The rupee ended at near a seven-month low due to increase in US economic growth which fuelled concerns that the US Fed may start raising interest rates sooner. The rupee ended at 61.53 to a dollar, compared with its previous close of 61.16. The rupee had ended at 61.76 on March 5.

The US economy expanded at a 4.6 per cent annualised rate in the second quarter, the fastest since 2011, official data showed September 26 after the close of Indian markets.

Benchmark shares indices continued to trade weak in late morning trades with HDFC Group and IT shares leading the decline.

The weak showing is primarily reflecting the caution in Asian markets as investors apprehend evidence of further contraction in Chinese manufacturing to emerge, particularly if the flash manufacturing PMI data to be released on Tuesday is seen treading below 50 mark.

New Delhi: Mortgage financier Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd (HDFC) has bought an additional stake in education company CL Educate (formerly Career Launcher) for an undisclosed amount, the companies said on Friday.

It had in 2011 bought a stake in Indus World School, a unit of CL Educate. The latest transaction brings HDFC to own stake in all the businesses of CL Educate, the holding firm that has presence in several education businesses, including coaching and skill development.

Private sector lender HDFC Bank plans to open 24 new branches in the state by the end of this fiscal, said a bank official.

"HDFC Bank is operating with 97 branches in the state at present. By the end of the financial year, there will be 121 branches in the state with addition of 24 new branches," Debashish Senapati, zonal head, Odisha, HDFC Bank, said at the launch of Secure Banking Programme. PK Jena, Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India, was present at the occasion.

MUMBAI: ICICI Bank has brought back fixed-rate mortgages. The bank is offering home loans up to 10 years at a fixed rate of up to 10.25%, which is close to 10.15% it charges its floating-rate customers. The move is aimed at locking into a sizeable home loan portfolio which can be funded by floating infrastructure bonds.

Market leader HDFC offers partially fixed-rate loans where rate is set at 10.25% for first two years, which is close to pricing of its floating-rate loans of 10.15%.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HCL Technologies and HDFC Bank are among the 50 best public companies in Asia-Pacific according to a compilation by Forbes, which ranked India second behind China as home to the 'world's next growth engines'.

The Forbes 2014 'honour roll of the Fabulous 50' lists best of Asia-Pacific’s biggest publicly traded companies.

Aditya Puri, MD, HDFC Bank, feels things have been improving for better over the past few months on the back of upbeat stock market sentiment, existing projects getting unclogged and clear policies been set out. He expects interest rates to soften by the end of this year and sees 7% growth in the medium-to-long term.

HDFC Bank is now considered as a top-most valued brand. Did you expect this and secondly how are you feeling now after getting this award?

HDFC Standard Life has said it is aiming to double online sales in the current fiscal. Established in 2000, the company is a joint venture between Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd. and Standard Life plc.

“We are strong in online sales space, and have a 30 per cent share in a market estimated between Rs.250 crore and Rs.300 crore. We are looking at doubling our online business in 2014-15,” HDFC Standard Life Executive Vice-President (Marketing, Digital and e-commerce) Sanjay Tripathy said here on Monday.

In a pecking order that would confound many, HDFC Bank, India’s second largest private sector lender, has emerged as India’s top brand with a value of $9.4 billion, more than a tenth of the combined worth of the 50 top Indian brands of $70 billion. In a ranking in which only one Tata brand found its way into the top 50, and that too somewhere near the bottom of the heap — Tata Motors came in at 31 — marketing and brand consultancy Millward Brown and WPP Group, the world’s largest communications services group led by veteran advertising professional Martin Sorrell, has compiled the first ever BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Indian Brands.

NEW DELHI: The S&P BSE Sensex plunged as much as 86 points in trade on Wednesday following muted trend seen in other Asian markets. The fall in the index was led by losses in ITC, HDFC Bank, Tata Motors and L&T.

Tracking the momentum, the 50-share Nifty index also came under some bit of pressure but was trading above its crucial psychological level of 7700.

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