Rupee Trades Higher At 67.24 Against Us Dollar

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Thursday strengthened for the second consecutive session against the US dollar, after the local equity market gained for the third session.

At 2.05pm, the home currency was trading at 67.24, up 0.15% from its previous close of 67.34. The rupee opened at 67.33 per US dollar and touched a high of 67.22, a level last seen on 19 May.

India’s benchmark Sensex index rose 1.29% or 327.23 points to 26,208.40. Since the last three days, Sensex has gained 3.9% or 980 points. So far this year, Sensex has gained 0.2%.

The gains in Asian peers also boosted the sentiment for the rupee.

Most Asian currencies gained today. Indonesian rupiah was up 0.31%, Malaysian ringgit 0.2%, Philippines peso 0.2%, Thai baht 0.19%, Japanese yen 0.15% and Taiwan dollar 0.05%. However, South Korean won was down 0.07% and China renminbi 0.05%.

So far this year, the rupee has weakened 1.6%, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have bought $1.84 billion from the local equity market and sold $1.14 billion in debt markets.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 95.271, down 0.09% from its previous close of 95.354.

Meanwhile, India’s 10-year bond yield was trading at 7.467%, as compared with its Wednesday’s close of 7.464%.

 

Source:.livemint.com

Honda Imports Grom For Testing In India

Two-wheeler maker Honda has imported it's Navi like scooter Grom to India, fuelling fresh round of whispers about the launch of the model in the country. A record of Zauba, which tracks India's import and export data, shows that a unit of the Grom has been imported from Japan.

According to the record, the Grom was imported for the purpose of testing and research and development in India. The Grom is a two-wheeler crossover like the Navi in India, which is powered by a 125cc air-cooled single-cylinder four-speed engine four-speed gearbox.

It runs on 12-inch wheels and features LED taillight, front and rear disc brake, upside down front fork and digital instrument cluster. It will not come as a surprise if Honda decides to bring the Grom to the Indian market as the company's Navi is garnering considerably good response.

So far Honda has sold over 5,000 units of the Navi since its launch in early April. It has been priced at Rs. 39,500 (ex-showroom Delhi). There have also been rumours that Honda is also planning to roll out a powerful version of the Navi with 125cc engine at the heart. The current Navi is powered by a 109cc 4-stroke, SI engine, which can churn out 7.83bhp of power at 7,000rpm and 8.96Nm of peak torque at 5,500Nm.

 

Source:.ibtimes.co.

Slow Domestic Consumption, Exports Will Affect Spinners' Business: Icra

Slow growth in domestic consumption and exports will pose a challenge for profitability of spinners if the demand growth remains muted in FY2017, says ICRABSE 5.95 % in its research update on Indian spinning industry.

High dependence on exports to China and resulting sensitivity of India's exports to China's policy on reserve cotton stock has always warranted a cautious outlook on India's yarn exports, says the report.

According to Mr. Anil Gupta, AVP, Corporate Sector Ratings, ICRA Ltd, "The slow pace of growth in spun yarn production has been driven by factors like tepid domestic consumption and limited growth in exports. With cautious outlook on cotton yarn exports, domestic demand growth will determine the production growth going forward".

As per ICRA estimates, the domestic consumption growth for FY2016 is expected to be ~1.4% (~7.6% in FY2015) for cotton yarn and 3.1% (~6.3% in FY 2015) for spun yarn. This is the lowest level of domestic consumption growth since FY2013. The growth in cotton yarn exports has also been slow with exports of ~1,302 million Kg in FY2016E, which reflects ~3.7% growth (47.5% and 18.3% growth witnessed in FY2013 and FY2014).

In terms of cotton yarn production growth, Industry has witnessed slowest pace of production growth in FY16, which is estimated to have grown by ~2.0% to ~4,136 million Kg and is lowest in last four years. Cotton yarn production had grown by 14.6%, 9.6% and 3.2% in FY2013, FY2014 and FY2015 respectively.

Since cotton yarn accounts for 3/4th of India's yarn production, , India's total spun yarn production has also emulated this trend with a ~3.2% growth in FY2016 vis-a-vis 11.3%, 9.1% and 3.4% growth in FY2013, FY2014 and FY2015 respectively, which is also the lowest in last four year. In ICRA's View, the marginally higher growth in total spun yarn production compared to cotton yarn production in FY2016 reflects an increased share of manmade/blended spun yarn aided by enhanced competitiveness of polyester fibre, given the sharper decline in polyester prices compared to cotton prices.

Slow growth in domestic consumption and export is leading to lower growth in production and will if demand growth remains muted in FY2017, maintaining the capacity utilization and profitability can be a challenge for the domestic spinning ind.

 

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com

Cil Eyes Export Market In Bangladesh

KOLKATA: Coal IndiaBSE 0.00 % intends to export coal and is in talks with power companies in Bangladesh for striking supply deals. This is the first time Coal India will be exporting the fossil fuel on a commercial basis.

Coal India subsidiaries, Bharat Coking Coal and North Eastern Coalfields, plan to supply coal to Bangladesh power companies. It is likely to be transported to Haldia port in West Bengal from where it could be forwarded through sea route to ports in Bangladesh.

"CIL's coal is likely to be cheaper than the ones supplied from Indonesia because we would save on logistics.The coal produced by these two subsidiaries are of high quality that can compete with Indonesian coal," a Coal India official said.

 

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com

Government Seen Holding Off For Now On Reducing Raw Sugar Import Tax

MUMBAI/LONDON: Government are expected to hold off before cutting or cancelling a 40 percent raw sugar import duty as a last resort to tackle surging domestic prices as the country shifts from net exporter to importer.

Soaring domestic sugar prices in the world's second-biggest producer, where drought has cut yields in the main growing regions such as Maharashtra, mean that mills will increasingly spurn the export market.

The south Asian nation's production in the current year ending September 30 is likely to drop following two drought years in a row.

The federal government has asked state governments to impose stock limits on sugar to avoid hoarding by traders.

Traders spoke of market talk that India could move to either reduce or cancel the raw sugar import duty.

However, no imminent action was expected.

"I don't think the government will scrap the import duty any time soon," said Rohit Pawar, chief executive of Baramati Agro, which operates sugar mills in Maharashtra.

"Yes, sugar prices have risen in the past few months but now they are running just above production cost. In the past few years mills have incurred huge losses as they were forced to sell sugar below production cost.

"In such a situation duty-free imports can depress local prices and cane payment arrears will start rising."

A government official, who declined to be identified, said, "Right now there is no proposal (to scrap the import duty) on the table."

A Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm said the government had to maintain a delicate balance between the interests of farmers and consumers.

Aggressive steps to dampen prices, such as a cut in the raw sugar import duty, could damage the central government's image among farmers.

" duty-free import is the last weapon the government has to control price rises," the dealer said.

"It will do it in phased manner. From 40 percent, it will first reduce the duty to 20 percent. If prices rally even after the reduction, only then it will allow duty-free imports."

European traders said they also doubted that Indian authorities would move soon to cut or cancel the duty, as stocks in India were sufficiently high to make such a move unnecessary for now.

 

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com