Battling a sharp surge in inflation, the Reserve Bank is all for a smooth monetary policy response and the desire to have smaller hikes led it to tighten the policy in an off-schedule meet, a source said on Thursday. Inflation has been massively impacted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and will in due course also reflect the dent caused by Indonesia banning palm oil exports, the source aware of central bank thinking said, indicating that there was no other option but to respond. "The idea is to have a smooth policy response, not to put in large cold turkey responses," the source said, making it clear that the preference is for smaller magnitude responses and not larger ones.
The currency's relatively stable performance even as the US announced tapering showed India's better preparedness to deal with any fallout of such foreign fund outflows.
Hero MotoCorp was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting 4.46 per cent. IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, Vedanta, SBI, M&M, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, HDFC and HDFC Bank too rose up to 3.63 per cent.
Benchmark indices fell on Monday with the BSE Sensex declining 306 points, mainly dragged down by Reliance Industries. Foreign funds outflow also added to the overall bearish trend in equities on Monday. The 30-share BSE benchmark fell 306.01 points or 0.55 per cent to settle at 55,766.22. During the day, it declined 535.15 points or 0.95 per cent to 55,537.08. The broader NSE Nifty dipped 88.45 points or 0.53 per cent to 16,631.
Improved credit profile may make you eligible to transfer your existing home loan to another lender at a much lower rate.
A 2008-style bank run seems unlikely, but if it did happen, the sector is much better prepared.
Banking shares are down up to 11% after the Reserve Bank of India has increased the policy repo rate by 25 basis points from 7.25% to 7.5% with immediate effect.
India needs to move towards full capital account convertibility to become a leading global economy.
Bajaj Finance was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, soaring around 8 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, SBI, Bajaj Auto and HDFC Bank. NSE Nifty surged 211.50 points to 14,864.55.
Observing that US' economic recovery is proceeding at a moderate pace, US Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday the central bank might need to intervene if policymakers enact short-term spending cuts that hurt growth.
'Clearly, the depositors of cooperative banks need the maximum protection.'
The apex bank also noted that manufacturing activities slowed down in certain parts of the country.
Tech Mahindra, the top loser in the Sensex pack, shed over 2.5 per cent. It was followed by UltraTech Cement, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech, HDFC, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank and TCS. NSE Nifty plunged 179.35 points to 17,745.90.
The steep fall in rupee came on a day when the Reserve Bank of India in its first quarter review of monetary policy kept the all key rates unchanged but cut the gross domestic growth forecast to 5.5 per cent for FY'14 from 5.7 per cent earlier.
Gains in realty, teck, IT, power, consumer durables, banking and oil & gas stocks helped both the key indices to score gains.
Bajaj Finserv was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 4 per cent, followed by L&T, HDFC, Axis Bank, SBI, Reliance Industries and IndusInd Bank. NSE Nifty soared 276.30 points to its new closing peak of 17,823.
Bharti Airtel was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 4 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Tata Steel, Titan, Maruti and Bajaj Finance. NSE Nifty surged 225.85 points to its record closing of 16,931.05.
The US Federal Reserve has retained the benchmark interest rate at near-zero level and struck an upbeat note saying that the American economy has continued to strengthen in recent months.
The dollar's gains against other currencies overseas and a lower opening in the domestic equity market also put pressure on the local unit, forex dealers said.
Striking a different note from its peers, US brokerage Bank of America Securities has maintained that the Reserve Bank will leave rates unchanged next week, recognising growth-focused and capex-driven fiscal expansion, which though poses huge price pressure and interest rate risks later. The RBI's rate setting panel Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will begin its deliberations next Monday and announce the policy moves on Wednesday (February 9) in the backdrop of a massive spike in bond yields post the Budget. Almost all major central banks are in the process of hiking rates to tame inflation.
In New York market, the dollar fell against euro late yesterday, as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said that central bank officials had discussed quantitative easing as an option to fight falling inflation.
'The minimum holding period for equities should be three years.' 'Try goal-based investing.' 'Link your equity portfolios to specific goals such as retirement, purchase of a house or car...'
IT majors along with metal names Sesa Goa and Hindalco buck trend.
Heavy selling of the US dollar by banks and exporters in the face of renewed capital inflows predominantly kept sentiment highly buoyant
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Bank stocks have underperformed in the second quarter of FY'14 with the BSE Bankex declining 18 per cent compared to fall of 1 per cent in the BSE 30-stock index, Sensex, during this period.
Foreign brokerage Bank of America Merrill Lynch said they expect the headline inflation to rise to 3.3 per cent in May, but added that it is within the 2-6 per cent range which the government has set for the RBI.
Banks now ride on what is defined as a "banking outlet". This is a fixed-point service unit, manned by either the bank's staff or its business correspondent (BC), where all kinds of services - acceptance of deposits, encashment of cheques, cash withdrawal or lending of money - are provided for a minimum of four hours per day, for at least five days a week. Banks are now turning to reposition the manner in which they acquire customers, report Abhijit Lele and Raghu Mohan.
'If rate cuts happen, bond yields will come down and investors will make mark-to-market capital gains on them.'
'We are not entirely out of the woods.' 'The broader trajectory remains tentative.' 'However, we may expect some near-term bounce.'
The 30-share Sensex ended up 292 points at 29,571 and the 50-share Nifty closed up 75 points at 8,910.
Nifty PSU bank index dropped nearly 2%
Historically, March has been a volatile month for Indian equity markets. To begin with, it marks the end of a financial year, wherein there is some compulsive portfolio rebalancing trade by large funds - domestic and foreign. Retail investors, too, prefer to 'cash in' on their gains and losses before the financial year runs out.
Silver also rose 0.8 per cent to $16.63 an ounce.
Spot gold was bid lower at $ 1,298 an ounce in early European trade.
The NSE Nifty, which again went past the 9,900-mark to touch a high of 9,903.95 intra-day, finally settled 103.15 points, or 1.05 per cent higher at 9,897.30.
In a response to the August 3 order, the Centre, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, said till the time either the legislature or the poll panel steps in, the top court must lay down "dos and don'ts" for political parties in the 'larger national interest.'
The Reserve Bank of India has already reduced the policy rate by a total of 75 basis points, or 0.75 per cent, since January.
Pressure has been mounting on the Reserve Bank of India to cut interest rates in the wake of declining retail inflation and the need to fuel growth momentum. However, the RBI will have to do a tightrope walk as globally interest rates are inching upwards.
Inflation rate during August, the data for which is yet to be released, was likely to remain at about 7 per cent, said SBI Ecowrap.
Benchmark Sensex declined 224 points on Wednesday, snapping its four-session winning streak, mainly due to sell-off in IT and pharma counters amid rising concerns over possible aggressive interest rate hikes to tame high inflation. The 30-share index rebounded more than 1,200 points from the early lows before settling at 60,346.97 points, a total loss of 224.11 points or 0.37 per cent compared to Tuesday's closing level. The broader NSE Nifty closed lower 66.30 points or 0.37 per cent at 18,003.75 points.
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