Mumbai, August 6
Stung by rupee hitting historic low, stock markets today collapsed on all-round selling with S&P BSE Sensex nosediving by 449.22 points to end below the 19,000-mark, edging India out of the trillion dollar club.

Sentiment was extremely poor on Dalal Street as the rupee plunged to record low of 61.80 against the US dollar, stoking fears of a higher current account gap as import costs surge.

The rupee plunged to an all-time intra-day low but erased all the losses to end with a gain of 11 paise at 60.77 after the central bank is believed to have intervened heavily in the forex market.

The rupee resumed lower at 61.05 at the forex market and continued its slide to 61.80 amid dollar demand from importers. Fag-end dollar selling by exporters helped the rupee to recover lost ground and settle at the day's high of 60.77, a gain of 11 paise.

Late dollar selling by exporters on hopes of intervention by the RBI amid a weakening dollar overseas helped the rupee to rally, a forex dealer said.

The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer resumed weak and continued its downslide to end at 18,733.04, a steep fall of 449.22 points or 2.34 per cent. In the last 10 trading sessions, Sensex has fallen in nine days while yesterday has managed to settle in positive terrain.

After today's plunge and the rupee's decline, India's market capitalisation stood at Rs 60.18 lakh crore, which translates to $989 billion at exchange rate of 60.8 versus dollar. The rupee retreated from record lows to trade at 60.8 levels at 1710 hours.

Dipen Shah, Head of PCG Research, Kotak Securities, said: "Markets ended sharply lower on the back of continuing concerns about the rupee and some disappointing results. The rupee traded at a new low and that caused concerns in market."

Across-the-board selling was seen as all 13 sectoral indices closed in the red between 0.40 per cent and 5.62 per cent, with consumer durable, realty, banking, metal, power, refinery, PSU, capital goods and FMCG dragging markets down.

An estimated Rs 5,600 crore payment crisis continued to overhelm National Spot Exchange Ltd, which raised concerns that problems may spill over to stock markets, brokers said.

The Nifty index on the NSE tumbled 143.15 points, or 2.52 per cent, to 5,542.25. — PTI

New Delhi, August 6
RBI Governor-designate Raghuram G Rajan today said there is no magic wand to pull the country instantly out of challenges being faced by the economy.

"These are challenging times for the Indian economy... The government and the RBI are working together to address these challenges. We don't have a magic wand to make the problems disappear instantaneously. But I have absolutely no doubt, we will deal with them," he said.

After the announcement of his appointment as the new RBI Governor, Rajan made a brief statement to reporters without taking any questions.

He will be the 23rd Governor of the RBI and will succeed Duvvuri Subbarao who demits office on September 4.

Rajan, who joined as the Chief Economic Adviser in the Finance Ministry is August last year, said "I look forward to working with many dedicated employees of the RBI to continue these traditions even though I will miss my colleagues in the Finance Ministry".

RBI, he added, is a great institution with a tradition of great integrity, independence and professionalism.

A former IMF chief economist, Rajan joins the RBI at a time when the government is battling industrial slowdown, declining rupee, rising prices and all-time high Current Account Deficit (CAD). — PTI

New Delhi, August 6
National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) today stopped trading in the last available e-series contracts of items like gold and silver on its bourse, in anticipation of the government's order banning trade of these products.

The development has led to a complete halt of operation on the NSEL platform as the exchange had on July 31 suspended trading of all contracts other than e-series contracts.

NSEL offers e-series contracts in gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, nickel and platinum. Under e-series contracts, retail investors can buy and sell commodities in demat form.

E-series contributed about 40 per cent of the NSEL's Rs 18,315 crore total turnover in June.

Sources had said yesterday that the Consumer Affiars Ministry was is to ban trading in e-series contracts as well and a notification in this regard is expected to be issued soon.

"We have not yet received government order, but as abundant precaution, we will not commence trading in e-­series at 10 am," NSEL said on its website.

The exchange said it "will check with the authorities to find out the facts. In any case we will fully comply with the government order." A company spokesperson said the entire trade is suspended on NSEL today.

E-series contracts is a unique market segment, which functions like the cash segment in equities, but offers commodities in the demat form in smaller denominations.

The clearing and settlement, pay-in and pay-out mechanism on the NSEL is based on T+2 (settlement in 2 days) cycle.

NSEL is currently grappling with the problem of payment settlement of an estimated Rs 6,000 crore to the investors after the suspension of trade. — PTI

Mumbai: Shares of Financial Technologies India (FTIL), the promoter of National Spot Exchange Ltd, fell 20 per cent, after NSEL stopped trading in e-series contracts of items like gold and silver on its bourse. The scrip slumped 19.60 per cent to settle at Rs 159.15 on the BSE. In intra-day trade, it plummeted 24.98% to Rs 148.50. FTIL-promoted MCX shares were also down by 10% to Rs 331.85 — its lower circuit limit. — PTI

Washington, August 6
Infosys faces a lawsuit in the US that alleges discrimination against American job applicants in favour of South Asians, a charge the company has strongly denied.

