Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Tuesday weakened marginally against the US dollar as traders turned cautious ahead of the macroeconomic data due after 5.30pm on Tuesday.

At 2pm, the home currency was trading at 66.49, down 0.08% from its previous close of 66.43. The rupee opened at 66.40 and touched a high and a low of 66.39 and 66.56 respectively.

Shares of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel), the state-owned power equipment firm, continued to rise, though its flash results declared last week showed a pathetic performance. The Rs.877 crore net loss for fiscal year 2016 was not only the decade’s first, but was steeper than what the Street expected. Further, it comes after a net profit of Rs.1,419 crore posted a year ago.

Perhaps the stock’s momentum is on the back of the 43% jump in order inflows for the full year. This implies a 51% rise in quarterly inflows.

Nestle India shares surged over 4 per cent in the early trade on Tuesday after the company said that Maggi has cleared tests conducted by Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) under the directive of Supreme Court, reiterating that its instant noodles brand is safe for consumption.

At 9.26 am, shares of Nestle India were trading 3.87 per cent up at Rs 6,100. The scrip opened at Rs 6,039.80 and has touched a high and low of Rs 6180 and Rs 6,039.80, respectively, in trade so far. Sensex was trading 64.14 points up at 25,086.30.

Shares of Bharat Petroleum were up nearly 2% at Rs 935 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company said it has bought additional stake in Petronet CCK Ltd (PCL).

The company in a release said that the board of directors at its meeting held on April 11 has approved the proposal to acquire Petronet India Ltd's 26% equity in PCL at a total cost of Rs 78.60 crore.

Larsen & Toubro says it is not proceeding with the earlier plan for a Rs 2,000-crore Initial Public Offering (IPO) of shares in its L&T Infotech. The draft prospectus was withdrawn with effect from Monday.

When asked, Deepak Morada, vice-president of corporate brand management and communication, told this newspaper: “We have withdrawn the IPO because of market conditions. And, we want to relook at our pricing. The IT sector undergoes changes on a quarterly basis and it is only fair to investors, in any issue, that they take a call on the financial performance of the most recent quarter.”

The benchmark BSE Sensex rose over 57 points in early trade on buying by domestic investors and foreign funds ahead of IIP and inflation data scheduled to be released later in the day amid firm Asian cues.

Also, the NSE Nifty again crossed the 7,700—mark.

The 30—share index was 57.05 points or 0.23 per cent higher at 25,079.21 in early trade with sectoral indices led by consumer durables, oil&gas, healthcare, auto, realty and banking in the positive zone.

Tata Steel on Monday announced an agreement to sell its long products Europe business to investment firm Greybull Capital for a "nominal" consideration. The long products Europe business employs 4,800 people -- 4,400 in the UK and 400 in France.

"The sale for a nominal consideration, would be in exchange for Greybull Capital taking on the whole of the business, including assets and relevant liabilities, and securing an appropriate funding package," the company said in a statement.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Sunday that a move to negative rates by some of the world’s central banks would help deliver extra monetary stimulus and ease lending conditions.

Six of the world’s central banks have introduced negative rates, most notably the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank, and around a quarter of the world economy by output is now experiencing official rates that are less than zero.

DLF share price climbed over 3 per cent intraday on Monday after the realty firm initiated the process to sell promoters’ 40 per cent stake in its rental arm, a deal estimated at Rs 12,000-14,000 crore.

At 2.16 pm, shares of DLF were trading 1.82 per cent up at Rs 120.60. The scrip opened at Rs 119.30 and has touched a high and low of Rs 122.40 and Rs 119.30, respectively, in trade so far.

Idea Cellular has selected Nokia to provide the technology for its 4G LTE rollout in three of its key regional circles -- Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana, a company statement said here on Monday.

"With Nokia's Single RAN (radio access network) site solution, Idea Cellular will be able to optimize its investments and deliver a superior mobile broadband experience, with faster speeds and better smartphone performance for its subscribers," the statement said.

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