Latest Interest Rates on Fixed Deposits (29th August 2011)

Interest rates offered by various banks on fixed deposits have been updated by Bachhat as of 29^th August 2011.  The entire list of banks along with interest rates offered by them for various tenures can be found here.

Given below are the top five banks offering the highest interest rates on fixed deposits for various tenures:

Banks	Less than 3 Months
Corporation Bank	8.75
ING Vyasa Bank	8.40
UCO Bank	8.00
Ratnakar Bank	7.75
Karur Vyasa Bank	7.65

Banks	3 to < 6 Months
Corporation Bank	9.00
Barclays Bank	8.60
ING Vyasa Bank	8.50
UCO Bank	8.50
Punjab & Sind Bank	8.40

Banks	6  to < 12 months
Dhanlaxmi Bank	10.00
Federal Bank	10.00
South Indian Bank	10.00
Punjab & Sind Bank	9.75
Syndicate Bank	9.75

Banks	1 to < 2 years
Lakshmi Vilas Bank	10.50
City Union Bank	10.40
Tamilnad Mercantile Bank	10.25
Ratnakar Bank	10.00
State Bank of Travancore	10.00
Karur Vyasa Bank	10.00

Banks	2 to < 3 years
Lakshmi Vilas Bank	9.75
City Union Bank	9.75
Tamilnad Mercantile Bank	9.75
Karur Vyasa Bank	9.75
State Bank of Patiala	9.75

Banks	3 to < 5 years
City Union Bank	9.75
Tamilnad Mercantile Bank	9.75
Lakshmi Vilas Bank	9.50
Karur Vyasa Bank	9.50
Punjab & Sind Bank	9.50
State Bank of Travancore	9.50
Karnataka Bank	9.50
IDBI Bank	9.50
Jammu & Kashmir Bank	9.50
Punjab National Bank	9.50
State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur	9.50
Barclays Bank	9.50

Banks	5 years & above
Tamilnad Mercantile Bank	10.00
City Union Bank	9.75
Karur Vyasa Bank	9.50
State Bank of Travancore	9.50
IDBI Bank	9.50
South Indian Bank	9.50

Banks	Tax Savings FDs
Tamilnad Mercantile Bank	9.75
Oriental Bank of Commerce	9.75
City Union Bank	9.50
State Bank of Travancore	9.50
IDBI Bank	9.50
State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur	9.50
Karnataka Bank	9.50

This is a biweekly post and shall be updated again on 12^th September 2011.

Latest Interest Rates on Fixed Deposits (Updated as of 18th August 2011)

Recent series of interest rate hikes by Reserve Bank of India has increased the cost of funds for the banks and they are compelled to increase their fixed deposits rates to attract funds.  Since 1^st August 2011, the last update carried out by Bachhat on interest rates on fixed deposits, total of 25 banks out of 52 banks tracked by Bachhat have raised interest rates on fixed deposits.  Retail investors are now able to earn double digit returns for duration as short as one year.  

Given below are the top five interest rates on fixed deposits offered by bank for the duration of ‘six months to less than one year’and for ‘one year to less than twelve months’ period.

Banks	6 to < 12 months
Dhanlaxmi Bank	10.00
Federal Bank	10.00
South Indian Bank	10.00
Syndicate Bank	9.75
Corporation Bank	9.50
Standard Chartered Bank	9.50

Banks	1 to < 2 years
Lakshmi Vilas Bank	10.50
City Union Bank	10.40
Tamilnad Mercantile Bank	10.25
Ratnakar Bank	10.00
Karur Vyasa Bank	10.00

For the complete listing of interest rates on fixed deposits offered by all banks, click here.

Footnote:  Bachhat has been updating interest rates on fixed deposits biweekly since May 2011.  Top 5 banks offering highest interest rates for all tenures are highlighted as well as those banks which have revised the interest rates since last update.  In this respect, we would like to seek your feedback on the usefulness of this data and improvement to be carried out to make it more user friendly.  Looking forward to your comments and suggestions.

Darkness before the Dawn

The global markets have been volatile since the start of August 2011 triggered by US rating downgrade and the crises in the Europe.  The Indian markets have also followed the global markets albeit with less severity but we are better off in comparison with other markets in developed as well as developing economies.

Is it a time to exit from equity markets?  Or should one use this as an opportunity to purchase stocks which are available cheap?  Or should one wait and let the market fall more and buy at the lowest point? 

Bachhat has always suggested equity investments as a long term investment avenue for wealth creation.  Hence in case you have invested in equities with a perspective of 5, 10 or 15 years, the current fall should not matter you much.

One cannot say that I shall wait and buy after the market falls to its lowest point.  How will you come to know when it has reached its lowest point?  

It is impossible to time the market and one should always resist from doing so.  Even the experts managing billions of dollars world over are not successful in timing the market.  Hence there is no point in waiting to let market fall to its lowest point and then investing.

If you are a long term investor, the present conditions are an opportunity for you to step up the equity investments.  You will be able to buy stocks at lower P/E multiples (Price / Earnings multiple).  Even if market remains low for say next one year, it gives us an opportunity to invest more funds in the equity at lower valuations and reap the benefits as they rise in future.  As Mr. Prashant Jain of HDFC Mutual Fund wrote in his latest report, ‘it is always darkest before the dawn’.  The report is a must read for all the investors. (Link) 

To sum up, do not stop your SIPs in equity funds even if the market is falling.  On the contrary, if possible top them up with additional purchases and grab the opportunity available.  You shall smile your way to bank in the future. :)

Happy Raksha Bandhan and Independence day! :)  Wanna gift a SIP to your sister on this Rakhi?