IDBI Bank waives all service charges
Mumbai, September 1, 2010: Public sector lender IDBI Bank on Wednesday waived all service charges on facilities like issuance of demand drafts, cheque books, credit or debit cards and ATM interchange, on all current and savings bank accounts (CASA), the first move by any bank.
This step is aimed at increasing the bank’s below industry-average CASA deposits and the bank expects to double its retail accounts to Rs. 1 crore in the next 12 months, IDBI Bank’s Executive Director and Group Head Retail Banking R.K. Bansal said.
“Between money that we charge and the relationship with customer, we found the latter to be more important. We will have to forego some costs,” its Chairman and Managing Director R.M. Malla told reporters, adding that there would be no impact on the bank’s cost to income ratio.
For covering the losses through this offering, the bank will focus more on other services like loan advisory and syndicating large corporate loans which earns a good fee.
The cheaper CASA deposit percentage of the bank currently stands at around 14 per cent, lower than the industry average of over 30 per cent. “With this, we plan to match up with the industry average. I cannot predict if it will happen in six months or a year,” Deputy Managing Director B.P. Singh said.
The waiver applies for all service charges currently charged by the bank, excluding the fee charged for cheque bouncing, Mr. Malla said.
Gold sets new record at Rs. 19,405 per 10 grams
New Delhi, September 1, 2010: Gold today climbed to an all-time of Rs. 19,405 per 10 grams in the bullion market here after frantic buying stockists to meet the rising demand during the ongoing festival season.
The precious metal mirrored the gains in global markets, the trend setter on the domestic front, marketmen said. Gold rose to two-month high levels in the global markets following a fall in the dollar.
Gold prices spurted by Rs. 215 to trade at a record high of Rs. 19,405 per 10 grams, surpassing the previous record level of Rs. 19,220 set on June 8.
Silver recorded a handsome gain of Rs. 525 to trade at Rs. 30,950 per kg on increased offtake by industrial units and jewellery fabricators.
Marketmen said that a sharp rise in demand from jewellers and stockists to meet the ensuing festival season demand boosted the uptrend.
Gold of 99.5 per cent purity shot up by Rs. 215 to Rs. 19,305 per 10 grams. Sovereigns also rose by Rs. 100 to all-time high of Rs. 15,000 per piece of eight grams.
Silver ready gained Rs. 525 to trade at Rs. 30,950 per kg and weekly-based delivery spurted by Rs. 640 to Rs. 30,920 per kg. Silver coins were also gained Rs. 200 to Rs. 34,900 for buying and Rs. 35,000 for selling of 100 pieces.
Sensex gains 235 points on better growth, high export
Sep 1, 2010, MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex gained 235 points to reach a one-month high today on heavy buying by funds influenced by strong GDP growth of the Indian economy and rising exports amid firming global cues.
The Sensex shot up by 234.75 points, or 1.31 per cent, to 18,205.87, translating into its highest gain in 10 weeks to a level last seen on August 4, led by a rise in stocks of raw material producers as investors speculated that economic expansion will boost profitability and demand. The Sensex had lost 60.99 points yesterday.
Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exhange index Nifty rose by 69.45 points, or 1.29 per cent, to 5,471.85.
Renewed buying by foreign funds, a rise in exports for the ninth straight month in July, strong auto sales, impressive 8.8 per cent GDP growth, a rebound in China's manufacturing activity and smart growth in Australia's economy in Q2 also helped the Sensex post impressive gains.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries snapped its seven- day losing streak and gained Rs 17.60 to Rs 936.45, while the second most valuable scrip on the BSE, Infosys Technologies, rose by Rs 68.65 to Rs 2,775.75.
The metal sector index gained the most, rising 3.02 per cent to 15,429.53 after Sterlite Industries, the largest copper producer, gained Rs 5.40 to Rs 156.55 on the back of a surge in metal prices in international markets.
Similarly, Tata Steel rose by Rs 15.35 to Rs 537.75, its highest close since August 10.
From the BSE-30 component, 27 counters ended with gains while only three finished with losses. All the sectoral indices ended in the green, higher by between 3.02 per cent and 0.28 per cent.
