Gold imports rise 65% in June to $3.12 bn

After past its best for seven months in a row, bullion imports grew by 65.13 per cent to $3.12 billion in June.
Import of gold bars in June 2013 stood at $1.88 billion.
The high imports have slightly pushed up the country's deal shortfall to $11.76 billion in June from $11.28 billion in the same month last year.
In October 2013, gold imports had risen 62.5 per cent to $1.3 billion.
The government has forced limitations on inbound shipments of the costly metal to thin the present explanation shortage. India's CAD, which is the glut of foreign exchange outflows over inflows, touched a momentous high of 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2012-13, mainly due to increasing imports of petroleum harvest and gold.
A high CAD puts heaviness on the rupee, which in turn makes imports classy and fuels price rises.
The government had augmented customs obligation on gold to 10 per cent and barred import of bullion coins and medallions, while the RBI linked imports of the metal to exports.
India is the main importer of gold, which is mainly utilized to meet the command of the jewelers commerce.
The Commerce and business Ministry is headfirst for reduction of the gold import limits to boost gems and jewellery exports, which declined by 5 per cent in June to $3.31 billion.
According to experts, decline in bullion prices in the international market have pressed up imports in the realm.
Gold in New York, which in general sets price trend on the marital front, fell by 0.7 per cent to $1,297.10 an ounce after moving $1,292.60, the lowly since June 19.

FY'14 CAD narrows to 1.7% of GDP at $32.4 bn

Mumbai: Helped by a sharp restraint in imports, particularly of bullion, India's current account deficit (CAD) sharply pointed to 1.7 percent of GDP, or USD 32.4 billion, in FY'14 from 4.7 percent in FY'13, Reserve Bank said Monday.

"Contraction in the deal shortage, attached with a increase in net invisibles' receipts, resulted in a lessening of the CAD to USD 32.4 billion, or 1.7 percent of GDP, from USD 87.8 billion, or 4.7 percent of GDP in 2012-13," it said.

For the March sector, CAD, a calculate of the inflow and loss of foreign currency, stood at USD 1.2 billion, or 0.2 percent of GDP, as beside USD 18.1 billion, or 3.6 percent of GDP, in the same epoch previous fiscal, the RBI said.

Sensex drops over 100 points; Tech Mahindra up 4% post Q2 results

NEW DELHI: The S&P BSE Sensex slipped over 100 points in morning trade on Friday, weighed down by losses in realty, consumer durables, banks and power stocks. Tracking the muted momentum, the 50-share Nifty index was trading close to its crucial psychological support level of 6150 levels.

Tech Mahindra rallied as much as 3.78 per cent in morning trade after the IT major surprised analysts on Thursday by reporting better than anticipated revenue growth in dollar terms. Revenue came at $758 million increased by 4.7% sequentially, higher than the expectation of 2.7-3% increase.

At 09:20 a.m.; the 50-share index was at 6163, down 23 points or 0.38 per cent. It touched a high of 6,173.75 and a low of 6,139.85 in early trade today.

The S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 20,762, down 61 points or 0.3 per cent. It touched a high of 20,792.30 and a low of 20,645.64 in trade today.

The S&P BSE Midcap Index was down 1.07 per cent and BSE S&P Smallcap Index edged lower by 1.1 per cent.

Among the sectoral indices, the BSE Consumer Durable Index was down 1.03 per cent, followed by the S&P BSE Auto Index which dropped 0.68 per cent and the S&P BSE Capital Goods Index was trading 0.62 per cent.

The BSE IT index was trading 0.3 per cent higher, followed by the BSE Metal index which was up 0.29 per cent, BSE HealthCare index was trading flat with positive bias.

Tata SteelBSE 1.32 % (1.3 per cent), Wipro (0.9 per cent), Cipla (0.66 per cent), Infosys (0.47 per cent) and Sesa Goa (0.15 per cent) were among the major Sensex gainers.

Sun Pharma (1.78 per cent), ONGC (1.73 per cent), BHELBSE 0.86 % (1.34 per cent), GAIL (1.3 per cent) and Maruti SuzukiBSE -1.02 % (1.32 per cent) were among the index losers.

Asian shares slumped to a three-week low after U.S. stocks suffered their biggest fall in more than two months, weighed down by GDP data and surprise interest rate cut by the European Central Bank.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index was trading 0.9 per cent lower at 14,097.50 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was trading 0.4 per cent lower at 22,788.12.

South Korea's Kospi index was trading 0.3 per cent lower at 1,997. China's Shanghai index was trading 0.3 per cent lower at 2,122.

HSBC cuts FY14 growth forecast to 4%

HSBC on Monday lowered India's GDP forecast for the current financial year to 4 per cent from 5.5 per cent earlier saying economic uncertainty is likely to weigh on the growth forecast in the coming months. According to the global financial services major, growth is likely to slow in the near term due to tighter financial conditions and higher macroeconomic uncertainty.
"In light of this, we revise down our GDP growth forecasts to 4.0 per cent (5.5 per cent) for FY2014 and to 5.5 per cent (from 6.6 per cent) for FY2015," HSBC said in a research note on Monday.
According to official figures, the country's economic growth in the April-June quarter slid to 4.4 per cent, the lowest in past several years, pulled down by drop in mining and manufacturing output.
This prompted the industry to demand co-ordinated action by the government and the RBI to boost the economy.
HSBC, however, believes the slowdown has further to go, saying leading indicators suggest the country's growth momentum could ease further during the July-September quarter in both manufacturing and services sector.
Moreover, factors like RBI's currency stabilisation measures and heightened macroeconomic uncertainty is making consumers and businesses more cautious about spending, HSBC said.
The pressure on growth momentum is likely to pose greater challenges for policy makers as they try to stabilise the falling currency, which had touched an all time low of 68.80 to dollar on August 28 and is currently hovering around the 66/USD mark in a highly volatile trade.
"In terms of the quarterly profile, we expect growth to slow in the July-September quarter of 2013 and dip below 4 per cent," HSBC said adding that growth will show "faint" signs of recovery during the final quarter of the fiscal year as macroeconomic uncertainties recede somewhat and confidence reluctantly recovers.
Moreover, CCI expedited and other investment projects are likely to slowly kick in around that time, the report said.
According to HSBC, "the outlook for India is still tainted with downside risks given the lingering macroeconomic uncertainties and the possibility that politics could get in the way of meaningful progress on structural reform".