Jignesh Shah to stay on MCX Board for now

MCX promoter Jignesh Shah has managed to retain his position on the board in a crucial meeting held in Mumbai on Tuesday.

The Multi Commodity Exchange on Tuesday appointed three new share-holder directors, namely Union Bank of India's K N Raghunathan, Corporation Bank's P Paramasivam and Bank of Baroda's Sanjay Agarwal, and two new independent directors in G Anantraman - Ex- Sebi and Pravir Vora - ICICI, CIO, sources said.

Jignesh Shah managed to convince the MCX board and will continue to stay on for now as he has sought more time to step down, they said.

The market was anticipating Shah's resignation against the backdrop of the payment crisis of Rs 5,600 crore in the group company National Spot Exchange (NSEL).

The board has accepted and supported his request till the time the market regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) decides on 'fit and proper status' of shah.

A fortnight ago, shah and Joseph Massey were forced to opt out from the board of the stock exchange arm of the FTIL, MCX-SX. Massey was an MD on the stock exchange. MCX MD Shreekant Javalgekar had also resigned last week.

The board appointed deputy managing director Praveen Singhal as managing director to oversee functions till new managing director is appointed, exchange sources said.

The board has appointed a five-member oversight committees with Chairperson Pravir Vora (ICICI, CIO), sources said.

The promoter of exchange Jignesh Shah and Paras Ajmera continue to remain directors on the board, sources said.

With the induction of five new directors, the strength of directors has become 12 as against a full strength of 14 members in a period of 2 months. The slew of resignations came in following the NSEL scam and the market regulator's new norms on board composition.

As per the FMC's norms, MCX board with a strength of 14 members can only have one anchor investor director.

BSE Sensex wipes off early gains, down over 100 points

After rising over 40 points in early trade, the BSE benchmark Sensex wiped off its inital gains and was trading over 100 points down in late morning trade on Wednesday.

At 11.09 am, Sensex was down 104.98 points at 20759.99. Similarly, Nifty was down 30.80 points at 6172.00 during the same time.

The 30-share index gained 40.13 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 20,905.10 in early trade with consumer durables, realty, metal and power sector stocks leading the recovery. The Sensex had shed 28.92 points in Monday's volatile session.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty moved up by 11.45 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 6,214.25.

In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei rose 0.48 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.60 per cent in early trade.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.49 per cent higher in previous session.

Wipro shares fall over 8 pc on bourses post Q2 results

Wipro shares fell by more than 8 per cent in morning trade on Wednesday after the company reported a 28 per cent growth in its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended September 30.

The stock, however, discounted the second quarter numbers and fell 8.41 per cent on the BSE to Rs 471.55.

On the National Stock Exchange as well, the stock opened weak and slumped 6.33 per cent to Rs 482.20.

The India's third largest IT exporter announced its second quarter results after market hours on Tuesday. Wipro posted a net profit from continuing operations at Rs 1,932.1 crore for the second quarter against Rs 1,510.5 crore in the year-ago period.

Market experts said the decline in the counter was largely because the company's second quarter revenue in terms of dollars lagged behind its peer group companies.

Meanwhile, the broader market was also trading in the negative territory with the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading at 20,736.49 points, down 128.48 points in morning trade.

In dollar terms, Wipro's net profit stood at $309 million in the second quarter this fiscal, while consolidated revenues were at $1.76 billion during the quarter.

IT services revenue rose 20 per cent to Rs 10,068 crore in the second quarter. In dollar terms, IT revenues rose 5.9 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to $1.63 billion, whereas, sequential growth stood at 2.7 per cent.

Rupee down 27 paise to Rs 61.79 against dollar in early trade

Extending its Monday's losses, the rupee lost 27 paise to Rs 61.79 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday on the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to appreciation of the Greenback against other overseas currencies.

Dealers attributed the fall in rupee to gains made by US dollar against the euro and other overseas currencies ahead of US jobs data and a lower opening in the domestic equity market.

Increased demand for the dollar from importers and banks also put pressure on the local currency.

The rupee weakened by 25 paise to close at Rs 61.52 against the dollar in Monday's trade on persistent demand from importers and banks as the US currency strengthened overseas.

Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex fell 31.74 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 20,862.15 in early trade on Tuesday.

Reverse mortgage scheme: Tax break for senior citizens on income from house

With an aim to make the reverse mortgage facility more attractive for senior citizens, the government has decided to give tax break on installment earned by pledging his residential property.

Now it has been decided that annuity would be tax exempt, National Housing Bank Chairman and Managing Director R V Verma said.

The scheme is operated by National Housing Board and housing finance companies, banks and insurance companies.

Besides income tax benefit, he said, the installment income or annuity is expected to increase at least three times to the benefit of retired person.

According to a conservative estimate, the reverse mortgage loan market is upwards of Rs 20,000 crore.

Banks have so far sanctioned Rs 1,800 crore and disbursed Rs 800 crore under reverse mortgage loan since it's launch in 2008, he said.

The revised scheme now enables a person above the age of 60 years to avail of monthly payments from insurance company as annuity till the life time against the mortgage of his/her house while remaining the owner and occupying the house.

Earlier, the period of reverse mortgage loan was 20 years from the date of signing the agreement by the reverse mortgagor and the approved lending institution. But, now period has been extended to "the residual life time of the borrower," said a notification by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

As per the amendment, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and other insurer registered with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) have included as annuity sourcing institutions.

As per the scheme, on the borrower's death or on the borrower leaving the house property permanently, the loan is repaid along with accumulated interest, through sale of the house property. The borrower or heir can also repay the loan with accumulated interest and have the mortgage released without resorting to sale of the property.