Hyundai launches Grand i10 at Rs 4.29 lakh

New Delhi, Sept 3:  

Korean auto major Hyundai Motor India Ltd today launched its Grand i10 hatchback, positioned between its earlier offerings i10 and i20, at a starting price of Rs 4.29 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi, introductory price).

Targeted at buyers between the ages of 25 and 35, the Grand i10 comes in two engine variants —1.1 litre diesel and 1.2 litre petrol.

The diesel variant has been launched at a starting price of Rs 5.23 lakh.

Grand i10 review

The hatchback sports a trendy look and comes with a host of features such as smart key with push button start and stop for keyless entry/exit and ignition on/off, audio experience with integrated 2-DIN music system with first-in-segment 1GB internal memory to store and play your choice of music.

The latest offering benefits from Hyundai’s fluidic design theme and its Indian version is 100 mm longer than the European version to offer bigger seating space.

Safety features include dual airbags, anti-lock braking system, central locking, engine immobiliser and rear parking sensor.

The Hyundai Grand i10 is available in eight colour options including Wine Red, Stardust, Golden Orange, Phantom Black, Silky Beige, Twilight Blue, Pure White, and Sleek Silver. Its diesel and petrol hatchback variants include Era, Magna, Sportz, Asta.

With this launch, Hyundai hopes to shake Maruti Suzuki, sitting pretty at the top.

PETROL Prices (ex-showroom Delhi)

Era: Rs 4,29,900

Magna: Rs 4,49,400

Sportz: Rs 4,88,800

Asta(O): Rs 5,47,800

DIESEL Prices (ex-showroom Delhi)

Era: Rs 5,23,700

Magna: Rs 5,43,200

Sportz: Rs 5,82,600

Asta: Rs 6,41,600

Rupee slumps to 67.95 on persistent capital outflows, heavy dollar demand

Mumbai, Sept 4:  

The rupee further slipped 193 paise to 67.95 against the dollar on persistent capital outflows and heavy dollar demand from banks and oil importers at 4.26 p.m. local time.

The domestic unit opened 28 paise weaker to 66.30 per dollar against the previous close of 66.02 due to renewed dollar demand from importers and appreciation of the American dollar overseas.

Meanwhile, the 30-share BSE index Sensex ended down 651.47 points (3.45 per cent) at 18,234.66.

According to forex dealers, besides dollar’s gains against the yen and euro on improved economic data, increased demand from importers for the American currency also put pressure on the rupee.

Brinda Jagirdar, Economist, said: "While the sharp fall in rupee and its aftermath has caused a lot of mayhem on the markets, particularly pressure on corporates and banks, its impact on exports could be positive. However, the recent PMI data coming in at below 50 (at 48.5) has highlighted the contraction in the manufacturing sector. Thus, at a time when external demand appears to be rising on the back of economic recovery - Germany's PMI is the highest since July 2011 - India's PMI is at a four-year low, so the economy is unable to ramp up its manufactured exports and benefit from a weak rupee.''

The rupee sentiment was hit on lower GDP growth data announced last week.

India’s GDP (gross domestic product) growth decelerated to 4.4 per cent — the slowest pace of expansion since the 2008 meltdown — in the first quarter (April-June) of the current fiscal.

Special dollar window

Further, the Reserve Bank of India had announced a special dollar window for oil retailers, which helped ease the offshore non-deliverable forward (NDF) contracts.

“The RBI measures limited the volumes in the currency market by more than half. Hence, the volatility reduced to some extent. Also, the RBI did not intervened for the first time in many days,” said a dealer with a nationalised bank.

The rupee saw sharp movements last week. It had hit a historic low of 68.80 against the US dollar on August 28. It had dropped 3.7 per cent during last week alone.

Rupee depreciation

The Ministry of Finance had said that the rupee depreciation is not reflective of any weakness in the economy. Also the rupee is heavily under-valued at the moment and it is being addressed.

Though a strong dollar and dollar demand from importers limited the rupee gains, investors are hoping for positive measures after the new RBI Governor assumes charge on September 5.

Call rates, G-Secs

The inter-bank call money rate, the rate at which banks borrow money from each other to meet their short-term fund requirements, was trading lower at 10.15 per cent from its previous close of 10.25 per cent.

