Govt to import 7,500 tons of Chana, Masoor Dal

The government decided to import 7,500 tonnes of chana and masoor dal in the coming days to boost domestic supply and curb prices.
The pulses issue was discussed in detail in the meeting of Management Committee of Price Stabilisation Fund, chaired by Consumer Affairs Secretary Hem Pande here.
"The meeting decided to further tender import of 5,000 tonnes of chana and 2,500 tonnes of masoor. It also asked MMTC   to order import of 2,500 masoor against its already contracted quantity," the Food Ministry said in a statement.
So far, state-run MMTC -- which is importing pulses on behalf of the government -- has contracted 46,000 tonnes of pulses from the overseas market. Of this, 14,321 tonnes has landed in the country.
In the meeting, the government also decided to allocate pulses from its buffer stock to Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Andaman and Nicobar for retail distribution at a subsidised rate of Rs 120 per kg.
The pulses, especially tur and urad, are allocated to these states at Rs 66 per kg so that they can retail further at not more than Rs 120 per kg. So far, 1.19 lakh tonnes of pulses has been procured for the buffer stock. The rabi pulses procurement is expected to continue till July, the statement added.
At present, pulses prices are retailing as high as Rs 198 per kg due to shortfall in the domestic ouput following two consecutive years of drought.
Pulses output is estimated to be lower at 17.06 million tonnes in 2015-16 crop year (July-June) as against the annual demand of 23.5 million tonnes. The gap is being met through imports.

view more

Rupee appreciates 6 paise to 67.15/$ on weak US data

NEW DELHI: The rupee rose 6 paise to 67.15 against the US dollar in early trade as dollar following weak US jobs and consumer price inflation data released overnight.

The domestic currency had declined 6 paise to settle at 67.21 on Thursday on fag-end dollar demand from banks and importers.

Data released overnight showed claims for initial jobless benefits in the week ending June 11 increased by 13,000 to 277,000 compared with 264,000 a week ago.

Another data showed consumer prices rose 0.2 per cent in May. This was lower than 0.3 per cent expected by analysts. This put the dollar under pressure. Meanwhile, dollar also weakened after campaigns for EU referendum were suspended in the UK following the killing of a UK lawmaker Jo Cox.

The British MP was shot dead in the street in northern England, causing the temporary suspension of campaigning for next week's referendum on EU membership, Reuters reported.

The d ollar index, which tracks the movement of dollar against a basket of six major world currencies, fell 0.18 per cent to 94.40. Asian currencies were trading largely mixed for the day.

view more

First time in 48 years, PPF rate could fall below 8%

NEW DELHI : For the first time since the Public Provident Fund was established in 1968, the interest rate on the government-managed saving scheme could fall below 8%. Interest rates on small savings schemes, including the PPF and the Senior Citizens' Saving Scheme, are linked to the government bond yields and are revised every three months. The last interest rate revision on 19 March saw the PPF rate being cut 60 basis points from 8.7% to 8.1%.
Now, given that the average 10-year benchmark bond yield has been nearly 7.5% between March and May, analysts believe the rate for PPF could be cut to 7.75%. "The PPF rate is 25 basis points higher than the 10-year benchmark bond yield. So it could be revised to 7.75% for the next quarter," says Manoj Nagpal, CEO of Outlook Asia Capital. If the PPF rate is indeed cut by 25-35 basis points, this would be the first time that the scheme will give less than 8% in its 48-year history.
However, some experts believe that despite the decline in bond yields, the government will not cut the small savings rate in this quarter. "Given the furore over the rate cut in March, the government may not want to alienate the middle class before the assembly elections in 2017," says a mutual fund manager.




view more

'BUY' or 'SELL' ideas from experts for Friday, 17 June 2016.

Union Bank ofBSE -0.67 % India is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 133 and a stop loss of Rs 124

WiproBSE 0.16 % is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 568 and a stop loss of Rs 539

Reliance CapitalBSE 0.58 % is a 'SELL' call with a target of Rs 358 and a stop loss of Rs 410

Century TextilesBSE 0.21 % is a 'SELL' call with a target of Rs 605 and a stop loss of Rs 626

GAIL IndiaBSE 0.51 % is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 397 and a stop loss of Rs 370

InfosysBSE -0.56 % is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 1211 and a stop loss of Rs 1165

NMDCBSE 0.43 % is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 98 and a stop loss of Rs 91

IDBI is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 76 and a stop loss of Rs 68.50

McLeod RusselBSE 3.21 % is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 203 and a stop loss of Rs 188

PidiliteBSE 1.80 % Inddustries is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 735 and a stop loss of Rs 690

WiproBSE 0.26 % is a 'BUY' call with a target of Rs 568 and a stop loss of Rs 539

Reliance CapitalBSE 0.72 % is a 'SELL' call with a target of Rs 358 and a stop loss of Rs 410.

view more