12th Aug

18th Aug

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Economy & Markets

While the week started with Sensex and Nifty opening in green at 18,890 and 5,591 respectively, by the end of the week Sensex went 418 points down at 18,949 and Nifty 141 points down at 5,600.

Commodities & Forex

MCX Comdex was up by 4.22% to 4040.12 for the week till Thursday. MCX Metal was up by 6.79% to 4899.27 and MCX Energy was up by 2.18% to 4420.62.

Indian currency remains the worst performing

Asian currency in 2013, it has fallen more than 12% since the beginning of 2013. Reserve Bank of India, earlier announced measures to curb forex outflow amid weakening of INR against US Dollar but the measures have failed to produce much affect.

The National Spot Exchange (NSEL) fiasco is

likely to be discussed in Parliament next week. The exchange plans to pay INR 174.72 crore every week for 20 weeks. It hopes to pay INR 86.02 crore every week for 10 weeks thereafter.

In a major move to curb illegal activities, Indias

securities market regulator Sebi is bringing frontrunning by individuals under the ambit of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices (FUTP) regulations. Front running is an unethical activity whereby a person uses confidential information to buy or sell shares in a company ahead of a large order so as to benefit from the subsequent price movement .

The Forwards Market Regulator (FMC) has

recommended involving other government agencies to track the money owed by National Spot Exchange if there is a default. It has also recommended ways to make Financial Technologies, the promoter of the exchange, responsible for meeting the liability.

Index USA Dow Jones NASDAQ FTSE 100 DAX Hang Seng Nikkei 225

Global Markets 12-Aug 16-Aug

Price Change

12-Aug

16-Aug

Change

15,419 3,198 6,574 8,359 22,271 13,519

15,081 3,087 6,500 8,391 22,517 13,650

-2.19% -3.47% -1.12% 0.38% 1.10% 0.96%

/ USD-

60.67

61.26

0.97%

Crude ($)
MCX Gold () Silver ()

105.35
28,110 42,710

106.74
29,430 46,584

1.3%
4.60% 9.07%

Asia

Europe

Crude: per barrel | Gold: per 10 g | Silver: per kg

12 August

18 August

Economy & Markets

The central bank cut locals overseas remittances to $75,000 from $200,000 and prohibited investments in overseas property, eliminating Indias contribution to real estate recovery in the U.S, and Europe.
Yields on 10-year US treasuries rose to a near twoyear high of 2.7%, triggering fears that foreign investors may pull out of Indian funds, which pushed yields on Indian bonds to a 15-month high of 8.55%. According to the government data released this week, industrial output measured by Index of Industrial Production (IIP) shrunk 2.2% in June compared with the same month in 2012 while retail inflation fell to 9.64% in July from 9.87% in June.

Commodities & Forex

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sold $2.25 billion in the local foreign exchange market in June as against $107 million in May to support the weakening rupee against the dollar, the central bank said in its monthly bulletin for August 2013. The RBI also sold $4.91 billion in the forwards market to prevent future weakness in the rupee. According to data released by Eurostat, Euro zone annual core inflation rose 1.1% in July, following 1.2% growth registered the previous month. U.S. WTI crude oil for September delivery is trading down 9 cents at $107.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. This week it rose to as high as $107.57 a barrel as violence in Egypt spread fears about the Mideast region.

Overseas funds have pulled out a combined $11.58 billion in equities and debt from India's markets since June 1 over concerns about the weakening economy, SEBI data showed.

Sensex
19,230
18,947 18,598

19,368

12-Aug-13

13-Aug-13

14-Aug-13

15-Aug-13

16-Aug-13

12 August

18 August

Maruti cuts FY14 domestic growth forecast Maruti Udyog has cut its domestic volume growth for the current fiscal by a third to 2%. Maruti had earlier given a forecast of a 4-6% growth in domestic retail sales for FY14. The industry produced a total 1,729,002 vehicles in July 2013 as against 1,745,532 in July 2012, registering a decline of 0.95 percent over the same month last year.

