THE GROSS domestic product clocked a robust growth of 8.9 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year over the same period last year, aided by a strong performance in the manufacturing sector, the government said on Friday.

The government expects a GDP growth of 8 per cent this year. The growth rate in April-June has set the pace for it and given a positive indication that tax revenues can turn buoyant. The news came as the government was grappling with rising expenses, both in development-oriented plan spending and unproductive non-plan spending, which threaten possible slippages in meeting fiscal- and revenue-deficit targets.

While agricultural sector was stagnant at 3.4 per cent growth in the first quarter, the manufacturing sector made up with a healthy 11.3 per cent growth over the period a year ago.  "This is the highest quarterly growth recorded in the past several years," said Finance Minister P. Chidambaram.

Read more

The last day of September F&O series was relatively volatile as the markets saw alternate bouts of buying and selling. However, very strong gains for the banking stocks and positive trend across Asia held the indices up.

Indices opened the day with modest gains but slipped soon after. They moved sideways till noon before starting a rally which took them to their intra-day highs in early afternoon trades.

There was higher volatility in the afternoon as the indices gave up all their gains. The Nifty slipped deep into the red while the Sensex held around yesterday’s closing levels.

Sensex closed with gains of 14 points at 12381 and the Nifty lost 7 points to close at 3572. Nifty October futures closed at a premium of 12 points to the spot index.

Banking and financial stocks rallied for the third straight session has hopes of declining interest rates strengthened. Most bankers talking to the media were confident that the risks of further rate hikes have subsided considerably. The Bank Nifty was the best performing sectoral index, rallying nearly 4 per cent.

Oriental Bank continued its gravity-defying act today as well and soared more than 7 per cent. The stock has been the best performer among banks over the last few weeks.

Read more here…

related/ bookmark it/ readit

After IT companies, it is now the turn of commercial banks to catch investors’ fancy. The banking sector index, Bankex, of the Bombay Stock Exchange zoomed past its May 10 level on Wednesday to close at its lifetime high of 5876.89.

Bankex, the largest gainer among sectoral indices on Wednesday, rose by 1.4 per cent (79.17 points). The BSE Sensex, at 12,366.91, is 245.47 points away from its lifetime closing high of 12,612.38 touched on May 10.

Two private banks, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, closed at their lifetime high levels. ICICI Bank, up 1.5 per cent, closed at Rs 695.90 while HDFC Bank moved up 1.2 per cent to close at Rs 905.

Punjab National Bank hit its 52-week high of Rs 511.40, while State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of Baroda and Bank of India traded at close to their all-time high market values. SBI closed at 999.35 after hitting a high of Rs 1012.75.

Read more here…

related/ bookmark it/ readit

Indiabulls Financial Services, one of the country`s fastest growing financial services companies, is in negotiation with a clutch of strategic investors to sell a minority stake in its 100% broking subsidiary, Indiabulls Securities, reports Economic Times.

Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered, two of the country`s leading foreign banks, have already submitted bids to buy up to 26% in the firm.

Soaring equity markets and rapidly increasing growth prospects have made many domestic brokerages turn to outside sources of funding such as financial or strategic investors. Foreign funds and companies are also increasingly willing to partner with Indian brokerages to get an exposure to the fast-growing but intensely competitive domestic brokerage business.

Early this year, General Atlantic, a leading US private equity fund, acquired 14.3% in Sharekhan, a retail brokerage, for about Rs 1400 million, valuing the firm at about Rs 9500 million. New Vernon Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners together acquired about 9.3% in Motilal Oswal Securities for about Rs 1250 million, valuing the firm at about Rs 12,500 million.

In the case of Indiabulls, the two banks are believed to have valued the broking arm at about Rs 30 billion. The firm has a market cap of about Rs 64.16 billion.

Read more here…

related/ bookmark it/ readit

NEW DELHI, SEPT 25:  A high-level African delegation, comprising of government officials and members of the industry, will visit India next month. The group will seek Indian investments to the tune of over $17 billion in 300-odd projects in Africa.

According to sources, the 350-member delegation will, apart from seeking investment, ask for technology support from India Inc in sectors like oil, infrastructure, telecom, agriculture, mining, education, construction, food-processing, IT (hardware and software) and healthcare—in 16 African countries.

Of the African countries keen to attract Indian investment, Togo tops the list with $4.62 billion, followed by South Africa ($4 billion), Ghana ($3.73 billion) and Nigeria ($2.6 billion), according to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The other countries wooing India Inc in a big way are Zambia ($1.31 billion) and Ethiopia ($580 million). Of the 281 projects worth of $11.26 billion discussed in two Indo-African conclaves last year, projects worth $323 million are under execution.

Read more here…

related/ bookmark it/ readit

The New India Assurance Company Limited and Citibank, Chennai, and its regional branch in Sector 9, Madhya Marg, have been reprimanded by the UT Consumer Forum for wrongly repudiating the insurance claim of its customer. The forum has directed the company to pay up the insurance claim worth Rs 1 lakh to Vijay Kumar Sharma, a resident of Sector 19-D, Chandigarh. Sharma is the complainant in the case.

Vijay got a credit card issued in his name from Citibank, alongwith which New India Assurance Company provided the complainant an insurance protection cover up to 5 lakh in case of loss of life in an air accident and Rs 1 lakh in case of any other accident. The benefit was extended to the complainant till the age of 70 years.

Vijay maintained that neither any other condition was imposed nor was it agreed for providing the said insurance to the complainant. On January 15, 2003, the complainant met with an accident and suffered injuries. Vijay was hospitalised for five days in Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh, after which he filed for the insurance claim. Much to his regret, the claim was repudiated by the insurance company stating: “Policy details are not furnished. Only when you are covered under good health mediclaim policy, you can claim the expenditure subject to policy conditions.’’ The matter was reported to Citibank, which also confirmed the stand of the insurance company.

Read more here…

related/ bookmark it/ readit