The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, July 26, 2008

MONEY & BANKING

LIFE INSURANCE: LIC accumulates stake in 22 Sensex cos
Reduces holding in IT stocks; ICICI Pru too hikes stake in pivotals. Mumbai, July 25 Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) appears to have made some value buying in the last quarter, when many blue chips lost heavily from bear hammering. ...

FOREX: External borrowings melt down to $4 b for June quarter
Bankers offer differing views; Reliance Comm main borrower. Chennai, July 25 Borrowing abroad doesn’t seem to be that attractive now for Indian companies. Data released by the Reserve Bank of India show that there has been a steep drop ...

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: Union Bank Q1 net profit marginally up at Rs 228 cr
Makes marked-to-market provision of Rs 339 cr on bond portfolio. Union Bank of India reported a flat net profit of Rs 228 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, against Rs 225 crore in the same quarter last year. According to the bank, the ...

GOVT BONDS: Bonds fall; policy cues awaited
Bond prices fell sharply ahead of the monetary policy announcement. Volumes were also lower. A bond dealer with a public sector bank said: “The euphoria over the fall in crude oil prices appears to be over. Today, the market pulled back and ...

FOREX: Rupee down 11 paise
The rupee depreciated by 11 paise against the dollar mainly due to losses in the stock market. The domestic currency opened weaker at 42.21/22 due to the fall in global indices. It touched an intra-day low of 42.35 and closed at 42.25/26, against ...

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS: SBI, State Bank of Saurashtra merger

SHORT TERM INSTRUMENTS: Call rates lower
The inter-bank call rate closed lower at 8.75-9 per cent, against the previous close of 9.40-9.50 per cent. In the three-day repo auction under the liquidity adjustment facility, the RBI received and accepted 40 bids worth Rs. 43,260 crore. There ...

CREDIT MARKET: Bank credit up by Rs 16,132 cr
Net bank credit increased by Rs 16,132 crore to touch Rs 24,08,579 crore for fortnight ended July 4, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s Weekly Statistical Supplement. The total bank credit comprised food credit, which increased by Rs ...

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: Karnataka Bank net slips on provision for depreciation
Net interest income up 13.16% at Rs 140.78 cr in Q1. Mangalore, July 25 Karnataka Bank Ltd has registered a decline of 60 per cent in net profit at Rs 20.70 crore in the first quarter of 2008-09 as against Rs 51.79 crore in the corresponding ...

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: Karur Vysya Q1 net profit declines to Rs 30.54 cr
Coimbatore, July 25 Karur Vysya Bank’s net profit slipped to Rs 30.54 crore during the first quarter of the current fiscal, against Rs 47.95 crore during the corresponding quarter of the previous ...

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: Rise in interest income lifts IndusInd Q1 net
Mumbai, July 25 Aided by an increase in interest income, IndusInd Bank’s net profit increased to Rs 19.10 crore in the first quarter of 2008-09, up 44.48 per cent, from Rs 13.22 crore in the previous year’s corresponding ...

FOREX: Forex reserves down by $1.41 b
Mumbai, July 25 After a marginal rise last week, the country’s foreign currency reserves fell by a huge $1.413 billion to touch $307.107 billion, during the week ended July 18, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s Weekly ...

CREDIT POLICY: RBI Governor meets Finance Minister ahead of policy review
New Delhi, July 25 Ahead of the first quarterly monetary policy review for 2008-09 on July 29, the Reserve Bank of India Governor, Dr Y.V.Reddy, met the Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, at the latter’s North Block office here ...

INSIGHT: Countdown to Credit Policy Review — Should the RBI tighten monetary policy further?
In the background of inflationary conditions and signs of decelerating growth, the RBI may be tempted to tweak key rates and ratios. But it should not only wait for the full impact of the higher deposit rates to take effect, but also withdraw the ... eme for purchase of oil bonds and declare them SLR-eligible, says A. SESHAN..

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: Crisil net trebles at Rs 32.01 cr
Crisil’s net profit nearly trebled to Rs 32. 01 crore for the quarter ended June 30, from Rs 11.34 crore in the year-ago period. The operating income increased following the amalgamation of four wholly-owned subsidiaries of Crisil ...