Bajaj Auto Chakan plant strike ends Workers union at Bajaj Auto's Chakan plant decided to unconditionally call off the strike and resume work from Wednesday this week. Earlier workers union has been on strike since June 25th on demands varying from issuance of 500 shares, wage revision etc.

M&M Q1 PAT at Rs9.38bn M&M has posted results for the first quarter ended 30th June, 2013.The net profit for the quarter was at Rs9.38bn, up 29%. The good growth in the profits of the entity in the quarter is due to a good volume performance by Farm Equipment Sector and tight control on expenses. The operating margin of the Entity for the current quarter is 14.4% as compared to 13.9% in Q1 F2013.

For 9th month in a row auto sales fall: SIAM

Car sales in India fell 7.4% in July owing to higher fuel costs and high cost of financing. This is the 9
straight month of fall for cars, where only 131,163 cars were sold down from 1,41,646 in July, 2012, according to data from Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

12 August

18 August

All women bank to have 25 branches by fiscal-end The Bharatiya Mahila Bank proposes to complete the first six branches at Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Indore and Guwahati by October 15 and take the total to 25 by March 31, 2014. The government has already approved Rs 1,000 crore seed capital for it. The proposed bank, to be headquartered at Delhi, is likely to be operational by November this year. Banks may write off Rs 7,200 crore debt to microfinance institutions Banks that restructured Rs 7,200 crore of debt to microfinance institutions are staring at a possible write off as several of these institutions are finding it difficult to recover loans in Andhra Pradesh. Lenders had bailed out microfinance institutions (MFIs) such as Spandana Sphoorty Financial, Asmitha

Microfin, Share Microfin, Trident Microfin, Future Financial Services and Basix in 2011 after the Andhra
Pradesh government passed a law to regulate MFIs. SBI profit declines by 13.6%; holds rates due to Rs 70K cr excess liquidity SBI net profit fell 13.6% to Rs 3,241 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2013 due to increased provisioning for rising non-performing assets (NPAs), which rose to 5.56% of total advances against 4.99% YoY, reflecting the impact of slowing economy. Further due to excess liquidity of around Rs

70,000 crore it has held on to it lending rates as well.

Deutsche Bank aims to double India income German lender Deutsche Bank plans to double its revenue from India operations by scaling up its transaction and retail banking business. The bank had reported a 25% rise in yearly profits from India operations, helped by increased lending in its retail and wholesale businesses. Its net profit for the year

ended March rose to Rs 1,033 crore, driven largely by a 78% growth in loans. During the year,
Deutsche Bank increased its capital in India by over Rs 1,060 crore, the sixth infusion since 2007.

12 August

18 August

Consumer durable companies to hike prices this festive season With companies planning a fresh round of price hike of up to 5 per cent to offset impact of weak rupee and additional cost to comply with changes in energy efficiency ratings norms introduced by BEE, this festive season will turn out to be an expensive one for those looking to buy consumer durables

Marico trains eyes on value added hair oils for growth "With rising incomes in India, there exist increasing opportunities to serve consumers looking for value added options to their hair oiling needs. The company will focus on scaling up its presence in all the sub segments," Marico said in an investor update. Marico's value-added hair oil brands include Parachute Advansed, Nihar and Hair & Care. Balaji wafers in talks with PEs to raise $ 100- 125 million : Sources Snack maker Balaji Wafers is in separate talks with private-equity funds, including Blackstone Group and Actis, to raise between $100 million and $125 million, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Balaji, based in Rajkot, manufactures and distributes potato chips and other grainbased bagged snacks in flavors such as masala.

Vijay Mallya rejigs executive payrolls as Diageo tightens leash Top United Breweries (UB) Group executives and close aides of the troubled billionaire Vijay Mallya, who were parked on the payrolls of United Spirits, have been shifted out with Diageo tightening the

leash over India's largest distiller.

