Moneycontrol Bureau12:59 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices extended losses ahead of inauguration speech by Donald Trump as US President.The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 210.37 points at 27098.23 and the Nifty down 60.50 points at 8374.60. About 1445 shares declined against 988 advancing shares on the BSE.12:49 pm Interview: Orient Green Power's board has approved a plan to enter into exclusive discussions with IL&FS to explore a merger of their wind energy assets.
The combined entity will create one of India's largest listed wind energy company.
Speaking to CNBC-TV18, S Venkatachalam, MD of Orient Green said enterprise value of the deal is likely to be around Rs 7,000 crore.
He said the debt on the books of Orient stands at Rs 1,700 crore and for IL&FS Energy it is likely to be around Rs 3,000 crore, he said.12:35 pm Budget expectations: The government is likely to announce changes in the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) scheme, spreading its net wider and making it eligible for a larger number of people.
The changes include widening the eligible age limit to 50 years and raising the maximum monthly pension of up to Rs 10,000, a source in know of the matter told Moneycontrol.
The rules currently allow only people aged between 18 and 40 to subscribe to the scheme. It allows for a maximum monthly pension of Rs 5,000.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley is likely to announce these changes in Budget 2017.12:20 pm Buzzing: Shares of debt-ridden Ruchi Soya Industries surged 17 percent intraday on top of yesterday's 20 percent rally, especially after a media report indicated likely support from Baba Ramdev's Patanjali.
"Patanjali will start branding and marketing the edible oil produced by Ruchi Soya across its 13 facilities, which will ensure guaranteed sales to company as well as cut its distribution and marketing costs," a media report said quoting unnamed sources.
Ruchi Soya, one of the country's largest edible oil manufacturers with brands like Ruchi Gold and Mahakosh, owes almost Rs 10,000 crore to banks, the report added.
During the first six months of FY17, the company's profit fell sharply by 87 percent to Rs 27.78 crore and revenue dropped 14.3 percent to Rs 10,129.48 crore compared with year-ago period.
Also read - Buy, sell, hold: 3 crucial stocks that analysts are watching out12:00 pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks continued to consolidate ahead of inauguration speech of Donald Trump as US President later today and Union Budget (on February 1).
The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 87.77 points at 27220.83 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 21.95 points to 8413.15. The market breadth was also negative as about 1277 shares declined against 1060 advancing shares on the BSE.
Axis Bank, ICICI Prudential, Yes Bank, GAIL, Infosys and Motherson Sumi were most active shares on bourses.
Bharti Airtel gained 3 percent after a media report indicated likely fund raising by the company to build war chest, via private placement. Idea Cellular also rose 3 percent.
Axis Bank retained its top position in selling list, down more than 5 percent on dismal earnings performance in Q3 on higher provisions and non-performing assets, though slippages were lower than analysts' estimates. Yes Bank rose 2 percent after stellar quarterly earnings.
US oil climbed for a second day today underpinned by expectations of tighter supply, but prices remained in a range as they were pressured by rising US inventories. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were trading up 0.31 percent at USD 51.53 per barrel.
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