Financials

The Reserve Bank will consider reducing the number of free ATM withdrawals, as recommended by Indian Banks’ Association, in an effort to cut down on cash transactions in the economy.

“We will examine that (IBA recommendation of cutting down number of free ATM transaction to 5 per month). Many other proposals have come. The whole idea is that people are using too much of cash and adding to the costs. We will examine all those issue,” RBI Deputy Governor H R Khan told PTI.

The benchmark BSE Sensex today regained 21,000-level by surging 264 points in early trade on increased buying by funds and retailers despite weak IIP data.

The industrial production data for November, which was released after the market hours on Friday, contracted to a six-month low of 2.1 per cent.

The 30-share barometer, which had gained 45.12 points in volatile trading on Friday, spurted by 264.09 points, or 1.27 per cent, to 21,022.58, with all the sectoral indices led by oil and gas and IT trading in positive territory with gains up to 1.97 per cent.

The rupee today strengthened by 34 paise to 61.56 against the dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on selling of the US currency by exporters.

Besides, a strong opening in the domestic equity market, dollar’s weakness against other currencies overseas on worse-than-expected US jobs data also supported the rupee, forex dealers said.

The rupee had gained 17 paise to end at this year’s best closing level on Friday on dollar selling by exporters and stable capital inflows.

India’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves declined by $2.59 billion to $293.10 billion for the week ended Jan 3, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed.

The foreign exchange reserves had increased by $204.9 million to $295.70 billion for the week ended Dec 27.

According to the RBI’s weekly statistical supplement, foreign currency assets, the biggest component of the forex reserves, fell by $1.68 billion to $266.95 billion.

The foreign currency assets had risen by $164.3 million to $268.63 billion in the previous week.

China’s total exports and imports surpassed $4 trillion for the first time to reach $4.16 trillion in 2013, up 7.6 percent year on year, China Daily reported Friday citing customs data.

The growth rate, however, is slightly lower than the government’s full-year target of 8 percent, published in the beginning of 2013, the daily said.

China’s exports rose 7.9 percent year on year to $2.21 trillion in 2013, while imports increased 7.3 percent to $1.95 trillion, the customs data revealed.

PC shipments, including desktops and laptops, has declined further in the worldwide market by slipping 6.9 percent to 82.6 million units in its fourth quarter of 2013, according to Gartner.

Tablets and smartphones have replaced PCs, especially in emerging markets, contributing to the decline over the last two years, Cnet reports.

Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa believes that the US markets has reached its bottom in PC shipments. (ANI)

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets gained 161.55 points or 0.78 percent in the pre-noon trade Friday.

Good buying was observed in IT, oil and gas and technology, media and entertainment (TECK) sectors while selling pressure was seen in auto sector.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,760.72 points, was trading at 20,874.92 points in the pre-noon session, up 161.55 points or 0.78 percent from the previous day’s close at 20,713.37 points.

Infosys has once again revised its revenue guidance for this fiscal (2013-14) upwards to 12 percent from previous estimate of 10 percent in dollar terms.

In a regulatory filing to stock exchanges Friday, the IT bellwether said revenues were expected to grow 11.5-12 percent in dollar terms and 24.4-24.9 percent for fiscal 2014 (FY 2014) from 22 percent in rupee terms as estimated in the second quarter of this fiscal.

Earlier, the reported net profit of Rs.2,875 crore for third quarter (Oct-Dec) of this fiscal, posting 21.4 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth.

The rupee appreciated 13 paise to 61.94 against the dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and higher capital inflows.

Forex dealers said besides selling of the American currency by exporters, gains in other currencies against the dollar and a higher opening in the domestic stock market also buoyed the sentiment.

The rupee had ended flat at 62.07 against dollar yesterday.

Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex today rose 67.68 points, or 0.32 per cent, to trade at 20,781.05 in early trade.

The benchmark BSE Sensex recovered by nearly 68 points in early trade today, mainly led by gains in IT stocks after Infosys revised guidance upwards for the ongoing fiscal.

Besides, a mixed trend in the global markets also influenced the trading sentiment.

The 30-share index, which had lost 16.01 points in the previous session, rose by 67.68 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 20,781.05, with stocks of IT, tech and healthcare sector leading the rise.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 17.55 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 6,185.90.

Tata Sons, the holding company of the country’s largest corporate conglomerate Tata Group, Thursday said it has set up an office in Singapore to drive business in the Asean region and appointed KV Rao as its resident director.

Rao will help enhance and strengthen the group’s engagement with the Asean region, a statement from the company said.

Inflation will moderate in the coming months but the country would need to bridge the demand- supply gap of essential food items to keep prices under check in the long run, said Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram.