12 August

18 August

Petrol prices likely to be cut by more than Re 1 Oil firms plan to slash petrol prices by more than Re 1 per litre shortly because of a fall in international rates, but may've to wait till the end of monsoon session of Parliament to hike diesel prices, government and industry officials said. The companies may not be able to raise diesel prices by 50 paise this month as they had increased its rate last month, which was effective from Aug 1

Reliance Industries to explore investment opportunities in Iraqi oil fields Reliance Industries, the country's largest privately owned company, is exploring investment opportunities in the oil and gas fields of Iraq, chairman Mukesh Ambani said. "We are keenly looking at Iraq's resources...we have not yet decided on investing in the Nasiriya giant oil field and the accompanying refinery project but all options are being evaluated," Ambani said.

Will rethink investments if rupee slide continues: Tata Power Private sector utility Tata Power said it may re-look at its investment plans going forward if the rupee continuous to depreciate at the current rate. "If the rupee slide continues we will have to go back on drawing board and rethink about our investments," company's managing director Anil Sardana told reporters

12 August

18 August

Novartis lashes out at India for not respecting IPR

Hitting out at India's way of dealing with Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues, drug major Novartis has said India is losing investments in research and development from MNCs to China due to lack of an ecosystem that fosters innovation. According to the company, which lost a patent case for its cancer drug Glivec, India needs to have fast track courts to deal with IPR disputes.

Metropolis eyes acquisitions in India, Africa for expansion

Diagnostics chain Metropolis Healthcare is looking for acquisitions in India and Africa as part of its
expansion plans. "We are planning two to three acquisitions in FY13-14 in the country. We are already in talks for these," Metropolis Healthcare MD & CEO Ameera Shah told PTI.

UK, UAE firms to invest $17.5-m in Indian healthcare chain

UK's development finance institution CDC and UAE's Abraaj Group, a leading investor in global growth markets, have jointly invested $17.5 million in Rainbow group of hospitals based in Andhra Pradesh. This is CDC's first direct equity investment in India since the launch of its new strategy in late 2012.

26 new drugs permitted for sale without trials in India Sources in the Health Ministry admit that as many as 26 new drug molecules have been approved since 2010 without testing them through drug trials on local populations. While eight new drug molecules of biologicals and non biologicals were approved by the country's apex drug regulator, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), last year, two have already been allowed for sale so far this year.

12 August

18 August

Centre approves Rs 822 cr for roads in maoist-hit districts of West Bengal The government has cleared Rs 822-crore roads projects for three Maoist-affected districts of West Bengal, signalling its intent to thaw frosty ties with the Trinamool Congress-led state government. The sanction for 447 road projects for the districts of Paschim Mednipur, Bankura and Purulia comes soon after the Congress-led government approved Rs 523-crore road projects for the state.

Parliament nod to bill seeking expansion of NHAI The National Highways Authority of India (Amendment) Bill, 2012 was passed in the Rajya Sabha, seeking to increase the number of members, with the government promising steps to improve the condition of highways and check corruption in NHAI. The Bill seeks to expand the Authority and it will now consist of a chairman, up to six full-time members and six part-time members. GMB adopts Swiss Challenge route to make FSRU project competitive Gujarat Maritime Board(GMB) has opted for the more competitive Swiss Challenge (comparative bidding) route for the sole bid for its proposed maiden LNG port terminal project with a floating storage and regassification unit (FSRU) near Jafrabad in Amreli. It will be the fifth LNG terminal to come up in Gujarat.

HDIL not to sell Kochi SEZ land; to develop IT infrastructure Following relaxation in SEZ norms, debt-laden property developer HDIL has decided to scrap plan to sell the 70-acre land parcel at Kochi SEZ rather construct IT infrastructure there. The company had planned to set up an IT park with a planned investment of Rs 2,300 crore. However, in June this year it decided to abandon the project and sell the land to mobilise funds and utilise it for debt repayment.

