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Sensex, Nifty
ring in New Year
BSE billing
system RBI allows
accounts for SEBI-registered FIIs |
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Banks’ lending
rates cut by 0.25-0.5 pc New power tariff
regime from April 1: CERC Exports record
double-digit growth Indo-Pak trade
set to explore new horizons Over 50 lakh SMS
greetings sent in the region
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Sensex, Nifty ring in New Year with a high
Mumbai, January 1 The CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also pierced the 1,900-mark and ended at a record high of 1,912.25 points, gaining 1.73 per cent from its previous close. Market opened on a buoyant note on the first day of the New Year, further marched ahead with both the front-line stocks and mid-cap counters witnessing hectic buying support by institutional investors and local operators, who bet on impressive 3Q results and further surge in foreign fund inflows in the new year following the strong GDP growth, Mr Sumeet Lala, analysts at the Asit C Mehta Intermediaries, said. The mood in the market proved bullish on hope that foreign fund inflows would continue into Indian equities in 2004, after record inflows in 2003. India’s GDP grew a cracking 8.4 per cent in the July-September 2003 quarter, much higher than the 5.2 per cent growth in the same period last year, boosted by a strong showing in the farm, factory and services sectors. Public sector and banks shares were in the limelight even as the broad-based market rallied, he added. The sentiment continued to be bullish with the unabated inflows from foreign funds, and the Sensex could touch the 6,000-mark within a couple of days, before the market turn to correction mood, Mr Lala added. The top gainers included Bharti Tele which shot up by 5.61 per cent up to Rs 111, ACC 3.33 per cent to Rs 258.65, SBI 4.94 per cent up at Rs 565.10, HLL 3.86 per cent up at Rs 212.60, MTNL 3.78 per cent up at Rs 142.90, HPCL 3.03 per cent up at Rs 450.75, ONGC 2.66 per cent up at Rs 820.80, Cipla 2.54 per cent up at Rs 1,350.75 and Tata Power 2.53 per cent up at Rs 321.85. The only four losers in the 30-stock Sensex were Reliance which slipped by 0.56 per cent to Rs 569.80, Hindalco 0.53 per cent down at Rs 1,400.90, Bajaj Auto 0.15 per cent down at Rs 1,135.70 and HDFC Bank 0.1 per cent down at Rs 366.25. Among the sectoral indices, the Bankex shot up 67.92 points or 2.43 per cent to 2866.96, the BSE-PSU index surged 108.74 points (2.82 per cent) to 3964.19 points, the BSE-100 moved up by 58.09 points (1.89 per cent) to 3132.96 and the BSE Tech gained 24.99 points (1.92 per cent) to 1327.88. About 1,471 securities (64.43 per cent) posted gains, 751 (32.90 per cent) declined, while 61 (2.67 per cent) remained unchanged.
— UNI
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BSE billing system
Mumbai, January 1 The BSE said here today in a statement that the digitally signed electronic contract notes system was a precursor to the launch of the STP system, comprehensively covered the retail and institutional segments and allowed members of BSE and National Stock Exchanges (NSE) to issue contract notes-cum-bill to their investors through a simple file upload utility. The BSE said that the members can issue the contract note cum bill to their sub-brokers’, investors through the same system. Among the important features in the new system, a multi exchange capability and to meet the requirements of retail and institutional investors were included. The BSE said that the exchange would soon launch electronic contract notes for debt and derivatives segments and straight through processing (STP) workflow for various market segments and intermediaries.
— UNI
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RBI allows accounts for SEBI-registered FIIs
Mumbai, January 1 The SEBI said here today that the RBI last month had announced its decision to do away with the requirement of obtaining clearance from the RBI and the SEBI separately for opening FIIs account. The SEBI said that with a view to further streamlining the process of registration of FIIs, it had been decided that all prospective FII applicants shall submit the fees as prescribed in the SEBI.
— UNI
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Banks’ lending rates cut by 0.25-0.5 pc
New Delhi, January 1 After the RBI and the Indian Bank Association’s decision to introduce benchmark prime lending rate
(BPLR) from January 1, major banks have slashed rates in accordance with their cost of funds, cost of operations, NPAs and profit margins. The State Bank of India led the chart with the lowest BPLR of 10.25 per cent, which is 0.25 per cent lower than its previous
PLR, mainly on the strength of lower cost of funds. The SBI’s close competitor in the private sector, ICICI Bank, rechristened its PLR as I-BAR (ICICI Bank Advance Rate) but kept it unchanged at 10.50 per cent. Other major banks like Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and Union Bank reduced the lending rates by 0.25 per cent each.
