Mumbai, June 24
Continuing worries over capital outflows coupled with fresh weakness in the rupee cast a shadow on stock markets with the S&P BSE Sensex today slipping by around 233 points to end at over two-month low, making investors poorer by a staggering Rs 1.1 lakh crore.

Besides, a steep fall in Chinese stocks and other Asian markets and a weak opening in European stock indices also hurt domestic market sentiment. The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer resumed lower and remained in negative terrain throughout to settle down by 233.35 points, or 1.24 per cent at 18,540.89 - the lowest close since 18,357.80 on April 15.

Depreciation of rupee value against the dollar continued to weigh on the market sentiment as the the local currency traded at around 59.8 levels, close to record low of 59.98.

Month-end dollar demand from oil importers and hefty FII outflows dragged down the rupee by 41 paise to close at new life-time low of 59.68, amid speculation that the RBI stepped in to check the currency slide as it approched nearly 60-mark. At the Forex market, the domestic unit commenced lower at 59.55 a dollar as against last weekend's close of 59.27. It continued its downslide to a low of 59.83, before recovering some ground to settle at 59.68 - still showing a fall of 41 paise or 0.69 per cent. The rupee's previous all-time closing low was 59.57 on June 20. FIIs pulled out over $250 million (Rs 1,552.98 crore) from stocks today, provisional data from the bourses showed. Index-based counters like ITC, L&T, HDFC Bank, Infosys, ONGC, SBI, Airtel, TCS, Tata Motors, M&M and HUL were at the receiving end and contributed to the Sensex loss.

Selling was seen across the board as all 13 sectoral indices were down with 0.89-4.79 per cent losses. Realty, consumer durables, capital goods, PSU and FMCG suffered the most. Overall, nearly 7 out of 10 stocks closed lower among the 2,400 scrips that were traded today on the BSE.

The 50-share NSE Nifty dipped by 77.40 points, or 1.37 per cent, to end at 5,590.25 - a level not seen since April 15 when it settled at 5,568.40. Similarly, MCX-SX's SX40 index ended at 11,013.15, down 125.23 points.

Brokers said the main market mover, Foreign Institutional Investors have been on a selling spree and have offloaded over $5 billion in debt and equities in June so far.

Among other scrips, Ranbaxy fell nearly 7 percent amid reports of fresh regulatory trouble. JP Group stocks came under pressure on concerns over power plants in Uttarakhand.

Midcaps like Gitanjali Gems, Future Retail and Prestige Estate were down 10-20 per cent on heavy selling.

The mood is cautious ahead of expiry of monthly derivatives contract later this week. Mounting concerns that the US Fed may start scaling back its huge monthly bond-buying plan has kept global markets on tenterhooks. — PTI 

Mumbai, June 24
Smuggling of gold into India has gone up sharply after the government increased import duty to 8 per cent. The jewellery trade has warned that the current year will end with record amounts of gold being smuggled into the country.

"We estimate that nearly 200 tonne of gold was smuggled into India in 2012. This could go up to 300 tonne this year," said Bachchraj Bamalwa, former chairman, All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF).

The GJF has demanded that the government should lift all restrictions on gold imports since these only encourage smuggling. India imported 860 tonne of gold in 2012 via the official route.

According to those in the trade, demand for gold is likely to go up following good monsoon this year. "If international prices of gold fall, then the demand will increase in India," says Suresh Hundia, president emeritus, Bombay Bullion Association (BBA). The BBA expects gold imports in the April-June quarter to touch 350 tonne. According to Hundia, much of the gold for the current quarter has already been imported as the trade expected increase in duty.

Customs officials say the bad old days of the 1970s, when smugglers employed fishing vessels to bring in yellow metal from the West Asia, could return if differential in gold prices was high in India. "Gold smuggling into India is mainly orchestrated from Dubai which is a major centre for sale of gold in the subcontinent," says a senior Customs official.

He added that major international airports in the country were seeing a big rise in passengers trying to bring in gold illegally.

