO: The CBLO market saw 299 trades aggregating Rs 33,007.8 crore in 0.02-0.1 per cent range.
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PNB expects profit to grow by 20 per cent in FY-08
New Delhi: Punjab National Bank (PNB), which achieved less than 10 per cent growth in net profit for two straight years, expects a 20 per cent spurt in its bottom line this fiscal. The bank said deposits are likely to see an increase of 16-17 per cent and advances are expected to grow by 20 per cent.

During 2006-07, the bank posted a net profit of Rs1,540 crore recording a growth of 7 per cent. In 2005-06, PNB's net profit worked out to be Rs1,439.31 crore revealing a growth of less than 3 per cent over the previous year.
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HDFC to issue shares to CMP Asia
Mumbai: Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) would raise Rs 2638 crore through the issue of equity shares to CMP Asia. The allotment committee of directors has approved the allotment of 1,52,50,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each at Rs 1,730 per share to CMP Asia Ltd, HDFC said in a filing to the BSE. The issue of shares would be subject to a lock-in period of 18 months fr om the date of allotment in terms of the special resolution passed by the shareholders.
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LIC to get into credit card, health and pension segment
Mumbai: Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) said it planned to enter the credit cards business and manage pension funds. The corporation also scotched rumours that it was trying to acquire a major stake in UTI Bank to foray into the banking sector.

LIC, however, has strategic partnership with Corporation Bank owning 27-per cent stake in it. It has substantial shareholding in number of other banks, but does not have controlling stake.

LIC said it would foray into health insurance, pension management and credit cards business. The corporation is understood to be in talks for entering the business with GE Capital Services, a global issuer of private label credit cards. There is a possibility of Corporation Bank being roped into it. GE already has a tie-up with State Bank of India, for the credit card business. LIC wants to enter the business as the potential is huge considering the credit card spend as a proportion of total expenditure.
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Bajaj Auto Finance to get into new areas
Pune: Bajaj Auto Finance Ltd is entering new consumer fiancé areas such as the personal loan segment and old truck financing. Based on these plans the company has set up a 75-seat call centre to handle the personal loan segment. The centre, which became operational from July 10, would initially handle customers who are prompt in repayment, targeting the lower end of the market in the Rs20,000-50,000 range.

The personal loan segment market is valued at more than Rs30,000 crore.

The company also plans look at a smaller portion of the new truck sector. The company would buy the old trucks, refurbish them as required and sell them with its finance.
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Stable rating for Indian banks: Moody's
New Delhi: Moody's rating agency in its banking system outlook on India, released in Hong Kong today, has given stable outlook for India's banking industry, and has said that the rating is driven by relatively solid financial metrics amid a benign operating environment conducive to credit growth. Moody's Investor Service said the stable rating outlook for Indian banks reflects the country's robust credit growth against the backdrop of a favourable economic milieu.

Stating that implicit government support for systemically important banks has lifted the global local currency (LLC) deposit ratings of most rated banks, it said.

Moody's said there is scope for consolidation in India's relatively crowded and fragmented banking system, which is likely to increase as competition intensifies.

It further said the Indian economy continues its growth trajectory with GDP growing at 9.4 per cent during the fiscal year ended March 2007.
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