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court in Eastern Wisconsin by Brenda Koehler on August 1, 2013, charges Infosys of engaging in "systematic, company-wide discrimination against individuals based upon their national origin".

Koehler, a US citizen, said in the lawsuit she applied for a position at Infosys and met the requirements for the job that were posted by the company.

"Infosys discriminated against Koehler, choosing to hire an individual of South Asian descent for the position," it added.

In her complaint, plaintiff (Koehler) said: "Specifically, Infosys has discriminated against individuals who are not of South Asian descent." An Infosys spokesperson said Infosys is an equal opportunity employer. — PTI

New Delhi, August 6
Global tablet shipments fell by 9.7 per cent to 45.1 million units in April-June period as compared to Q1, research firm IDC said.

The top three vendors - Apple, Samsung and Asus - have posted a fall in shipments, says the IDC report.

iPad shipments of the US-based Apple declined by 25 per cent to 14.6 million units in second quarter of 2013 compared to 19.5 million in January-March this year.

"Lacking a new product launch in March to help spur shipments, Apple's iPad saw a lower-than-predicted shipment total of 14.6 million units for the quarter, down from 19.5 million in Q1 of 2013," it added.

Previously, Apple launched a new tablet heading into the second quarter, which resulted in strong quarter-over-quarter growth, said IDC adding, "Now, Apple is expected to launch new tablet products in the second half of the year, a move that better positions it to compete during the holiday season."

Likewise, tablet shipments by Samsung fell by 6 per cent to 8.1 million in April-June 2013 against 8.6 million units in January-March 2013, IDC said.

Similarly, third-place ASUS shipped a total of 2 million units in Q2 2013, down from 2.6 million in Q1 2013, it added.

On outlook, IDC said the July-September quarter is also expected to witness the same decline.

"With no new iPads, the market slowed for many vendors, and that's likely to continue into the third quarter,” IDC Research Director (Tablets) Tom Mainelli said. — PTI

Mumbai, August 6
Having lost over 25 per cent in about 10 days, shares of realty giant DLF today tanked further by over 5 per cent, even as the suspected role of some bear cartels is being probed for beating the stock.

DLF shares today closed 5.6 per cent lower at Rs 122.15, after hitting a fresh low of Rs 120.25 during the day on the BSE. At the NSE, the stock lost 5.1 per cent to close at Rs 122.70. DLF shares have fallen sharply in the past few days, from as high as Rs 175.10 on July 25, 2013, to its current levels.

The fall has been very acute since July 29, while under- performing the broader market indices by a wide margin.

It is being probed whether some bear cartels are beating down DLF's share price by taking huge short positions in the derivatives market, as mo major shareholder have sold shares in the cash market in past few days, sources said.

The company has sought an investigation by SEBI into suspected role of some "bear cartels" in beating down its share price and the regulator has begun looking into the matter, they added. — PTI

New Delhi, August 6
The government has cleared 12 FDI proposals worth Rs 343 crore and kept on hold the decision on US-based Mylan Inc's proposal to acquire an Indian pharma company.

"Based on the recommendations of the FIPB in its meeting held on July 5, the government has approved 12 proposals of foreign direct investment amounting to Rs 343.39 crore," a statement said.

However, the decision on Rs 5,168 crore proposal of Mylan Inc to acquire an Indian pharma company was "kept in abeyance" till the formulation of the revised FDI policy by DIPP. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Vodafone, ICICI Bank tie-up
Patna: Vodafone India in association with ICICI Bank has started the unique money transfer and payment service ‘M-Pesa’ in Bihar and Jharkhand where banking network and financial penetration is inadequate, particularly, in rural areas. "The service is available across 32 districts and 250 tehsils in Bihar at present," said Suresh Sethi, business head (M-Pesa), Vodafone, on Tuesday. — PTI

Gold declines by Rs 130
New Delhi: Gold prices fell further by Rs 130 to Rs 28,620 per 10 grams in the national capital on Tuesday on sustained selling by stockists in tandem with a weak global trend. However, silver found scattered buying from industrial units and rose by Rs 20 to Rs 42,095 per kg. — PTI

Unitech net up 37% at Rs 63 cr
New Delhi: Realty firm Unitech on Tuesday reported a 37 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 62.89 crore for the quarter ended June on higher sales and lower finance costs. Net sales during April-June quarter rose by 40.42 per cent to Rs 572.57 crore as against Rs 407.74 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. — PTI

Microsoft unveils Office 365
New Delhi: Microsoft on Tuesday launched its Office 365 for full time and part time university students in India with an affordable subscription offer. The Office 365 University includes the complete set of Office applications and can be installed on two PCs or Macs. It also sports Office on Demand and an additional 20 GB premium SkyDrive storage. It is priced at Rs 4,199 for a 4-year subscription. — PTI

Tata Power posts Rs 114-cr loss
New Delhi: Tata Power on Tuesday posted a loss of Rs 114.70 crore in the quarter ended June. The company's consolidated revenue in the quarter climbed 29 per cent to Rs 9,339.49 crore from Rs 7,253.89 crore. — PTI