New Delhi, June 26
The rupee today breached the psychologically important 60-mark to the dollar on account of capital outflows with analysts expecting it to weaken further. The Indian currency is now headed for the eighth consecutive weekly decline.

The rupee had been flirting with the 60-mark for the past few days as RBI intervention around the crucial mark delayed the process. Today, it sliced easily past the 60-mark tanking by more than 106 paisa to close at an all-time low of 60.72 against the dollar.

The weakness in the rupee has seen it fall 12 per cent since May and was the worst performing Asian currency today. The rupee fall will worsen the concerns over the sluggish economy with imports like crude oil, gold, edible oil, electronics and others becoming costlier which will adversely affect inflation.

Reena Rohit, chief manager-non agri commodities & currencies, Angel Commodities Broking, said domestic economic and fundamental patterns are witnessing a major shift with the rupee now headed for its eighth consecutive weekly decline.

“Risks associated with a high CAD (Current Account Deficit) and a widening fiscal deficit is creating a pressure for the central bank to manage the currency volatility. The fact that the currency has crossed the psychological 60-mark shows that the currency situation may not be under the control of the central bank and it would rather move on account of developments happening on the global front and its impact on the Indian economy”, she said.

The weakness in the rupee will subdue the chances of interest rate cuts by the RBI as it will push up inflation. Measures like curbs on gold are being put in place to control the current account deficit. The equity markets weakened today on account of the rupee and gold also fell to a 1-month low.

FIIs pulled out nearly Rs 550 crore from stocks today, taking the June outflows to about Rs 9,000 crore. In debt segment, they have pulled out Rs 27,850.20 crore till June 25.

Commenting on the rupee breaching the 60-mark, Rafeeque Ahmed, president, FIEO, said the volatility is serious and this is primarily on account of developments in the US economy.

Analysts say weak global markets and choppy sentiments with respect to the emerging and developing economies along with a strengthening dollar index is expected to lead to a continuation of poor sentiments in the domestic markets. The rupee in the near-term is expected to test 62 and could further weaken to levels around 64 and strengthening of the Dollar Index will mainly act as major factor to further weakness in the currency.

New Delhi, June 26
US auto major Ford today brought in its much-awaited compact sports utility vehicle EcoSport with starting price of Rs 5.59 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), which could well turn out to be its most important launch in India.

It will be available with three engine options of 1 litre petrol with Ecoboost technology, 1.5 litre petrol and 1.5 litre diesel engine.

While the price of 1 litre Ecoboost petrol version starts at Rs 7.90 lakh, the 1.5 litre petrol variant will be tagged at Rs 5.59 lakh. The 1.5 litre diesel version of the model will have price starting at Rs 6.69 lakh.

Giving Ford an edge over Renault Duster is that the company has launched EcoSport in the automatic transmission version in 1.5 litre petrol and it’s priced at Rs 8.45 lakh.

Company's president and managing director Joginder Singh said,"We expect EcoSport to be a game changer for Ford in India and also set a benchmark in the Indian auto industry".

New Delhi, June 26
Readying itself for a bank licence, Anil Ambani-led group's Reliance Capital today said Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Bank and Nippon Life would become its strategic partners in the proposed banking venture, with each having 4-5 per cent stake.

Reliance Capital, which is present in a host of non- banking financial services businesses, would be the main promoter of the proposed bank, the application for which would be soon submitted to RBI, the company said.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank is one of the largest banks in Japan, while Nippon Life Insurance is among Asia's largest financial services company and already has strategic stakes in Reliance Capital's life insurance and mutual fund units.

With the latest move, Reliance Capital joins a host of other entities having firmed up their plans to seek a banking licence, for which applications need to be submitted by July 1 with the RBI.

Religare Enterprises has already announced plans to dilute promoter stake to 49 per cent to meet the eligibility criteria, while Aditya Birla group, JM Financial Srei, TFCI and a host of others have also lined up their plans. There are reports that Tatas are also among the interested candidates to seek a bank licence. — PTI

New Delhi, June 26
Gold prices today plunged to one-month low by losing Rs 620 to Rs 26,680 per 10 grams on hectic selling by stockists, triggered by a steep fall in the precious metal's prices overseas.

