Indian markets are closed on Wednesday due to assembly elections in the western Maharashtra state.

The benchmark BSE index fell 0.13 percent, or 34.74 points, to end at 26,349.33 on Tuesday. The broader NSE index lost 0.26 percent, or 20.25 points, to end at 7,864.

Energy exploration major ONGC has cancelled its agreement with Great Eastern Energy Corp to divest 25% farm-in right to its Ranigunj coal-bed methane block in West Bengal.

Coal India Ltd (CIL), the other partner in the block, is believed to have prevailed upon ONGC to cancel the stake sale, arguing that it is a competent authority to develop and operate the block, sources said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged people, especially youngsters, to ensure record voting in Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly polls.

Urging the people of Haryana & Maharashtra to go out & cast their votes. Youngsters must show the way & ensure record turnout, PM tweeted.

Mergers and acquisitions deals in India have dropped 65 per cent sequentially to $4.7 billion in the quarter ending September, according to Mergermarket, a global M&A intelligence service provider. Deals in the quarter were 20 per cent lower than $5.9 billion in the year-ago period.

M&A deals in 2014, however, reached $21.7 billion, up 22.5 per cent from the same period last year. The July-September quarter, amid a rally on the stock markets, crippled the momentum that had built up in the first six months of the year. The BSE Sensex has gained 11 per cent since election results were announced in May.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi’s) order to bar property giant DLF and six of its top executives from market trading for three years could prove a big dampener for its business.

Experts say the market leader was already witnessing low sales in the residential segment compared to other developers. Sales were 25 per cent down in the April-June quarter at Rs 1,725 crore, against Rs 2,314 crore in the same quarter last year.

Bajaj Auto, India’s third-largest two-wheeler manufacturer, posted a 29 per cent year-on-year drop in net profit for the quarter ended September. The Pune-based company reported a net profit of Rs 591 crore, compared with Rs 837 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The fall in profit was primarily due to a penalty imposed by the Uttarakhand High Court over non-payment of duties. Bajaj Auto said following the judgment, it was liable to pay Rs 340 crore as a one-time penalty and interest.

In what could spell more trouble for DLF, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is planning to write to other regulatory bodies about the lapses at the real estate firm.

According to sources familiar with the development, Sebi has decided to make references to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and the Department of Revenue, citing violations of the Acts these bodies govern. The market regulator came across these violations while investigating the DLF case between December 2012 and May 2013.

Fights broke out between groups of people trying to grab bags of vegetables, water pouches and rice packets on Tuesday morning near the Vizag district collectorate as relief arrived. People from Kotha Jalaripeta, Relliveedi and nearby areas are without power, water and food since Saturday evening.As water tankers, trucks carrying sambhar rice and vegetable biryani packets arrived, there was a mad scramble to grab them. Men, women and children fought to take their share as those who could, carted away a major share. In the absence of proper coordination and police to help distribute properly, fights broke out.

Reliance Industries is trading higher by nearly 2% at Rs 973 on BSE in early morning deals after it reported a better-than-expected consolidated net profit at Rs 5,972 crore for the quarter ended September 2014 (Q2) on back of improved gross refining margins (GRMs) and lower input costs. The company had registered a profit of Rs 5,873 crore during the same quarter last fiscal.

However, consolidated net sales declined 4.3% to Rs 113,396 crore from Rs 118,439 crore for the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal.

Markets continued to trade flat with negativc bias weighed down by profit taking in IT majors after recent gains post upbeat earnings from Infosys and index heavyweight ITC.

At 10:30AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 42 points at 26,342 and the 50-share Nifty was down 17 points at 7,868.

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