Rupee Trades Marginally Lower At 67.06 Against Us Dolla

The Indian rupee on Friday was trading marginally lower against the US dollar, tracking the losses in local equity markets.

At 2pm, the home currency was trading at 67.06 a dollar, down 0.04% from its previous close of 67.04. The rupee opened at 67.04 a dollar and touched a high of 66.98, a level last seen on 15 July.

India’s benchmark Sensex index fell 0.35% or 98.93 points to 28,109.69. So far this year, it gained 7.8%.

Asian currencies were mixed. The yen surged Friday after the Bank of Japan made minor tweaks to its stimulus programme that disappointed dealers who had expected a big announcement to kickstart growth in the world’s number three economy. The central bank said it would boost its exposure to riskier investments, but left a massive ¥80 trillion ($772 billion) annual bond-buying programme unchanged.

Japanese yen was up 1.41%, South Korean won 0.38%, Singapore dollar 0.18% and China renminbi 0.15%. However, Malaysian ringgit was down 0.76%, Philippines peso 0.14% and Indonesian rupiah 0.12%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 96.42, down 0.32% from its previous close of 96.739.

So far this year, the rupee is down 1.35%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $4.31 billion in equity and sold $834 million in debt markets.

Meanwhile, India’s 10-year bond yield was at 7.19% as compared with its Thursday’s close of 7.191%.

 

Source:livemint.com

India Mulling Import Of Pulses From Africa

India is looking to import pulses from Myanmar and African nations to counter a domestic shortfall of 7.6 million tonnes that has driven local prices of key pulses like chickpea to a record high, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said.

More purchases by India, the world's top consumer of pulses, could help the country rein in its headline inflation, which hit a near two-year high in June on double-digit annual increases in prices of sugar, vegetables and pulses. “The challenge of demand-supply gap of about 7.6 million tonnes (in pulses) is being addressed via public and private imports,” Paswan tweeted. India had said it would help Mozambique cultivate pulses and then import them through government-to-government deals.

India consumes nearly 22 million tonnes of pulses annually, but relies heavily on imports to meet demand as output has been hit by uncertain monsoons.

 

 

Source:thehindu.com

Jsw Steel Gains Edge Owing To Lower Debt, Import Price Curbs

While most steel manufacturers are staring at high debt and finding it difficult to negotiate with banks for additional funding requirements, JSW Steel's relatively better debt position seems to be giving it an edge. In addition, since it never undertook backward integration of operation by owning iron ore mines, it has an advantage amid subdued ore prices, a major raw material for steel. These factors make JSW SteelBSE -0.67 % better placed to benefit from the government's policy to impose minimum import price (MIP) on steel.

With a good share of high-value products such as coated steel products in its offering, the company surprised the Street with much higher realisation per tonne for the June 2016 quarter, a parameter that gives a sense of the demand and operating strength of the business. Realisation per tonne for the quarter was at $124, nearly 20 per cent higher than the estimates. Sales volume was higher by 1.8 per cent sequentially.

Higher realisations and lower costs helped it post 100 basis points sequential jump in operating margin before depreciation (Ebitda margin) at 28 per cent. Net profit rose to Rs 1,085 crore against Rs 300 crore in the preceding quarter.
JSW steel gains edge owing to lower debt, import price curbs
Despite a rise in the company's debt to Rs 45,355 crore — around 10 per cent rise after adjust for new accounting standards — the debt situation has not worsened. While debt-to-equity is at 2.3 times, debt-to-Ebitda improved to 5.7 from 6.4 at the end of the March quarter. While it is still high, it is expected to improve in the coming quarters.

Also, If MIP is extended beyond August, it will benefit the company. The company's peers are under pressure. Tata SteelBSE 1.27 % is struggling with its European operations, which is hit by low demand and high debt. The government-owned SAILBSE -0.95 % continues to remain least cost effective with high employee expense, whereas Essar SteelBSE 0.41 %, Jindal SteelBSE -1.82 % and Bhushan SteelBSE -0.92 % are expected to face working capital constraint given their high debt.

    
JSW Steel has been cautious over the past few years by not buying riskier assets. Its stock has risen by over 55 per cent in the past six months. Shares of Tata Steel, SAIL and Jindal Steel & Power are 65-88 per cent below their all-time highs. Some analysts have given a buy rating on the stock post results with price targets around Rs 1,738-2,108. On Thursday, the stock closed at Rs 1,685, down 3 per cent.

 

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com

Nissan's Micra Tops Car Exports Chart In June With 6,800 Units

Japanese carmaker Nissan today said its flagship model Micra has topped the exports chart in June with the company shipping 6,807 units of the car that was developed at its Chennai plant.

The milestone confirms Nissan's position as a major contributor to Make in India, the company said.

Since the beginning operations of its operations in 2010, Nissan has exported over 6,20,000 cars, contributing over Rs 30,000 crore in foreign exchange, it added.

The Micra, rolled out from the Renault-Nissan's Alliance plant at Oragadam near Chennai, is being exported to more than 100 countries with Britain, Germany, Switzerland and Italy being the biggest markets.

The made-in-India Micra has helped Nissan achieve record sales in 2015, making it the top-selling Asian car brand in Europe.

Nissan India Operations President Guillaume Sicard said, "Nissan is proud our made in India Micra is the most exported car in June.
"Our strategy has been to use exports to build a significant presence here with our plant, the largest and most advanced in the Alliance, and our R&D centre which employs 5,000 engineers."

Nissan Motor India is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Nissan Motor Co of Japan and was incorporated in 2005. It offers products across the hatchback (Micra), MUV (Lodgy), SUV (Terrano) and sedan (Sunny) segments.

Nissan, together with its global alliance partner Renault, has set up a manufacturing plant and an R&D centre in Chennai and has two brands.

 

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com

India Cautions Traders About Fraud In Import-Export From China

 Indian diplomatic missions in China have cautioned traders from India that they may end up getting sand, stones, salt, bricks, mud etc in place of items ordered and issued detailed guidelines to avoid incidents of cheating.

The Indian Embassy and the Consulates have issued trade advisories to various trade bodies and associations cautioning traders and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) planning to do business with China after receiving several complaints.

"It is to enhance the commercial cooperation between India and China by drawing attention to some of the risks faced by Indian traders/SMEs to take preventive and/or mitigating action," said the advisory.

"The information contained in this advisory is based on trade-related problems that are periodically brought to the Consulate's attention for information, facilitation and assistance," according to the advisory circulated among the members of he Indian Association of Shanghai.

However, the advisory was not put on the website of the Indian missions in China to avoid misunderstanding considering the strain in ties due to differences on issues relating to listing of Pakistan-based militants and groups as terrorists by UN and Beijing's reluctance to support India's application to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group, informed sources said.

Listing some of the complaints brought to the notice of missions, the advisory said importers should be careful about supply of sub-standard goods, inferior quality.

   
The items to dupe Indian importers included supply of sand, stones, salt, bricks, mud etc in place of chemicals, Silicon Carbide, Aluminium and Zinc ingots, shellac, plastics, polymers etc, it said.

Other complaints included refusal to send consignments on receipt of payment, quantity dispute, stopping of communications on receipt of advance payment, dispatch of defective machinery, diversion of payment into unassociated bank accounts by third fraudulent parties by hacking into email IDs.

Other methods included taking money for sample dispatch and then stopping all correspondences.

The Indian exporters should be careful about refusal to make payment after taking control of consignment exported from India on some pretext and refusal to take delivery of the consignment when the market value of the imported item has gone down from the value fixed in agreement, it said.

 

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com