Benchmark indices continue to maintain the dismal trend weighed down by HDFC Group shares, ITC and metal stocks.

At 11:45 AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 142 points at 26,426 and the 50-share Nifty was down 47 points at 7,898.

Growth in services activity picked up pace in September as order books filled up at a faster rate, a business survey showed on Tuesday.

Shares of information technology (IT) companies are continue at their upward march with frontline stocks such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and HCL Technologies have hit their respective record high on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

At 1105 hours, S&P BSE IT index, the largest gainer among sectoral indices, was up 0.65% compared to 0.48% decline in benchmark index S&P BSE Sensex. IT index touched a record high of 11,001 in intra-day trade today.

MUMBAI: Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, the country's largest utility vehicle maker, said on Tuesday its two-wheeler unit has made a binding offer to acquire a 51 per cent stake in PSA Peugeot Citroen's scooters business.

Mahindra Two Wheelers Ltd (MTWL), an unlisted subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd and part of the $16.5 billion Mahindra Group, has made a binding offer to acquire a 51% stake in Peugeot Motocycles (PMTC), part of the Euro 54 billion PSA Group based in France, M&M said in the filing.

NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has disclosed new details that show Prime Minister Narendra Modi's assets have come down by Rs 40 lakh since his last declaration in April. The PMO has also said that there are 64 government officials working as personal staff of the prime minister.

All members of the Council of Ministers, including Modi, have furnished their updated asset details which have now been uploaded on the PMO website. The details are similar to their affidavits filed in the recent elections, but Modi's assets have come down apparently because of the big donation he made to the cause of the girl child in May.

The global head of Vishal Sikka-led Infosys banking product business Finacle, Haragopal M has resigned from the company with a former executive of German software major SAP, Michael Reh taking over this role.

Haragopal, a 19-year-old veteran of Infosys who was a senior vice president is reportedly looking at the entrepreneurial route with plans to start a own venture. When contacted by FE, a spokesperson for Infosys said, “As a matter of policy we do not comment on the appointments or exits other than Members of the Board or Executive Officers.”

After a long weekend, the rupee strengthened by 22 paise to 61.39 against the dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on Tuesday on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.

Forex dealers said besides increased selling of the American currency by exporters and banks, the dollar's weakness against other currencies overseas also supported the rupee, but a lower opening in the domestic equity market limited the rise.

After cricketers Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, now the Indian cricket team’s captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has shown an interest in football. Dhoni on Monday became the co-owner of Chennaiyin FC, one of the eight franchise of Indian Super League (ISL). The team was originally bid by actor Abhishek Bachchan and Vita Dani, belonging to the Asian Paints family, who are the co-owners.

Dhoni played football and was a goalkeeper in his team before he started playing cricket. It may be noted that Dhoni heads the Chennai Super Kings, an IPL team that is owned by India Cements.

Maruti Suzuki on Monday launched its most audacious attempt at gatecrashing the mid-sized sedan party, with the Ciaz, priced Rs 6.99-9.80 lakh in India. With this model, the country’s largest carmaker hopes to shrug off its image as a manufacturer of small cars and compete with Honda’s City and Hyundai’s Verna, the leaders in a segment that sells 16,000 cars a month.

Developed at an investment of Rs 620 crore, the most on a car by Maruti Suzuki, the Ciaz will also be exported to West Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America. The car is being launched commercially within nine months of the concept being unveiled at the Auto Expo in February. The Ciaz comes strapped with Maruti Suzuki’s 91-bhp, 1.4-litre K-Series petrol and 89-bhp, 1.3-litre DDiS diesel engines. According to the company, the diesel version delivers a fuel efficiency of 26.2 kmpl and the petrol variant of 20.7 kmpl. Maruti Suzuki on Monday said the Ciaz offered 10-12 per cent more room than other mid-sized sedans.

Leading e-commerce player Flipkart on Monday claimed to have clocked sales worth $100 million in gross merchandise value (GMV) in only 10 hours of its so-called 'Big Billion Day' sale. That seems an eye-popping number, given that the company had achieved sales of $1 billion in annual GMV in 2013-14. Flipkart does not reveal its daily sales figures, but going by the annual GMV run rate, its average daily sales last financial year should have been about $2.7 million.

Even as some users slammed the sale on social media platforms as a marketing gimmick, the company said its website had received a record one billion clicks through the day.

Addressing a rally in Hisar, Haryana on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that his government is running with the support of the 1.25 billion strong population of the nation, and added he did not need the support of people in jail to administer. He was apparently making an indirect reference to former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, who has been in jail for his role in a teacher recruitment corruption scam.

The Prime Minister also congratulating all players from Haryana who had won medals and made India proud at the recent 17th Asian Games held in Incheon, South Korea.

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