Mumbai, May 22
The rupee fell for a fourth successive session on Wednesday to mark its longest losing streak in over three months, hurt by dollar demand from oil refiners and a late fall in equities.

The rupee's fall comes despite strong foreign flows into stocks and debt markets this year, as concerns about the current account deficit have revived after data earlier this month showed a spike in the April trade deficit.

Global dollar strength has also hit the rupee. However, analysts are awaiting clues from the Federal Reserve chairman to provide signal about a potential end to its monetary stimulus programme on Wednesday. The US central bank is also set to release minutes from its last meeting later in the day.

Technically, a breach of key support levels seems to have opened up more downside for the rupee.

"Weak equities and corporate demand put pressure on the rupee. The breach of 55.20 has slightly changed the outlook on the rupee," said Hari Chandramgethen, head of forex trading at South Indian Bank.

India Forex Advisors, in a note, said the breach of 55.40 if sustained may see the rupee falling to record low levels.

Going ahead, if the rupee stays above 55 levels, it will drive the pair (dollar/rupee) towards new record levels. A sustained break above 55.40 levels will take the currency towards 57-58 levels.

The partially convertible rupee closed at 55.46/47 per dollar compared with Tuesday's close of 55.41/42. The rupee dropped to as much as 55.6425 in session, its lowest since November 28.

Continued demand for the greenback from oil importers, particularly a large private refiner, weighed on the rupee on Wednesday, dealers said.

Meanwhile, shares fell for a third consecutive session on Wednesday, to their lowest close in almost two weeks after Larsen & Toubro slumped as its orderbook guidance sparked worries about the health of the domestic economy. — Reuters

New Delhi, May 22
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said Wednesday multiple regulators in the financial system is creating gaps that are giving rise to ponzi schemes and there was a need to draft a new overarching law.

"The present arrangements have a number of gray areas, where no regulators are unambiguously in charge, such as issue of regulatory oversight over diverse ponzi schemes that we have discovered recently. These are cleverly designed to be out of the purview of regulatory agencies," he said.

He said the existing framework also contains overlaps between laws and agencies leading to incidences in which conflicts have consumed the energy of the policy makers.

The minister was speaking at a seminar on the Indian Financial Code (IFC), framed by the Finanical Sector Legislative Reforms Commission with a view to update the laws and regulations dealing with the sector.

“Multiplicity of regulators create gaps, ambiguity and regulatory overlap due to lack of role clarity. This creates inefficiencies in addressing critical emerging issues in an increasing dynamic, complex and interconnected financial world”, he added.

The present financial architecture, the minister said, "has evolved over the years with a sequence of piecemeal measures and piecemeal legislations responding to immediate pressures from time to time. It is not specifically comprehensively designed to meet some key objectives".

On the panel’s suggestion to enact IFC as an omnibus legislation to regulate the financial sector, the minister said: "I’m not sure how much this law will go through in the same fashion when it finally goes to Parliament but it will be a major milestone in Indian financial sector reforms."

Mumbai, May 22
Just Dial's up to Rs 9.4 billion rupee (US $170 million) initial public offer was subscribed 11.6 times on closing on Wednesday, in what is the biggest IPO in the country so far this year.

The response to the equity offering signals strong investor appetite for new shares, although bankers said this would unlikely open up the moribund IPO market in the near term with few medium-to-large sized issues in the pipeline.

Just Dial's IPO, in which the company's founders and private equity investors including Sequoia Capital and Tiger Globe sold some of their shares, is the biggest since Bharti Infratel’s about $750 million IPO in December last year.

Although 12 IPOs were launched in the Indian market in Q1 this year, all raised less than $100 million each.

Investors in Mumbai-based Just Dial, which offers search for local businesses through Internet and mobile platforms, were selling 17.5 million shares through the IPO in an indicative price band of between Rs 470 and Rs 543 apiece.

Just Dial is benefiting from rising income levels in Asia's third-largest economy that also has the world's second-highest number of mobile phone connections. Cheaper smartphones have helped fast growth in Internet usage.

Just Dial had first filed papers with the regulators for an IPO in 2011, but shelved the issue due to a sharp fall in the markets that affected appetite for new shares. — Reuters

New Delhi, May 22
In the wake of falling global prices of precious metals, the government on Wednesday further slashed the import tariff value of gold to US $440 per ten grams, while it has been kept unchanged at $761 per kg for silver imports.

Tariff value is the base price on which the customs duty is determined to prevent underinvoicing. Till last week, the tariff value of gold was at $466 per ten grams and silver at $761 per kg.

The notification in this regard was issued by the Central Board of Excise & Customs, an official release said.

The government has reduced the import tariff value of gold keeping in view the weak global prices of precious metals. In Singapore market, gold and silver prices are ruling down at below Rs 1,385 per ounce and $23 per ounce, respectively.

Similarly, gold in Delhi now costs around Rs 27,000 per ten grams and silver at Rs 44,200 per kg. The demand for gold is expected to be robust in the coming months, according to the World Gold Council. — PTI

New Delhi, May 22
India’s overseas investments touched nearly US $27 billion, more than the inflows on equity account of foreign direct investments in fiscal 2012-13, an Assocham study said.

India’s overseas investment, comprising loans, equity and loans guaranteed aggregated to $26.83 billion in FY2012-13 with the maximum outflows taking place in the four months between October and January. However, the highest outflow occurred in June with $3.53 billion, said Assocham secretary general D.S. Rawat while releasing the study.

Overseas investments are set to exceed FDI inflows on account of equity capital, which totalled about $21 billion between April-February of fiscal 2012-13 (the latest official data).

Unlike in March, 2012 when one or two big ticket investment had pushed the monthly figure exceedingly high, there was no major inflows during March, 2013, the study stated.

The outward investments from India are concerned, they have mostly gone to Singapore, the Netherlands and quite a bit even to the tax haven of Cayman Islands.

For instance in March, out of the $1.88 billion total overseas investment, close to a $1 billion went to the Caymans. But there is no pattern of money going out to these tax havens either as the direction has been well-spread, the report said.

Although India’s overseas investment is higher than the inward FDI inflows, the overall investment climate all through the world is a quite a dampener.

“The risk aversion and lack of investment appetite is seen all through. It is not that only India as an investment destination has been seeing sluggish investment. With demand slowdown and over-capacity, there is not much investment happening in any case,” the study noted.

Investments from Indian companies abroad have gone in the areas of manufacturing, trade, restaurants and agri and mining businesses.