Sensex, Nifty sluggish; GAIL, Tata Motors, Asian Paints gainers

Moneycontrol Bureau11:55 am Who is new RBI chief? If NITI Aayog chief Arvind Panagariya is made the governor of the Reserve Bank, as is being speculated in some quarters, it could result in at rate cuts of 25 basis points each in the third and fourth quarters of fiscal year 2017, according to Asianomics.The firm's Deputy Chief Economist Sharmila Whelan said Panagariya was "quite a dove" but she added that he had an "impressive CV, from World Bank to Asian Development Bank to IMF." She maintained that the due to soaring vegetable prices in India, headline CPI inflation will remain high for next 2-3 months, and then eventually come down. However, she doesn't expect any rate hike in the US, but sees a possibility of more quantitative easing (QE).11:45 am Fund raising: Drug firm Wockhardt has sought shareholders' approval for raising up to Rs 1,200 crore through issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on private placement basis.

The company said it will utilise the money to re-pay or pre-pay term loan availed by it and for general corporate purposes.

In a notice for AGM, Wockhardt said: "Consent of the company... is hereby accorded to the Board of Directors... to offer, issue and allot secured/unsecured redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on a private placement basis in one or more series/tranches, up to an amount not exceeding Rs 1,200 crore."

11:30 am IPO details: L&T Infotech's Rs 1,243-crore IPO got oversubscribed 11.67 times on Wednesday, eliciting strong response with the number of applications crossing 1 million on the final day.

The IPO received bids for 14,29,46,840 shares against the total issue size of 1,22,50,000 shares, data available with the NSE till 1930 hrs showed.

Quota reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) was oversubscribed 19.90 times, while that of HNI 10.75 times, sources said.

The category reserved for retail investors was also oversubscribed 7.30 times.

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The market is still in red with the Sensex down 30.98 points at 27784.20. The Nifty is down 5.55 points  at 8513.95. About 1271 shares have advanced, 930 shares declined, and 111 shares are unchanged.

GAIL, Tata Motors, Maruti, Asian Paints and Bharti are top gainers while ONGC, M&M, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's and Cipla are major losers in the Sensex.

Crude prices rose to recoup some of their big losses from the previous session, but gains are likely to be limited by mounting concerns the global glut in oil is not going away soon after two major agencies issued bearish reports.

A bearish assessment on the oil market from the International Energy Agency (IEA) sent both benchmarks down more than 4 percent by the close of trading. The glut in the global oil market is persistent and is putting a lid on crude prices despite strong demand growth and steep declines in non-OPEC production, the IEA said.