Mid, small-cap indices outperform BSE Sensex, Central Bank too shines by 8.91%...

Mid-cap and small-cap stocks on the BSE were on the buyers' radar today as investors booked profits in large-cap shares and the benchmark Sensex fell 264.57 points from a record close. The BSE mid cap index gained 0.89 per cent to 6,297.94. Bank stocks stole the show in this group, with United Bank of India surging 9.81 per cent, while Central Bank of India rose 8.91 per cent, Andhra Bank (8.51 per cent), Indian Overseas Bank (2.9 per cent) and Federal Bank (2.1 per cent). Market experts said state-run banks have rallied on better-than-expected second-quarter earnings. The BSE small cap index gained 0.54 per cent to 6,053.56. Among the 30 Sensex shares, 22 declined, led by ITC. Among the gainers on the index, Hindalco was the best performer with a 1.47 per cent rise.

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Equity, gold, real estate: Tips to make your first investments

It is not an easy time to be an investor. Even though you may be spoilt for choice, there is a high degree of volatility across asset classes. This means that one has to be extra cautious while choosing investments. Whether you are opting for equity, fixed income, property or gold, the current environment will punish you for rash or untimely decisions. For those who have just started saving, taking the initial steps into the world of investing is even more daunting. It's the same for anyone exploring a new asset class.  Often enough, initial investments are done without proper planning, homework or understanding one's requirements. Prasenjit Paul from Kolkata recalls his maiden steps in the stock market. "I started intra-day trading without adequate knowledge and suffered a huge loss by taking deliveries; the value of my portfolio reduced by 30-40%. I couldn't use the stop-loss arrangement and the losses kept increasing," says the 22-yearold. Paul learnt from his mistakes quickly and today runs a stock advisory firm.

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Top 5 new stars of investment banking in India

Move over Kothari, Kampani and Kotak. A young bunch of dealmakers is emulating their illustrious predecessors. They don't yet head an investment banking unit, but their star is on the rise. They are below 40 years of age and have closed a $100 millionplus deal in the past 12 months. ET profile five top guns

1) Amit Mimani, 37 -  
Director, Mergers and Acquisitions, Standard Chartered Bank -  Education: CA, MBA (IIM-Calcutta) .Big Deal: Diageo's acquisition of United Spirits - 

I-banking wisdom: Learn from each of your deals, whether they close or fail. Dealmaking is a pressure cooker environment— you need to learn to stay calm and make decisions under pressure.

Winning in losing

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Sebi, government may change mutual fund policy to route PF money into markets

The Securities & Exchange Board of India and the government are working on sweeping changes to the policy on mutual funds that could see them gain access to a substantial amount of money from the state-administered provident fund and other retirement programmes, a move that could lift the fortunes of the asset management industry.  The long-term mutual fund policy will also feature proposals on tax breaks and incentives besides obliging asset managers to reach out to investors in the hinterland in an attempt to increase the industry's asset base and attract higher investments, said a senior official involved with the drafting of the plan who didn't want to be named.  

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Rupee in a consolidation phase

The ongoing US government shutdown and the debt ceiling concern are keeping the dollar under pressure. This has helped the rupee to break its 62-63 range. The Indian currency gained 1 per cent in the past week to close at 61.79 against the dollar on Tuesday.

The RBI, on Monday, reduced the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate by 50 basis points to 9 per cent to improve liquidity conditions. But , this move did not have any positive impact on the currency. In the absence of any data release from the US because of the shutdown, the currency market will take cues from India’s trade data release on Thursday, which will be followed by the industrial production data on Friday and the Wholesale Price Inflation data next Monday.

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Fifth of India’s forex reserves at risk if US does not up debt ceiling

One-fifth of India’s foreign exchange reserves are at risk if the US is unable to raise the debt ceiling and actually defaults on its debt obligations. According to US Treasury, at the end of July 2013, India held $59.1 billion of US treasury securities. This accounts for 21 per cent of India’s foreign exchange reserves of $276 billion.

The debt ceiling is the total amount of money the US government is authorised to borrow to meet its various legal obligations, including interest payment on the national debt. Many countries, including India, have lent money to the US Government by investing in US Treasury securities. Holding $1.27 trillion of US treasury securities, China is the largest lender to the US. Among other emerging markets, Brazil with $256 billion, and Taiwan with $178 billion, are others with high exposure.

