Sensex, Nifty slip into red; M&M, Axis, ICICI major laggards

Moneycontrol Bureau1:50 pm Stake sale: State Bank of India is looking to sell 5 percent stake in its life insurance arm SBI Life. The country's largest bank owns 74 percent in SBI Life while its foreign partner BNP Paribas owns 26 percent.

The stake sale will help infuse funds into the bank's balance sheet and help it discover price for a potential IPO for SBI Life. Currently, the insurer could be valued at Rs 30,000 crore though merchant bankers will be appointed to come up with a value.

SBI is currently talked to private-equity investors and institutions for the stake sale.1:45 pm Market slips: The market slips into red with the Nifty struggling below 8750. The 50-share index is down 5.40 points at 8738.55 and the Sensex is down 19.54 points at 28201.44, and the Nifty About 1491 shares have advanced, 1224 shares declined, and 141 shares are unchanged. ICICI Bank, M&M, Axis Bank, Dr Reddy's Labs and Cipla are losers in the Sensex while GAIL, Reliance, HUL, BHEL and ONGC are gainers.

1:30 pm Interview: While it is reasonable to expect India will see high economic growth, private sector investments may take some time to kick in, says Mahindra & Mahindra’s Executive Director Pawan Goenka.

Capacity utilisation across industries still averages 70-75 percent and investments are unlikely to start before demand lifts utilisation levels to 85-odd percent, he says. Other aspects like leverage and credit availability are also stumbling blocks in private investment right now. It might take a year or so for these issues to get sorted, he adds.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18 on the sidelines of the India Economic Summit, Goenka says the last 12 months have been good for India. He believes the government has put growth on priority and there are enough levers to propel growth, but it now remains to be seen if all the levers will work well together as anticipated.

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The Sensex is up 70.80 points or 0.2 percent at 28291.78 and the Nifty is up 27 points or 0.3 percent at 8770.95. About 1713 shares have advanced, 938 shares declined, and 126 shares are unchanged.

GAIL, Reliance, ONGC, HUL and BHEL are top gainers in the Sensex while Axis Bank, Infosys, ICICI Bank, M&M and Dr Reddy's Labs are major losers in the Sensex. Metals and oil & Gas rise index 1 and 3.7 percent respectively.

European stocks opened mildly higher Thursday, boosted by buoyant trade in Asia and the US and a rise in oil prices.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.25 percent. European stocks got a fillip from their Asian counterparts on Thursday as well as the bounce in US stocks after a slew of economic data.

Asian markets were bolstered by a rise in oil prices which on Thursday remained near the June highs reached in the previous session. Traders said the price dips early on Thursday were largely a result of profit-taking following strong rises the day before, Reuters reported.