Maruti Stingray launched at Rs. 4.10 lakh

 Looking to beat the slowdown blues, India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India today launched compact car Stingray, priced at Rs. 4,10,000 (ex-showroom Delhi).

"With Stingray, we carry forward our focus to make our best sellers even more attractive," managing director and CEO Kenichi Ayukawa said.

The Stingray, which is powered by a 998 cc petrol engine, is available in three variants, with price ranging between Rs. 4,10,000 and Rs. 4,67,000.

In July, the company posted 10.88 per cent increase in its passenger car sales at 63,040 units.

Car sales in India had fallen for a record ninth month in a row in July, posting a 7.4 per cent decline.

According to the latest data released by the SIAM, domestic passenger car sales declined to 1,31,163 units in July this year from 1,41,646 units in the same month of 2012.

Source: NDTV Profit

RBI buys 78 per cent of Rs. 8,000 cr bond buyback target

The Reserve Bank of India today bought 78 per cent of its planned Rs. 8,000-crore government securities buyback from the market as some dealers offered to sell below the prevailing market rate.

The benchmark 10-year bonds were traded in the range of 8.21 to 8.34 per cent.

Earlier this week, the RBI had announced to buy Rs. 8,000 crore worth of four securities through the OMO (open market operation). However, it purchased only G-secs worth Rs. 6,231.85 crore in today's auction as against Rs. 27,965.46 crore of bids it received from the market participants.

"Market participants offered to sell bonds at lower yields. The RBI might not have been comfortable at those levels," Srinivasa Raghavan, executive vice-president for Treasury at Dhanlaxmi Bank said.

"All bids offered below 8.26 per cent for the 10-year government bonds might have been rejected by the RBI," said a senior dealer with a state-owned bank.

Dealers expect lower acceptance of government bonds at the auction is likely to have some impact on G-sec market next week.

Early this week, the RBI announced to undertake OMO after the 10-year government bond rose to a five-year high at 9.47 per cent as the rupee breached the 64 mark against the dollar. The step was aimed at managing liquidity conditions to ensure adequate credit flow to the productive sectors of the economy.

The RBI announced to buy four long-dated securities: 8.15 per cent - 2022, 7.16 per cent - 2023, 8.33 per cent -2026 and 8.97 per cent -2030 in the auction.

The central bank received maximum number of bids for 8.33 per cent -2026 paper, but accepted only 28 bids. For the 10-year paper, the RBI got 71 bids worth Rs. 6,145.77 crore, but it accepted only 27 bids worth Rs. 742.77 crore.

Source: NDTV Profit