The 7.16 per cent government security, which matures in 2023, was trading a tad higher at Rs 91.79 from the previous close of Rs 91.47 .Yields softened to 8.41 per cent from 8.47 per cent.

Bloodbath on D-Street: Sensex tumbles 651 points on FII outflows

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Mumbai, Sept 3:  

Jittery investors pulled down the BSE benchmark Sensex by 651 points to 18,234.66 on Tuesday after the rupee depreciated below 68 against the dollar.

Similarly, the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 209 points at 5,341.

The entire sectoral index on BSE tumbled with the banking index being hit the most followed by consumer durables and realty.

Banking index was down 5.06 per cent, followed by consumer durables 4.61 per cent, realty 4.39 per cent and FMCG 3.89 per cent.

Rupee depreciation

The sharp depreciation in rupee may widen the current account deficit further, posing a major challenge to the Government which is battling to revive the economic slowdown.

Vaibhav Agrawal, Vice-President (Research), Angel Broking, said: "The economic fundamentals in the near-term remain on shaky ground. Increase in oil prices due to the Syria situation is expected to add to the current account deficit burden, keeping the rupee under pressure. Hopes of quick reversal of interest rate hikes by RBI are waning, and the GDP and earnings growth outlook for FY'14 continues to have downside.''

Scrip movement

Most Sensex stocks plunged as investors booked profit after a rally witnessed in the last three days.

Reliance Industries fell 6 per cent to Rs 830 after the stock rose 10 per cent in the preceding four trading sessions. It made a low of Rs 803.80 on August 27.

Housing Development Finance Corporation lost five per cent to Rs 700 after a three-day rally of 12 per cent.

TVS Motor Company was down five per cent at Rs 30. Interestingly, Multi Commodity Exchange, which is facing the wrath of its group company National Spot Exchange settlement default, gained five per cent to Rs 411.

Axis Bank (-9.27 per cent), YES Bank (-9.13%), Piramal Ent (-8.93%), TV18 Broadcast (-8.70%), Indusind Bank (-8.45%), Federal Bank (-7.56%), Indiabulls Real Estate (-7.53%), LIC Housing Fin (-7.08%), Titan Inds (-7.07%) and Century Textile (-6.86%) were the major losers.

Lupin, MphasiS, Britannia Industries and Amara Raja were among the few blue-chip companies which gained on the BSE today.

Arun Kejriwal, Founder-Kris Research, said: “The Middle-East crisis affects the globe as much as it affects India. However, today’s market movement showed that India was the only market that was affected with the benchmarks breaching the four per cent levels intra-day before weighted average close. This clearly shows that India has enough internal problems affecting the rupee, economy and therefore the markets.''

Rupee slide worrying but also good for the economy: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought to soothe worries about the economy on Friday, telling parliament that the crashing value of the rupee was part of a needed adjustment that would make Asia's third-largest economy more competitive.
The speech was the veteran economist's first substantial comment to parliament since the rupee suffered its steepest ever monthly fall in recent weeks, bringing back memories of a 1991 balance of payments crisis that made Singh famous.
Reading from a written statement, the prime minister promised his government would reduce the "unsustainably large" current account deficit undermining the currency.
"Clearly we need to reduce our appetite for gold, economise the use of petroleum products and take steps to increase our imports," he said.
But he said that a weaker currency was the natural outcome of several years of high inflation, and although the rupee had overshot in the foreign exchange market its decline would bring some economic benefits.
Click NEXT to read PM's views on economy...

Photographs: Reuters

Rupee gains for second day, closes at 65.7/USD

The rupee posted its biggest monthly fall in at least 18 years but gained for a second straight session on Friday as aggressive central bank intervention and positive local and regional cues helped.

The rupee's 8.1 per cent fall is likely the worst performance for the currency ever, but data beyond 1995 was not immediately available.

The partially convertible rupee closed at 65.70/71 per dollar, up 1.3 per cent on the day.

It had closed at 66.55/56 on Thursday, after gaining 3.5 percent, in its biggest single-day gain in 15-1/2 years.

On the week, the rupee declined 3.8 per cent, its worst weekly performance since the week to September 23, 2011.