Among the major gainers, RCom spurted by 4.94 per cent, Hindalco by 4.48 per cent, Bharti Airtel by 3.10 per cent, DLF by 2.57 per cent and R-Infra by 2.10 per cent.
Amongst sectoral indices, the BSE-Realty index jumped by 99.15 points, or 2.98 per cent, the BSE-Tech index by 75.93 points, or 2.25 per cent, and the BSE-IT index by 107.72 points, or 2.00 per cent. Auto stocks initially were in keen demand on higher sales growth, a major part of the gains were pared on late profit-booking.
Barring China which finished down by 0.50 per cent, other Asian stocks ended higher today. Key indices from Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan closed up by about 0.43 per cent and 1.26 per cent.
European markets were trading higher in their late morning deals. The CAC was up by 1.50 per cent, the DAX by 0.43 per cent and the FTSE by 1.09 per cent. US stock index futures, too, indicated a firm opening on Wall Street today.
Telcos set to roll out 3G services, welcome allocation
Sep 1, 2010, NEW DELHI: Telecom operators today cheered the government's move to allocate 3G spectrum, which will allow them to offer high-speed data services to subscribers, and said that they were set to roll out the next generation of mobile telephony across the country.
The government, meanwhile, seems to have had its way with the 3G spectrum-winning telecom operators, who have agreed to pay higher charges for using the radio waves as part of the amended licence rules.
As a result, the operators, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, will have to shell out 3-8 per cent of their Adjusted Gross Revenue as against the 2-6 per cent stipulated earlier.
The move is likely to hit Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, RCom, Tatas, Idea Cellular, Aircel and S Tel who had collectively paid a whopping Rs 51,000 crore to the government for 3G spectrum.
However, the operators such as Uninor, SSTL and others who have not bagged 3G spectrum can continue to pay spectrum usage charges at old rates.
Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, RCom, Tatas, Idea Cellular, Aircel and S Tel have been awarded 5 Mhz of spectrum in each circle they won in the auction.
Welcoming the move, Reliance Communications CEO ( Wireless Business) Syed Safawi said, "By releasing the 3G spectrum as promised, the Government has paved the way for the next revolution in mobile telecommunications."
Echoing similar views, Vodafone Essar Director (Strategy) Samaresh Parida said, "We are pleased to receive the spectrum today. Our implementation is on schedule and we will launch our 3G services in a few months."
The government has authorised the operators to use the 3G spectrum for a period of 20 years from today, even if their telecom licences expire prior to that.
The government has imposed a roll-out obligation, under which the telcos would have to cover at least 90 per cent of the service areas in the metros within the next five years.
"As announced earlier, we have already placed orders for 3G network equipment. We will now closely work with our partners NTT DOCOMO to put our network and content in place," a TTSL spokesperson said.
Another telecom operator Aircel confirmed the allotment of 3G air waves, but declined to comment on the details of service roll-out.
Telecom operators are betting big on roll-out of 3G services, which will provide subscribers access to high speed download of videos, music and other content. This is expected to further drive competition in the cellular telephony market, which is adding 15-16 million subscribers a month.
According to TRAI, the total mobile subscriber base stood at 635.51 million for month ended June 2010.
Exports grow by 13.2% to USD 16.24 bn in July
Sep 1, 2010, NEW DELHI: Exports grew by 13.2 per cent to USD 16.24 billion in July compared to the same period last fiscal, posting growth for the ninth month in a row.
Imports too jumped by 34.3 per cent to USD 29.17 billion in July compared to the same month last fiscal, according to the official data released on Wednesday.
During April-July this fiscal, exports posted a growth rate of 30 per cent to USD 68.62 billion on year-on-year basis. Imports during the April-July period grew by 33.3 per cent to USD 112.2 billion.
Oil imports in July grew by 4.4 per cent to USD 7.6 billion, while non-oil imports jumped by 49.6 per cent to USD 21.5 billion.
The country's trade deficit widened to USD 12.93 billion in July compared to the year-ago period.
