Top Newz this week (13-Oct-2013)?

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What's Hot this weekTop Newz this week (13-Oct-2013)?

Interesting things happened in the last one week. PFC has launched tax free bonds and they would hit the market this week, EPFO launched online PF transfer, new IRDA norms would benefit insurers, Infosys surprised with its Q2 results etc. are some of the positive incidents that took place this week.

Stock Market and how Rupee is doing

  • The Stock market SENSEX has gained 600 points this week at SENSEX currently is at 20,500 levels.
  • The Rupee has appreciated against the dollar and currently trading at Rs 61.22 / Dollar.

What’s top newz in the investment world in India?

1) PFC Tax Free Bonds: PFC is launching Tax free bonds and it would start from 14-Oct-13 and would end on 11-Nov-13. PFC tax free bonds offer high tax free income of 8.92% per annum for 20 year bonds. The IIFCL tax free bond which would end this week offered interest rate of 8.75%. Comparatively PFC bonds provide a good interest rate for all investors irrespective of the tax bracket.

3) New IRDA norms on health insurance: Previous week IRDA came with new norms for life insurance. This week, IRDA issued new norms for health insurance in India.

  • As per new norms, Insurance companies now have to settle health care claims within 30 days from the date of document submission.
  • In case of rejection, it should clearly indicate the medical grounds on which it is rejecting the claim.
  • The new norms are also talking about a bonus for claim-free years and going forward, insured would get cumulative bonus. Means if you accumulate bonus for years, and there is claim in any year, only that year, your bonus would be stopped. Earlier period no claim bonus would still continue in subsequent years as per new norms.
  • Also new norm indicates to the standardization of definitions and use uniform claim form.

3) Finally EPF transfers made online: Thank god, finally EPF Office has launched an online PF transfer facility. Currently there are 13L transfer requests every year. Majority is coming from IT Sector where there is high attrition. We have provided a step-by-step guide on how to transfer the PF account.

4) Promoters buying their beaten-up stocks:  Promoters of hammered gem stocks are increasing their stake. Tata chairman Cyrus Mistry has increased his stake in Tata power, Tata motors, Indian Hotels and Tata power. Similarly other promoters of GMR, Glenmarm Pharma where the stock price got bottomed-up are increasing their stake in their company as the stock price is low now.

5) Infosys surprises in its Q2 results: Infosys surprised everyone with its Q2 results. It posted 30% growth in its revenue YoY. However looks there is no control on the profits and attrition. Profit has increased only 1.6% YoY inspite of 30% growth in revenue. Attrition stands at 17.3% this quarter compared to 16.9% for the previous quarter.

6) Festive offers: Though zero percent schemes are banned by RBI, companies are offering a variety of discounts to increase their sales this festive season. Freebees, discounts and buy-1-get-1 offers are flooded in the market now. If you are planning to buy something in the near term, buying in this festive season would help you to get at lesser cost.

7) IFC launches $ 1 Bn offshore rupee bonds: International Finance Corporation is planning to launch $ 1 Bn offshore rupee bonds in Washington DC, USA. This would be a key step for internationalization of the rupee bond market. IFC would name the bonds and these are priced in Rupees and all transactions will be in the currency, but such amount of proceeds is sent to India in much needed dollars.

8) 5 Lakh MF Folio closures in Sep-2013: Mutual fund investment sector is continuing to see redemptions due to several tax free bond issues coming up offering high tax free income. In Sep-2013, 5 Lakh mutual fund folios have been closed totaling to Rs 2,116 Crores. The majority are from equity mutual fund schemes redemptions.

9) EPF Interest rates for this year: EPFO may announce high interest rates this year compared to previous year interest rate of 8.5% per annum. The announcement is expected before Diwali.

10) Gold / Silver: Gold and Silver prices have been in a declining trend. Last week gold prices have declined by 3%. Current gold prices are at Rs 28,600 levels for 10 grams. Silver is at Rs 47,500. During festival seasons, generally gold prices would shoot-up. But on the contrary, now gold and silver prices are coming down.

Happy reading on Best Investments blog

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Suresh
Top Newz this week

Suresh KP
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