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Outward remittances fall on account of dearer dollar

As the rupee depreciated sharply to breach 60 against the dollar in June, Indians were quick to limit their discretionary dollar expenditure. According to the data with the Reserve Bank of India, there was over 70 per cent decline year-on-year in the dollars spent for foreign travel by resident Indians in the month of June, and around 40 per cent drop in remittances abroad for maintenance of close relatives.

In June the forex spend for travel by resident Indians fell to $1.1 million in June 2013, from $3.8 million in June 2012 , which was also the lowest in 14 months. The average for the first five months for calendar 2013 stood at $3.9 million. Remittances under the head — maintenance of close relatives — saw a year-on-year decline of 38 per cent to hit a 28-month low of $9.3 million in June 2013.

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BSE Sensex ends higher for second consecutive week, surges 650 pts

Markets ended higher for the second consecutive week as the S&P BSE benchmark Sensex surged by 650 points to conclude at a 3-week high of 19,270.06 on sustained buying mainly in banking, PSU and refinery sectors. 

It was primarily due to various plans announced by the new Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan to bolster the financial industry. Brokers said market sentiment remained bullish after Rajan took over as the RBI chief and announced a slew of measures to attract capital flows and boost economic growth. 

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BSE Sensex rally but Nifty still below 5600; Realty up 5%

4:00 pm Market closing: Dalal Street gives Raghuram Rajan a standing ovation, as it records a stellar 2.5 percent rally. Nifty scales past 5600 before cooling off to close a tad below it. The Nifty ends at 5592.95, up 144.85 points or 2.66 percent. The Sensex shuts 412.21 points or 2.22 percent higher at 18979.76.

About 1472 shares have advanced, 835 shares declined, and 146 shares are unchanged. Superstar of the day remain to be banking stocks with SBI gaining 10 percent, ICICI Bank pocketing 9 percent and HDFC twins making handsome gains. IT stocks, however, were reeling under selling pressure on profit booking after seeing multi-year highs recently. Currency strength also added to the negative sentiment. TCS , Infosys and Wiprolost down 3 percent each.

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Rupee beats Chidambaram to 68

The rupee has raced past Finance Minister P. Chidambaram to hit 68. Chidambaram has to wait another 19 days to turn 68. He was born on September 16, 1945. The currency today closed at 68.80 on heavy month-end demand for dollars from banks and oil importers amid a sharp fall in the domestic equity market. On August 1, 2012, Chidambaram took over the Finance portfolio after the incumbent Pranab Mukherjee became the President. Since then, the rupee has lost 23 per cent.

The rupee has tumbled not only against the dollar, but also against the euro and the pound. In fact, against the British pound, it is quoting at 106.8 and against the euro at 91.50. The slide in the rupee and equity markets was chiefly because of the growing likelihood of Western military action against Syria and fear that the Food Security Bill will further inflate the fiscal deficit.  hidambaram, however, claimed that the fiscal deficit would be contained at 4.8 per cent of GDP, as projected in the Budget.

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Banking shares dips post RBI measures

Banking shares are under pressure on the bourses in early morning trades falling up to 8% after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed some more measures to tighten liquidity to stabilize Indian rupee. IndusInd Bank and Yes Bank were down by 8% each at Rs 426 and Rs 404 respectively, while Federal Bank and Axis Bank were slipped 5% each at Rs 362 and Rs 1,146 respectively on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Punjab National Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Bank of India, Dena Bank, Canara Bank, ING Vysya Bank and Corporation Bank were down 2-5%.The BSE banking index Bankex, the largest loser among sectoral indices, was down nearly 4% or 451 points as compared to 0.39% or 80 points fall in benchmark Sensex at 0955 hours.

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Dollar is rising, but not NRI remittances

Non-resident Indians in the Gulf may not have been able to capitalise on the weak rupee, which hovered above the 60-to-the-dollar mark over the last few days, to remit funds back home, banking sources say.

Bankers told Business Line that the upsurge noticed in remittances from the Gulf countries through the banking channels last week had tapered off, despite the continuing value depreciation.

One reason for this was that the salary cycle of Gulf employees had passed. Normally, in many Gulf countries, salaries are paid around seventh of each month.

As a result, the inflow of remittances would last until a fortnight later and would gradually peter out.

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Indian money in Swiss banks dips to record low at Rs 9,000 cr

 Indians’ money in Swiss banks has fallen to a record low level of about Rs 9,000 crore (1.42 billion Swiss francs), as a global clampdown against the famed secrecy wall of Switzerland banking system made it unattractive for their global clients.

The total funds held by Indian individuals and entities included 1.34 billion Swiss francs held directly by Indian individuals and entities, and another 77 million Swiss francs through ‘fiduciaries’ or wealth managers at the end of 2012, as per the latest figures released by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) in Zurich today.

