Sensex, Nifty under pressure; ITC, TCS, Bajaj Auto gainers

Moneycontrol Bureau11:45 am Exclusive: RBI could be mulling a few tweaks to the S4A of Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets, says CNBC-TV18 quoting sources. Banks have requested the regulator to consider their plea for a more watered-down version of the scheme which splits a loan into sustainable and unsustainable parts. The sceheme is meant for restructuring huge loans where the project is up and running.  However, the lenders now say they want the S4A to be applicable for non-project loans as well. 

Banks say a lower provision requirement is needed for the unsustainable portion of debt.

11:30 am OFS: State-owned NBCC's share sale today garnered 1.54 times subscription from institutional buyers, who put in bids totalling more than Rs 2,700 crore.

The two-day share sale, wherein the government is offloading 15 percent of its equity, attracted bids for over 11.08 crore shares as against 7.20 crore offered to institutional investors on the first day, according to the stock exchange data.

Most of the bids came at Rs 246.73 per share, slightly higher than the floor or minimum bid price of Rs 246.50. At this price, subscription of over 11.08 crore shares totalled over Rs 2,700 crore.

The offer for sale (OFS) will open tomorrow for retail subscribers.

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The market is still under pressure with the Sensex is down 137.85 points or 0.5 percent at 27991.99. The Nifty is down 37.95 points or 0.4 percent at 8661.45. About 1137 shares have advanced, 1198 shares declined, and 185 shares are unchanged.

Dr Reddy's Labs, GAIL, Bajaj Auto, ITC and TCS are top gainers while Cipla, Axis Bank, Reliance, HDFC and ONGC are losers in the Sensex.

Oil prices were stable, weighed down by a stronger dollar but supported by signs fuel markets are balancing after two years of oversupply. The dollar rose to its highest level since March against a basket of other leading currencies on Thursday, potentially crimping demand as fuel becomes more expensive for countries using other currencies.

Despite the falls, overall sentiment in oil markets was confident as financial investors are still keen to pour more money into crude futures, and there are also mounting signs of a tightening physical oil market.