Rupee falls by 15 paise against dollar in opening trade

MUMBAI: The Indian rupee depreciated by 15 paise against the US currency in early trade on Friday on increased dollar demand by banks and concerns over fund outflows from the weak domestic equity markets in tandem with falling Asian bourses.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic currency was quoted at 49.12 against the dollar, a fall of 15 paise over the previous close of 48.97/98 a dollar.

Dealers said increased demand from state-run banks for the greenback on behalf of their clients put pressure on the rupee.

They added that fears of capital outflows from the domestic stock markets following the fall in Asian equity markets in early trade put pressure on the rupee.

Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei fell by 3.35%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng moved down by 1.55% in early trade.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Re_falls_by_15_paise_against_dollar/articleshow/4050604.cms

Sensex down 148 pts in early trade

MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by over 148 points in early trade on Friday on heavy selling by funds following a weak global trend.

The 30-share index, which had lost 21.19 points in Thursday's choppy trade, fell further by 148.92 points to 9,087.36 points as heavyweights Reliance Industries, Infosys Technologies, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India recorded heavy losses.

The 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 49.85 points at 2,774.10 points.

Marketmen said most of the bluechips retreated following overnight sharp losses on the US market on weak economic data.

They attributed profit-taking by speculators in bluechip stocks at prevailing higher levels after a recent rally to fall in stock prices.

Major losers, which dragged the Sensex down, are BHEL by 4.40% at Rs 1,296, RIL by 1.17% at Rs 1,253.25, Infosys by 1.27% at Rs 1,293, Tata Consultancy by 1.83% at Rs 499.70.

Besides, Larsen and Toubro lost 0.67% at Rs 655.85, Tata Power 2.04% at Rs 745.10, Tata Motors 2.03% at Rs 147.50 and Tata Steel 1.69% at Rs 180.20.

Japan's Nikkei fell 3.35% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1.55% in early trade on Friday.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average had closed 2.70% down, while London's FTSE shed 2.45% on Thursday.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Sensex_down_148_pts_in_early_trade/articleshow/4050882.cms

HDFC cuts home loan rates by 150 bps, loans at 9.75%

MUMBAI: The country's largest housing finance company HDFC has reduced home loan rates by as much as 150 basis points following a reduction in its cost of funds.

With this cut all floating rate loans will be available at 9.75% the same level as they were in 2006.

Terming the reduction a special offer, HDFC officials said that such offers were typical of the financial year-end deals.

Biggest gainers this are those seeking to avail of loans between Rs 20 to Rs 30 lakh as interest rates have been reduced 150 basis points to 9.75% from 11.25% earlier.

For loans below Rs 20 lakh the reduction is 50 basis points as the earlier rate was 10.25%. HDFC lending rate cut comes on the back of two successive 50 basis point cuts in deposit rates in recent weeks.

Soruce: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/HDFC_home_loans_now_at_975/articleshow/3989196.cms

RBI may not cut rates in policy review: Finmin

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may not go in for key policy rate cuts in its quarterly policy review slated for January 23, said a senior finance ministry official.

"We don't expect rate cuts by the RBI," the offical said, adding the repo and reverse repo rates (short-term lending and borrowing rates) and policy ratios like the cash reserve ratio (CRR) are likely to be retained at the existing level.

The RBI is slated to announce a review of monetary policy on January 23 after taking into account the latest developments in international and domestic markets.

The central bank on January 4 reduced the repo rate (at which banks borrow from the RBI) by 100 basis points to 5.5 per cent, the reverse repo rate (at which the RBI pays to banks) by 100 basis points to 4 per cent, and the CRR (the amount banks are required to park with the RBI) from 5.50 per cent to 5 per cent.

These monetary steps were aimed at injecting more funds into the system and signalling a softer interest rate regime to boost economic growth.

The RBI has been reducing key policy rates since October to neutralise the impact of the global financial meltdown on the Indian economy.

While the repo rate and the CRR were at nine per cent in October, the reverse repo rate was at 6 per cent.

Bankers and analysts, however, have been expecting further cuts in key policy rates by the RBI in its January review as inflation has come down to 5.24 per cent from a peak of 12.91 per cent in August last year.

Soruce: http://www.business-standard.com/india/