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The downward journey that started three decades ago

Tracking the long-term movement in the rupee, there have been many periods of rupee volatility linked to chaotic economic conditions.

The rupee was valued at 4.78 per US dollar in 1966 after continued trade deficits through the 1950s resulted in a situation where neither money from abroad nor the private sector was forthcoming. The situation came to a boil when foreign aid, a key factor that prevented devaluation of the rupee, was cut off unless India acquiesced to demand to liberalise trade.

Matters were complicated by the India-Pakistan War of 1965, which prompted the US and other countries allied with India’s neighbour to withhold aid. Another hindering factor was the drought of 1965-66, which resulted in a sharp rise in prices. India was finally left with no choice but to take the politically unpopular step of devaluation alongside liberalisation.

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Investor wealth plummets Rs 1.5 lakh crore in stock market slump

 Investor wealth slumped by Rs1.55 lakhcrore today, dragged down by massive selling in the stock markets where nearly seven out of ten shares closed lower. 

The BSE's benchmark Sensex nosedived by 526.41 points or 2.74 per cent to 18,719.29, registering its biggest single day fall since September 2011 on fears of fund outflows ifFederal Reserve sticks to its plan of slowing down monetary stimulus later this year. 

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Indian rupee hits record low of 58.15 against US dollar, some say bottom near

The Indian rupee hit a record low on Monday, weighed down by broad gains in the US dollar and choppy domestic shares, although the local currency was seen recovering on expected Reserve Bank of India (RBI) intervention and potential government measures.

The rupee's fall has escalated worries about the country's current account deficit and complicated the task for policy makers looking to revive an economy that grew at its slowest in a decade in 2012/13. Analysts said the Reserve Bank of India could turn more cautious about cutting interest rates at its policy review on June 17, potentially reducing confidence in the country's economic outlook. The dollar rose against the yen and other major currencies on Monday, extending gains made after Friday's U.S. jobs report left open the prospect of the Federal Reserve scaling back stimulus soon.

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What’s the real value of rupee?

The rupee’s 1.9 per cent free-fall against the dollar on Monday has taken forex-market watchers by surprise.

Not much has changed for the rupee’s fundamentals overnight. Widening current account deficit, driven by surging gold imports and slowing exports, and fears of foreign portfolio flows depleting on global central banks reducing their quantitative easing programmes have been weighing on the Indian currency over the past two months.

FIIS PULL OUT

Monday’s decline seems triggered by data showing that foreign institutional investors have pulled out $1.3 billion out of debt assets in the first week of June. The breach of its previous life-time low at 57.32 recorded on June 22, 2012, could have triggered trading stop losses exacerbating the rupee’s fall. Many fresh short positions would have also been opened by currency traders causing the downward spiral in the Indian currency.

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Rupee weakens on global cues

Will it Continue...??

Despite strong inflows in domestic markets by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and lower crude oil prices, the rupee is set to weaken against the dollar in the near term.

A slight hint by US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernankeyesterday on unwinding the bond buying programme known as Quantitative Easing 3 (QE3) resulted in the rupee's fall against the dollar.

Bernanke said the American economy still needed aid, and premature scaling down of the bond buying programme could lead to the substantial risk of slowing or ending the economic recovery.

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A breach below 5950 may see Nifty heading lower: Analysts

The 50-share Nifty index plunged below its crucial support level of 6000 in trade on Thursday, as muted global cues and weakening rupee put the bulls on the back foot. 

The Nifty has corrected sharply in the last four trading sessions and after testing a high of 6229 on this Monday, the Nifty has shed more than 4.3% to close at 5967 on Thursday. 

The correction in India equities was largely led by sell off in global markets after comments from the US Federal Reserve and muted manufacturing PMI data from China fuelled bearish sentiment. 

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Sensex falls below 20K, down 388 points

The BSE benchmark Sensex on Thursday lost 388 points to fall below 20,000 level on disappointing March quarter earnings from state-run lender State Bank of India, amid weak global trend after US Federal Reserve hinted at scaling down monetary stimulus.

Extending losses for the fourth straight day, the 30-share index nosedived by 387.91 points, or 1.93 per cent, to close at 19,674.33, with all the sectoral indices, led by realty and capital goods stocks, in the negative zone. The index had lost nearly 224 points in the previous three sessions.

Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index, Nifty fell below 6,000 level by losing 127.45 points, or 2.09 per cent, to 5,993.90.

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