“Inflation will be a problem. We believe inflation in immediate future will come down marginally, but in the long run if we need to go down to the low single digit inflation numbers, we will have to continue to work towards increasing production and improving the logistics for movement of vegetables,” he said.

The oil ministry is considering a partial rollback of bulk diesel prices as sales have dropped significantly, oil secretary Vivek Rae said on Thursday.

India has asked bulk buyers to pay market rates for diesel since last January and has also been raising the price of subsidised diesel in small amounts every month in an effort to cut its ballooning fuel subsidies.

“We are circulating the Kirit Parikh report for inter-ministerial consultation,” Rae told reporters on the sidelines of an industry event.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recommended sweeping changes in the banking structure.

According to media reports, an RBI panel has suggested the setting up of specialised banks to cater to low income households to ensure that all citizens have bank accounts by 2016. The panel has also suggested that the facility for withdrawal, payment and deposit should be set up within a 15-minutes walking distance anywhere in the country.

Microblogging site Twitter has reportedly announced that it will be releasing its first quarterly report on February 5th after going public in November last year.

The company has also decided to take questions submitted directly to its Twitter accounts, @TwitterIR, using the hashtag #TWTRearnings, during the Q and A portion of the conference call in addition to questions submitted by conference call participants.

Finance Minister P.Chidambaram said on Wednesday that the Indian economy will clock a growth of five percent during fiscal 2013-14 despite a sluggish growth in the world economy.

Speaking at the fourth India-South Korea Finance Ministers meeting here, Chidambaram said the fundamentals of the Indian economy are strong and added that the government is focussing on financial sector reforms.

He also said there is a lot of scope for enhancing cooperation in trade and commerce between India and Korea.

Encouraged by spurt in investment activities in the later half of the fiscal, Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram has said 2013-14 is likely to end with an economic growth of about 5 percent.

“There are some of the number we are looking at the moment … New investment projects have risen to 4.9 percent of GDP in October-December quarter from 3.6 percent in the previous quarter, which means investments are now beginning to take place,” he said in an interview.

The BSE benchmark Sensex on Wednesday snapped its five-session losing streak and rose for the first time this year by over 36 points led by CIL and value buying in healthcare, PSUs, auto, metal and oil and gas company stocks amid earnings optimism.

The 30-share index, which had lost nearly 485 points in five sessions, recovered by 36.14 points, or 0.17 percent to end at 20,729.38 after moving between 20,786.41 and 20,688.18.

The benchmark BSE Sensex recovered over 79 points in early trade today on the back of gains in realty, consumer durable, healthcare and auto stocks amid a firming Asian trend.

The 30-share barometer, which had lost almost 485 points in the past five sessions, recovered by 79.79 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 20,773.03 points in early trade today.

All sectoral indices were trading in the positive zone with a gain of up to 0.68 per cent.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange index Nifty moved up by 22.90 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 6,185.15.

Recommending sweeping changes in the banking structure, an RBI panel on Tuesday suggested setting up of specialised banks to cater to low income households to ensure that all citizens have bank accounts by 2016.

It also suggested that facility for withdrawal, payment and deposit should be set up within a 15-minutes walking distance anywhere in the country.

A benchmark index of Indian equities market lost for the fifth straight day Tuesday, as metal and information technology (IT) stocks fell.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,845.77 points, closed at 20,693.24 points, down 94.06 points or 0.45 percent from its previous day’s close at 20,787.30 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 20,890.48 points and a low of 20,637.18 during the day.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed trade 29.20.00 points or 0.47 percent down at 6,162.25 points.

The multi-billion dollar Indian IT industry is poised for higher revenue growth in fiscal 2014-15, as the outlook is qualitatively better than this fiscal (2013-14), a top industry representative said Tuesday.

“Though we are sticking to the 12-14 percent forecast for this fiscal, the outlook is qualitatively better for next fiscal. We will give a forecast for the coming fiscal mid-February,” National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) president R. Chandrashekhar told reporters here.

Bhilai Steel Plant registered growths of 2.5 percent, 1.6 percent and 2.2 percent during April-December of 2013-14 fiscal over the corresponding period last year in cumulative Hot Metal, Crude Steel and Saleable Steel production, respectively, a statement of the plant issued here said Tuesday.

Bhilai Steel Plant is the flagship unit of the public sector Steel Authority of India Ltd.

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police has filed a chargesheet against five arrested accused in the Rs.5,600 crore National Spot Exchange Ltd, NSEL scam.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion plans to release the next edition of its consolidated FDI policy document on March 31, incorporating changes made over the past year.

“The next edition of the Consolidated FDI Policy Circular i.e. ‘Circular 1 of 2014’ is scheduled to be issued on March 31 and will be effective from May 1,” the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) said.

The previous (sixth) edition of the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy was issued in April 2013.