Mumbai: The Indian rupee strengthened against the US dollar, and bond yield dropped, after finance minister Arun Jaitley said the government will retain the fiscal deficit target of 3.5% of the gross domestic product (GDP) for fiscal 2017. The gains in the rupee were also due to improved fiscal deficit.

The rupee closed at 68.42, up 0.31% from its Friday’s close of 68.63. The rupee opened 68.69 and touched a high of 68.36 in intraday trade, a level last seen on 18 February.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, given his penchant for abbreviations, might have liked to put it as the new ‘GPS’ or guiding principle of his government in preparation for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It looks as if the Modi government has initiated its re-election strategy a couple of years early with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s budget speech promising Gas (LPG cylinders to below poverty line families), Power (to all un-electrified villages) and Sadak (road connectivity to all villages) by 2018-19.

Mumbai: Benchmark equity index, Sensex, pared the intraday losses to close 152 points lower on Monday, as market participants gave a thumbs down to finance minister Arun Jaitley’s Union budget announcements, particularly with respect to taxing of dividend income in the hands of high net-worth individuals (HNIs).

Earlier in the day, the Sensex fell as much as 2.85%, or 659.69 points, to 22,494.61, while the Nifty 50 slipped as much as 2.9%, or 203.95 points, to 6,825.8 points.

KOLKATA: The Clean Environment Cess proposed in the Budget is likely shoot up Coal India's average notified coal price by around 20 per cent.

"Our average coal price (notified segment) is Rs 1,000-1,100 per tonne and an increase of Rs 200 per tonne is almost 20 per cent rise in coal price," a Coal India official told PTI.

NEW DELHI: Budget 2016 has created room for the RBI to cut rates, says Rana Kapoor, MD & CEO of YES Bank "By adhering to fiscal deficit aim of 3.5% the Budget creates room for complimentary monetary policy rate cut of 50 bps in the near term and 75-100 bps in 2016, conditioned on favourably evolving macros," says Rana Kapoor.

"FY17 Budget has provided a strong growth direction to the Indian economy. The Finance Minister has managed to balance the need to prioritize social sector requirements with economic and business imperatives. The segmented 9-Pillar approach with well carved out deliverables will ensure execution clarity and focus," Rana Kapoor adds.

ITC, Maruti Suzuki India, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, HDFC Bank and Cipla from the 30 share S&P BSE Sensex index hitting their respective 52-week lows after the index tanked 660 points during intra-day trade.

ACC, Ambuja Cements, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Nestle India, Thermax and Tech Mahindra are from the 73 stocks from BSE500 index touching their 52-week lows.

Shares of Maruti Suzuki India have fallen to 14-month lows of Rs 3,202 after declining 6%, bringing down its market capitalisation (market-cap) below Rs 1 lakh crore on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

At 03:15 PM, the stock was trading at Rs 3,221, its lowest level since October 2014, with a market-cap of Rs 97,904 crore.

Markets regulator Sebi has ordered attachment of bank accounts, demat accounts and mutual fund folios of Shree Sai Spaces Creations and Wasankar Wealth management for violating capital market norms.

The move is part of Sebi's efforts to recover dues worth over Rs 50 crore collectively from both the firms.

Infrastructure and engineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is planning to sell 49 per cent stake in its general insurance company to a foreign entity. The deal is expected to be finalised in the next three to six months.

L&T General Insurance Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of L&T and among the few in the sector without a foreign partner. The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act of 2015 has allowed foreign direct investment (FDI) up to 49 per cent in insurance companies. Earlier, only 26 per cent FDI was allowed. "The stake sale is primarily targeted at monetisation.

New Delhi: Gold prices dipped by Rs.40 to Rs.29,250 per ten gram on Saturday in Delhi bullion market on waning spot demand from jewellers amid a weak global trend.

Bullion traders said a weak trend overseas as the dollar ticked up and European shares extended their rally, reducing appeal of the precious metals, weighed on the prices. Besides, a fall in demand from jewellers in domestic spot market resulted in the slide.

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