In the past week alone, the Customs authorities have reported two big seizures of gold. While one man was caught trying to smuggle in gold worth Rs 21 lakh, a woman was caught with yellow metal worth Rs 54 lakh in her possession. While most of those caught were trying to bring in small amounts of jewellery without declaring, the authorities are looking for the couriers who work for the big fish.

Earlier this month, the Customs at Mumbai airport caught a man with gold biscuits secreted in his rectum. As much as 500 gm of gold was recovered. According to officials here, the Dubai-based mafia dons were now employing Africans and other nationals to smuggle in gold.

The gold trade, however, is not surprised and warned that smuggling could get worse. Office-bearers of the GJF say they have a number of suggestions to help bring down demand for gold. In an interaction with the media last week, jewellers said among the suggestions they have put forward to the government was a complete ban on Exchange Traded Funds that help people invest in the yellow metal without actually taking possession. The jewellers also want banks and other financial institutions to stop selling gold coins and gold bars so that gold is used exclusively for making jewellery. ETFs hold as much at 300 tonne of the yellow metal at present.

ILLEGAL TRADE

* India imported 860 tonne of yellow metal in 2012 via the official route

* The Bombay Bullion Association expects gold imports in the April-June quarter to touch 350 tonne

* In the past week alone, the Customs authorities have reported two big seizures of gold

* The jewellers want banks and other financial institutions to stop selling gold coins and gold bars so that gold is used exclusively for making jewellery

* Exchange Traded Funds hold as much at 300 tonne of the yellow metal at present

New Delhi, June 24
Both the precious metals, gold and silver, today tumbled in the national capital on heavy selling by stockists, driven by a weak global trend. While gold tumbled by Rs 320 to Rs 27,320 per 10 grams, silver lost Rs 800 to Rs 41,500 per kg on reduced offtake by jewellers and industrial units.

The sentiment turned bearish after gold fell in global markets on the prospect that reduced monetary stimulus from the US Federal Reserve may spur a stronger dollar and erode demand for a store of value.

Gold in Singapore, which normally sets the price trend on the domestic front, fell by 1.4 per cent to $1,278.94 an ounce and silver by 2.8 per cent to $19.55 an ounce.

In addition, sluggish demand due to off-marriage and festival season amid a weak trend at futures market where speculators offloaded their positions also dampened the sentiment. — PTI 

New Delhi, June 24
India churns out tens of thousands of graduates every year but less than half of them are "employable" or possess the basic skills necessary for any industry role, says a report.

According to a report by Aspiring Minds, an employability solutions company, around 47 per cent graduates in India are unemployable for any job. The report, which is claimed to be the first ever national audit of employability of 3-year Bachelor's degree graduates, drew inferences from data of over 60,000 graduates pan-India, based on Aspiring Minds Computer Adaptive Test (AMCAT).

"The alarming statistics of nearly half of the country’s graduates not being employable in the knowledge economy needs great attention with interventions at both the school and higher education levels," Aspiring Minds co-founder and CTO Varun Aggarwal said.

The employability of graduates varies from 2.59 per cent in functional roles such as accounting, to 15.88 per cent in sales related roles and 21.37 per cent for roles in the business process outsourcing (BPO/ITeS) sector.

A significant proportion of graduates, nearly 47 per cent, were found not employable in any sector, given their insufficient English language and cognitive skills.

The report noted since a graduation degree is considered a pathway to a job in the knowledge economy, substantive intervention at school and college level is needed to improve basic skills of students. — PTI

Mumbai, June 24
Shares of jewellery makers today fell sharply by up to 20 per cent following dip in global prices of gold.