— PTI
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New power tariff regime from April 1: CERC New Delhi, January 1 Under the draft regulations the return on equity for the Central power utilities is pegged at 14 per cent post tax as against the existing 16 per cent post tax. In case of independent power producers
(IPPs) the return on equity shall be 16 per cent post tax. However, in case the government-provided payment security mechanism to
IPPs, as in the case of state-owned utilities, the return on equity for IPPs shall also be pegged at 14 per cent post tax, CERC said. Under the draft new regulations electricity pricing for the consumers would provide for a profit of 14 to 16 per cent for the generating and transmission companies. “The commission would like all projects to come through competitive bidding route in future to harness the benefits of increased economic efficiency and ensure that electricity prices are in line with costs”, the CERC press statement said. The new tariff regime was expected to come into force from April 1 as the “the regulations will be finalised and notified well before April 1, 2004 after taking into account the comments of the stakeholders, and they will be valid for a period of five years”. The new terms and conditions would apply to all inter-state generating and transmission utilities including the NTPC,
NHPC, Powergrid, Neepco, Neyveli Lignite Corporation and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam. “The changeover from intrusive regulation involving detailed scrutiny of various actual costs to light-handed regulation based on normative parameters of performance is the hallmark of the proposed new regulation,” CERC said.
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Exports record double-digit growth New Delhi, January 1 Exports during November 2003 were valued at $4494.28 million, which was 13.74 per cent higher than the level of $3951.47 million during November 2002. In rupee terms, the exports in November 2003 were Rs 20458.90 crore, which was 7.30 per cent higher than the value of exports during November 2002. Exports during April-November 2003-04 were valued at $36502.74 million which was 8.81 per cent higher than the level of $33546.66 million during April to November 2002-03, official figures released here today said. Imports during April to November 2003-04 were valued at $47718.48 million representing an increase of 21.97 per cent over the level of imports valued at $39124.25 million in the same period in the previous year. In rupee terms, the imports increased from Rs 190327.19 crore to Rs 220582.29 crore showing a growth of 15.90 per cent during the period. Oil imports during April to November 2003-04 were valued at $12796.13 million which was 12.41 per cent higher than oil imports valued at $11383.78 million dollars in the corresponding period last year. Non-oil imports during April-November 2003-04 were estimated at $34922.35 million which was 25.89 per cent higher than the level of such imports valued at $27740.47 million in the same period last year. Imports during November 2003 were valued at 6412.80 million dollars representing an increase of 26.45 per cent over the level of imports valued at $5071.58 million in November 2002. In rupee terms, the imports increased by 19.29 per cent during November 2003. The trade deficit for April-November 2003-04 was estimated at $11215.74 million which was higher than the deficit at $5577.59 million during the same period last year.
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Indo-Pak trade set to explore new horizons
Mumbai, January 1 When the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight lands at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport here tomorrow, it will mark not only a new start to the hauling of passengers but even commodities like the sweet paan which the Pakistanis love to chomp on, other tobacco items, tea, sugar, wheat, fruits and vegetables. Though official trade with Pakistan is estimated at around Rs 800 crore, the actual trade volume is calculated at more than the estimated figures since cargo is re-routed through UAE ports and consequent rise in smuggling activities, an industry official here said. ‘‘Out of this, exports are worth about Rs 400 crore and the resumption of the Mumbai-Karachi flight is the right step in this direction,’’ he added. CII Principal Advisor Arun C Patankar told UNI here today that this was a sensible move taken by the government and there was strong need for a thorough review of allowing entry to Indian goods acceptable in Pakistan and Pakistan goods which would be acceptable in the Indian market.
— UNI
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Over 50 lakh SMS greetings sent in the region Chandigarh, January 1 The mobile operators said that though they had increased their capacity to handle the extra rush on the eve of New Year, but they had not expected such an unprecedented rush. They claimed that all messages would be delivered shortly. Apart from young customers and IT guys, even the public relation companies, corporate sector, Armymen, and millions of other cellular users used their handsets to convey their ‘best wishes, love, greetings’ to their relatives, clients and other people. Most of the mobile users had sent messages in groups. Inquires with the Spice, AirTel, BSNL and Reliance offices revealed that the number of SMS greetings sharply increased this year, as against last year or even Divali. Mr Manavdeep Mianwal, Senior Manager (Marketing), AirTel, said, ‘‘Over 14 lakh messages were sent on our network in the Punjab circle within hours, and about 20 lakh messages terminated on the network. We had almost doubled the capacity to 50 lakh from the normal capacity of sending 20-25 lakh messages.’’ Regarding the complaints of non-delivery of messages, he said, ‘‘Only a handful of customers faced this difficulty. Because of heavy rush the network faced problem at around 12 last night and for about 7 minutes during the day time today. Otherwise everything was normal.’’ Another official of the Spice said, ‘‘Since we had already made arrangements expecting heavy rush in SMS greetings, so people did not face congestion like last year. Further expecting difficulty in the delivery of messages at the last hour, majority of mobile users had began to send their SMS greetings since yesterday morning itself.’’ A senior official of the BSNL, Punjab circle, said, ‘‘In our North circle comprising seven states over 21 lakh SMS messages were passed within 12 hours. Only about 20,000 messages could not be delivered by 5.30 evening today. These are mostly those cases, where the customers are out of range area, or have switched off their mobiles.’’ The officials said there were over 15 lakh mobile users in Chandigarh and Punjab. At a cost of 60 paise to Re 1 per SMS, the SMS greetings have emerged as a new and easy way of sending the messages. ‘‘The SMS greetings are here to stay,” said an official.
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