The Hindu Business Line : Friday, May 18, 2007

FOREX
Rupee recedes against dollar
The rupee weakened on Thursday by around 10 paise on dollar buying by some oil importers. The home currency opened at 40.81, touched an intra-day high of 40.77 to finally close at 40.85/87 against Wednesday's close of 40.78. ... More

IT, ITeS cos bid to offset impact of rising rupee
Enhanced hedging cover, denominating a higher share of revenues in euros or pound sterling, upward revision of billing rates... well, these are broadly the strategies that IT and BPO majors are adopting in their effort to offset the impact of the ... More

INSURANCE
Allianz can raise stake in Bajaj ventures
The Munich-based Allianz SE can raise equity stake in its life and non-life insurance ventures with Baja Auto, when the Government hikes the permissible foreign direct investment limit from the current 26 per cent. Allianz has the option to raise ... More

GENERAL INSURANCE
`General insurers buoyant despite free pricing regime'
De-tariffing has taken off well with the non-life insurance industry and even the re-insurers taking it in a positive light, according to Mr C.S. Rao, Chairman, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). "Business growth in the ... More

SpiceJet plans raising its fleet size to 25
Ties up with Tata AIG for travel cover More

FINANCIAL POLICY
Chidambaram hints at more fiscal steps to check inflation
The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, on Thursday said that he was willing to take more fiscal steps to check price rise in the economy and bring inflation below the five per cent mark. The average inflation in 2006-07 was 5.4 per cent. He ... More

RBI & OTHER CENTRAL BANKS
Banks, PDs allowed to use credit default swaps
The Reserve Bank of India has allowed banks and primary dealers to use plain vanilla credit default swaps to buy and sell protection against credit defaults. The participants in the credit derivative market can be broadly divided into ... More

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
IFCI to sell Arihant Ind unit
To recover its dues, the Industrial Finance Corporation of India has advertised for sale of one of the units of Arihant Industries Ltd at Baddi, Himachal Pradesh. In a statement, the Corporation has said that the reserve price ... More

GOVT BONDS
Bond prices down on profit booking
Bond prices fell by around 10 paise on profit booking on Thursday. Total traded volumes on the order matching system were Rs 2,425 crore (Rs 6,535 crore). "Bond prices have rallied by around a rupee in the past four days. So, ... More

SHORT TERM INSTRUMENTS
Call rate ends lower
The inter-bank call rate closed at 8-8.25 per cent (8.50-8.75 per cent). Banks borrowed more than Rs 24,550 crore from the RBI by repo. The payout for the Market Stabilisation auction of Rs 6,000 crore held on Wednesday caused ... More

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Centurion Bank of Punjab on the prowl for M&As
Awaits clearance for completing Lord Krishna Bank buy More