12 August

18 August

Rupee fall impact: Smart phones to get dearer by 3-4% The rupee slide against the dollar is poised to push up prices of low cost smart phones further, though top end players such as Apple and Blackberry are holding steady. Worst affected are entry level and mid level smart phone makers because competition in the top end and low cost feature phones is too intense, say dealers. Analysts say these companies have already raised prices by 10%-12% and a further increase of 5%-10% is anticipated. Tech Mahindra seeks transfer of three special economic zones allotted to Satyam Tech Mahindra, which merged Mahindra Satyam with itself a few months ago, is in the process of transferring 3 SEZs that were allotted to the latter before merger. Tech Mahindra has supposedly approached the Board of Approvals under the Deptt. of Commerce for transferring rights of 3 SEZs (1 in Tamil Nadu and 2 in A.P.) and the proposal will come up for a discussion before the BoA on Aug 30

eClerx Board's conflicting moves spell disarray The board of directors at eClerx Services, a leading knowledge process outsourcer, seems to be a confused lot these days. On the one hand, the board wants to issue fresh securities to fund the company's growth while, on the other hand, they have approved a buyback of shares. Such contradictory moves, may send out confusing signals that are detrimental to all stakeholders. Internet.org: Facebook's latest effort to deliver data to the developing world Facebook plans to announce an effort aimed at drastically cutting the cost of delivering basic Internet services on mobile phones, particularly in developing countries, where Facebook and other tech companies need to find new users. 6 of the world's tech giants, including Samsung, Nokia, Qualcomm and Ericsson, have agreed to work with the company on the initiative, which they call Internet.org.

12 August

18 August

'18 single brand retail FDI proposals approved till May, 2013' The government approved a total of 18 foreign direct investment proposals worth USD 173 million in the single brand retail sector between April 2010 and May 2013, Parliament was informed. Of these, it approved five proposals in the sector worth USD 137.68 million during the first two months of the current fiscal.

Direct sourcing from farmers helps retail chains keep onion prices low Consumers who are harried by soaring onion prices can seek solace in organised retail and buy it at cheaper rates from the outlets of Mother Dairy, Easy Day, Big Bazaar, Spencers and others, which buy the produce directly from farmers and eliminate juicy margins of the middlemen.

Amway India registers 24% growth in H1 of 2013 in Odisha Direct selling major Amway India has posted 24 per cent growth in Odisha during the first half of 2013 over the year-ago period. For the period of January to June 2013, Amway Odisha recorded a turnover of Rs 33 crore compared to Rs 26.5 crore in H1 of 2012

Reebok India ropes in Nargis Fakhri as fitness ambassador Fitness brand Reebok India today said it has roped in bollywood actor and fitness icon Nargis Fakhri as fitness ambassador for its women's category 'Studio'. Studio category products are focused on dance, aerobics and yoga.

12 August

18 August

DoT issues norms to shift to Unified Licence regime The telecom department has issued guidelines for mobile phone companies to migrate to the Unified Licensing regime under which a rebate in the entry fee has been offered on a pro-rata basis. The rebate will be offered for international, long distance and access service licences for the number of years remaining in the licence tenure and will be limited to a maximum of Rs 15 crore.

Panel against spectrum auction for captive users A panel on Unified Licence(UL) rules has said that India should continue with its practice to allot,

instead of auction, spectrum to captive users such as government departments, airlines and ports,
though the pricing formula may be reviewed every three years.

DoT new guidelines paves way for full Internet telephony The DoT has issued long-awaited migration guidelines which pave way for ISP like Reliance Jio Infocomm and Tikona, that have BWA spectrum, to offer mobile telephony service by paying an extra fee of Rs 1,658.57 crore.

Telewings case: DoT likely to refute CAG charges The Department of Telecom (DoT) is likely justify the decision to allow adjustment of licence fee of around Rs 1,650 crore paid by Uninor in 2008 against Rs 4,018 crore payable by Telewings for spectrum it won in 2012 auction. Government auditor CAG had questioned the DoT decision as the licence fee of Rs 1,650 crore was paid by Uninor in which Telenor had majority stake.

12 August

18 August