Gitanjali Gems stock nosedived 19.99 per cent to Rs 405.35, while PC Jewellers fell 8.55 per cent to Rs 89.35. Shares of Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri dropped 6.88 per cent to Rs 181.95 on the BSE. Among others, Shree Ganesh Jewellery House slumped 9.52 per cent, Tara Jewels 2.27 per cent, Thangamayil Jewellery 1.48 per cent and Titan Industries 0.47 per cent.— PTI

Mumbai, June 24
Mutual fund industry is set for a slew of regulatory changes, including setting up of a single SRO (Self Regulatory Organisation) for all distributors, who would also be allowed to access the stock exchange platforms.

Besides, the fund houses may also be allowed to conduct proprietary trades on the debt segments of stock exchanges, while separate changes are also in works to further strengthen the newly launched independent debt platforms of the bourses.

The proposed measures are expected to be discussed by the capital markets regulator SEBI at its board meeting here tomorrow, sources said.

SEBI is of the view that a single SRO for the mutual fund distributors would help remove complexity and duplication and also lower the costs while it would also help in a better oversight by the various regulatory authorities.

Some entities have already evinced interest in setting up SROs for the distributors of mutual fund products and a single applicant would be selected from among them by SEBI after getting formal applications from them.

SEBI may soon finalise the deadline for accepting such applications. — PTI

New Delhi, June 24
Pakistan High Commissioner Salman Bashir visited Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at its headquarters in New Delhi today. According to a statement, he held extensive and useful exchange of views with the office-bearers of CII on prospects of economic and trade cooperation between Pakistan and India.

The meeting was attended by S Gopalakrishnan, president, CII, and Chandrajit Banerjee, Director-General, CII, among others.

The inaugural meeting of the Pak-India Joint Business Council will be held in Islamabad on June 29. 

BRIEFLY

Parsvnath surrenders its SEZ in Haryana
New Delhi: Faced with land acquisition problems, real estate major Parsvnath has surrendered its IT special economic zone (SEZ) in Haryana. Following the surrender request from Parsvnath Infra Ltd, the Board of Approval, headed by Commerce Secretary SR Rao, has denotified the zone at its meeting on June 12. — PTI

Birmingham-Delhi direct flights
London: Air India will launch direct flights between Birmingham and New Delhi from August 1, with its new Boeing 787-800 'Dreamliner' aircraft, it was announced on Monday. The flights will operate four times a week - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, arriving from Delhi into Birmingham at 1900 hours and departing to Delhi from Birmingham at 2130 hours. — PTI

Airtel cuts rates for 4G services
New Delhi: Airtel customers can now avail its 4G data plans starting from Rs 450, down 31 per cent from Rs 650 earlier in Bengaluru, Kolkata, Pune and Chandigarh circles. It is also offering free access to a library of 1,000 movies and 100 games on plans above Rs 999 in the 4G services. — TNS

Kochi-Kuwait flight
Dubai: Jet Airways has started seven flights in a week from Kochi to Kuwait via the Abu Dhabi International Airport, officials said. The airline currently operates 11 direct flights in a week between Mumbai and Abu Dhabi and another seven direct flights a week between New Delhi and Abu Dhabi. — PTI

Essar Energy losses fall
New Delhi: London-listed Essar Energy Plc on Monday reported a pre-tax loss of $163.2 million in 12 months ended March 31 and said it will spend $200 million to convert two of its gas-based power plants in Gujarat to coal owing to shortages in domestic supplies. The firm had reported a pre-tax loss of $1.15 billion in the 15 months ended March 31, 2012. — PTI

MTS offer
New Delhi: Telecom operator MTS on Monday launched a new monthly tariff plan for Rs 199 under which its customers can make unlimited calls within its network and get 1,000 minutes of talk time free on local calls on other networks. The plan will be valid across all nine circles - Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West) and West Bengal, where MTS operates. — PTI

Dell’s initiative
Chandigarh: Dell India has launched its ‘Emerging Markets’ programme to upkeep its focus on serving the growth markets of India. The company has identified 11 cities, including Chandigarh, where they have devised a strategy for hyper growth. The programme is aimed at bringing Dell solutions through partnerships with preferred partners to small and medium business customers in emerging markets. — TNS