Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Wednesday weakened past 68 mark against the US dollar, after foreign portfolio investors (FPI) continued to liquidate their investment in the equity as well as in debt markets.

At 2.08pm, the rupee was trading at 68.04 a dollar, down 0.3% from its previous close of 67.84. The local currency opened at 67.91 a dollar and touched a low of 68.07—a level last seen on 21 January.

Mumbai: As Indian stock markets remain volatile, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is examining whether the rules and trading norms in place are sufficient to mitigate risks from possible market manipulation or disproportionate unwinding of derivatives positions.

The regulator met top exchange officials and brokers last week to take stock of the situation and advised them to track the markets closely to ensure there is no foul play or excessive speculation in equities and derivatives trading.

Manufacturing activity in the country dipped to a one-year low in January, suggesting moderation in growth, says a report by State Bank of India (SBI).

The yearly SBI Composite Index fell below the 50 mark to 47.3 in January — its lowest level in the past one year, indicating “moderation in economic activity going forward”.

A bout of volatility kicked in the equity markets on Wednesday as the benchmark Sensex slipped into the red after opening higher, but is still trading higher by 20 points amid higher Asian cues.

This came on the back of buying in power, realty, technology and healthcare sectors while financials, banking, capital goods, metal and consumer durables stocks lost ground.

Apollo Energy Company Ltd, an Apollo Hospitals Group Company, has divested its 23.3 percent stake in Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company Ltd to its joint venture partner, Munich Re of Germany, for Rs 163.5 crore. The proposed transaction values Apollo Munich at Rs 703 crore.

Completion of the proposed transaction is subject to applicable regulatory approvals and execution of customary agreements, which is expected to be completed at the end of the first quarter of 2016.

Maruti Suzuki's premium hatchback, Swift, is taking fire from its own sibling, Baleno, as the recently-launched model has eaten into Swift’s sales for the second month in a row.

Sales of Swift slumped 34% in November and 16% last month, even as its sales during April-December period closed with a growth of nearly 4%.

As Piyush Goyal, union coal and energy minister, remains firm on the decision to offload an additional 10% stake in Coal India, bringing down the government's share in the state-owned miner from the existing 79.65%, he is challenged with another outcry poised to break out March-end this year.

Four major trade unions affiliated with the Congress-backed INTUC and the Leftist CITU, AITUC and HMS together — representing about 80 % of the miner's workforce — have consented to a series of action plan to protest the disinvestment move as well as force the government to address key issues related to contractual workers.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty pared some of their gains on Monday in late hour of trade and closed on a flat note on account of selling in frontline blue chip stocks taking cues from European counterparts. The sentiments also came under pressure after Moody’s poll stated that the greatest challenge facing the Indian economy is exposure to external shocks such as interest rate hike in the US and slowdown in China and the risk has risen since last year. Sensex closed 50.29 points up at 24,485.95, while Nifty 50 index settled 13.70 points up at 7,436.15.

Mumbai: The capital markets regulator has suggested the finance ministry set up a task force to attract global pension funds to India, according to two people privy to the developments.

The task force will have representatives from the finance ministry, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and market participants, who have experience in dealing with pension funds. The idea is to draw long-term and more stable money into the Indian capital markets.

HDFC Bank on Monday reported 20.1 per cent growth in net profit to Rs. 3,356.8 crore for the third quarter of the current fiscal on higher interest income.

The private sector bank had a net profit of Rs. 2,791 crore in the October-December quarter of last fiscal.

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