The current fall in the yellow metal prices placed it to a level last seen on May 28.

Silver followed suit and plunged by Rs 1,000 to Rs 40,500 per kg. Traders said selling pressure gathered momentum after gold plunged to a 33-month low in overseas markets.— PTI

Mumbai, June 26
Market regulator SEBI today warned the non-serious mutual fund players of regulatory disincentives and asked the fund houses to commit capital for long-term growth of the sector and move to non-metro markets.

"We have given very reasonable incentives to the AMCs (asset management companies) for going beyond the top 15 cities. I am sure in the new MF policy we are going to have disincentives for those who do not meet this requirement," SEBI chairman UK Sinha told reporters on the sidelines of a CII-organised MF summit here.

"If you want to be an MF player you got to be serious.

Serious means you have to commit capital...so some sort of regulatory disincentives to meet the larger legislative intent is needed for those, who are not serious," Sinha said, adding the regulator has appointed a committee on this matter which will submit its report in the next two-three months.

"SEBI has set up a group for framing a long-term policy for the MF industry. I do expect that in the next two-three months they are going to submit their report," the chairman said indicating his seriousness about clamping down on the non-serious players, who unfortunately are the large majority.

Noting that top 10 players from 48-odd AMCs control 77 per cent of the AUM, and the bottom 10 control just 1 per cent of the business, while the rest 38 are sticking to the top 15 cities, he said, "if you are not keen to go to retail, who is not going to serve small towns, there are perhaps other avenues for you (and not MF business)."

He also flagged the low retail contribution as a percentage of total assets, which has been going down. In 2011, the retail contribution was 28 per cent, which come down to 27 per cent in 2012 and sof ar in 2013, it is just 23 per cent. Along with this decline, he noted that there has also been a decline in the number of folios. —PTI

Chennai, June 26
Aiming to garner a larger pie in the automobile market, Japanese car maker Honda plans to launch four new models in India by 2015, a top company official said today.

The proposed models include an upgraded variant of its highly popular compact hatchback Jazz, a compact Sports Utility Vehicle, a seven-seater multi-purpose vehicle and an upgraded premium sedan City, according to Jnaneswar Sen, senior vice-president (sales and marketing), Honda Cars India Ltd.

Honda Cars India currently sells premium hatchback Brio, midsize sedan Amaze, premium sedan City, premium SUV CRV and luxury sedan Accord in the country, and it has about 150 dealers.

"We are planning to launch four more models. We will start with next generation Jazz, two new models in new segments — a seven-seater MPV and a compact SUV —and an upgraded City," Sen said.

Asked about the industry reporting a decline in sales for the last seven months, he said Honda Cars India registered a 35 per cent growth in sales for the financial year ended March 31, 2013.

In 2011-12, the company had sold 54,427 units, and it witnessed a 35 per cent jump in sales at 73,483 units in 2012-13, he said. — PTI

BRIEFLY

WalMart India head quits
New Delhi: US retail giant WalMart on Wednesday said its India unit head Raj Jain has left the company and named Ramnik Narsey as interim head of the country's operations. Jain had joined the company in 2006 and was made the India head the following year. — PTI

Airtel, Google in pact
Bangalore: Bharti Airtel on Wednesday said it has partnered with Google to launch a service 'Free Zone', wherein subscribers will be able to access Google services such as gmail, Google+ and Google search on their mobile phones without any data cost. The users, however, have to pay for advanced services such as attachment downloads, the company said. — TNS

Konica Digital Imaging Square
Gurgaon: Konica Minolta Business Solutions India Pvt Ltd inaugurated its first Digital Imaging Square (DIS) here on Wednesday. It has been set up at a cost of $1 million. Tadahiko Sumitani, managing director, Konica Minolta Business Solutions India, said they planned to open a few more DIS centres in major metros in India in the forthcoming years. — TNS

GCL foray
Chandigarh: Tobacco company GCL will foray into hydropower, hospitality and FMCG sector. Shri Gopal Gupta, chairman of GCL, said the company would invest Rs 1,000 crore in various power projects in Himachal Pradesh. The company is also looking at building hotels across the country, with a target of building one hotel every three years. — TNS