Sensex, Nifty flat; aviation stocks fall despite ATF price cut

Moneycontrol Bureau11:45 am Cash shortage: Government has cut short the deadline of using old Rs 500 notes at petrol pumps and for buying airline tickets at airports till December 2 instead of December 15 announced earlier.

With effect from December 3, 2016, old Rs 500 notes cannot be used for purchase of petrol, diesel and gas at the stations operating under authorisation of public sector oil marketing companies and for buying airline tickets at airport counters, a government notification said.

While junking old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes on November 8, the government had allowed their use for utility bill payments for 72 hours.

11:30 am Sales data: Maruti Suzuki, the country's largest car manufacturer, beat analysts' expectations on November sales front due to strong performance in domestic business despite currency demonetisation. The company said on Thursday that it sold 1.35 lakh units in November, a growth of 12.2 percent compared with 1.2 lakh units sold in year-ago period. Sequential growth was 1.5 percent. Domestic sales increased 14.2 percent year-on-year to 1.26 lakh units in the month gone by while exports fell 9.8 percent to 9,225 units, the lowest sales since June 2016. Nomura had estimated flat sales at 1.21 lakh units and Motilal Oswal expected it to fall 5 percent at 1.15 lakh units due to currency demonetisation announced by the government on November 8.Don't miss: Surprise, surprise! Pharma stocks beat peers and here's how