| Date:
20/05/2013
|
| Profit-booking seen ahead |
| Markets could witness a spell of profit-booking this week after having run up to their highest levels in two-and-a half years. However, with foreign investors likely to continue buying shares, any downside will be limited, said market participants.
FIIs invested $700 million in the week gone by during which benchmark indices the Sensex and the Nifty closed higher by 1-1.5%. Apart from FII inflows, markets will take cues from fourth quarterly results of leading companies |
|
| Date:
20/05/2013
|
| Inflation-indexed bonds |
| The government has made an announcement regarding the launch of the inflation-indexed bonds that finance minister P Chidambaram had first promised in his Budget speech. However, there is complete discordance between what Chidambaram had said in his Budget speech and what RBI has now launched.
Here's what the Budget speech said: In consultation with RBI, I propose to introduce instruments that will protect savings from inflation, especially the savings of the poor and the middle classes. These could be inflation-indexed bonds or inflation-indexed National Security Certificates. The structure and tenor of the instruments will be announced in due course. |
|
| Date:
20/05/2013
|
| Fix tenor & rates |
| The RBI is set to end the free-run enjoyed by Indian companies in extending loans and guarantees to their overseas arms, a tool often used to retain foreign earnings overseas.
Indian companies will now be able to provide such loans only on fixed rate of interest and for a fixed tenure, ensuring periodic interest is repatriated and principal comes back at the end of the tenure.
"There is no prescribed tenor for loans and guarantees nor interest rate ...This will ensure smooth repatriation," said a senior government official privy to the development. |
|
| Date:
18/05/2013
|
| S&P's negative outlook |
| Expressing surprise over S&P's threat to downgrade India's credit rating, industry bodies today termed the global agency's affirming its negative outlook on the country as unfortunate and harsh.
Standard & Poor's (S&P) has warned that it may downgrade India's sovereign rating to junk grade if the government fails to pursue reforms and check deterioration in fiscal and CAD. |
|
| Date:
18/05/2013
|
| Down, S&P |
| U.S. stocks continued their climb into uncharted territory on Friday, racking up the fourth week of gains in a row as encouraging economic data prompted investors to pick up shares of growth companies.
The Dow and the S&P 500 finished at fresh record highs, driven by gains in energy and industrial shares. The indexes have pushed to a series of never-before-seen levels as part of the rally that has lifted equities more than 16 percent for the year so far. |
|
| Date:
18/05/2013
|
| Foreign Funds |
| Foreign funds have started pouring into mid-cap stocks, drawn by their attractive valuations and expectations that these companies will benefit the most from an easing interest rate cycle, money managers say.
FIIs have traditionally remained circumspect of mid-cap companies because of corporate governance concerns, high volatility in share prices and illiquidity of stocks. However, the March quarter bucked the trend. |
|
| Date:
18/05/2013
|
| fifth straight weekly gains |
| Equity indices ended higher on Friday, extending their gains to the fifth consecutive week, as shares in power equipment companies rose in a late rally.
BSE's Sensex rose 38.79 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 20,286.12, its highest close since November 2010. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty rose 17.4 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 6,187.30. This week, the Sensex advanced one per cent, while the Nifty rose 1.5 per cent. |
|
| Date:
17/05/2013
|
| Bonds linked to inflation |
| Inflation-linked bonds may do little to attract the retail investor away from the gleam of assets like gold and real estate, as the principal and coupon to be received on these bonds would be linked to wholesale price inflation and not the retail price-led inflation indices.
The Reserve Bank of India will, as announced in the Union budget, issue a different category of debt products called inflation indexed bonds from June 4. This category of bonds is making a comeback in the Indian financial markets after almost a decade. |
|
| Date:
17/05/2013
|
| Home loan prepayment |
| A ruling by the Mumbai bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal spells welcome relief for taxpayers who have paid huge sums as prepayment or foreclosure charges on early repayment of their housing loans. |
|
| Date:
17/05/2013
|
| FIIs see benchmark yield |
| Investors don't expect yields on benchmark 10-year government bonds to fall below 7.25% in the next six months, a survey by Barclays Research says.
"The FII registration process and cumbersome rules were seen as the biggest obstacle to investing in Indian government bonds," said the report released by the British bank based on the survey of 40 foreign institutional investors on their rationale and outlook for investing in the Indian bond markets. |
|
| Date:
17/05/2013
|
| 10-year G-sec expected at 7.25% |
| The yield on the 10-year benchmark government bond is expected to fall further from current levels when it gets replaced by a new 10-year benchmark government bond this Friday. According to traders, the new 10-year benchmark government bond yield is expected to trade in the range of 7.25-30% initially compared with the present 10-year benchmark government bond 8.15% 2022 which closed at 7.42% on Thursday. The yield on the 8.15% 2022 government bonds had ended at 7.46% on Wednesday. |
|
| Date:
16/05/2013
|
| HDFC Life launches a health insurance plan |
| Private life insurer HDFC Life announced the launch its indemnity-based plan Health Assure on Wednesday. Insurance-seekers can choose from two variants - gold and silver plans. In case of the former, sum insured under individual and family floater options can go up to Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh respectively. |
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Mutual Fund
