Escalating tensions in oil-rich Iraq took the wind out of the sails of Indian stocks and stalled the rupee's rise against the dollar on Friday.

Indian equities and the rupee, which have had a smooth run since a new government took charge at the Centre, posted their steepest single-day fall in about four months, after crude oil prices rose to nine-month highs, following Islamist militants seizing various cities in Iraq. Prices of Brent crude oil were trading at $113 a barrel.

L&T Shipbuilding has delivered its first export commercial vessel from the Kattupalli Shipyard near Chennai.

Halul 42 is the first in a series of six platform supply vessels (PSVs) to be delivered to Qatar-based Halul Offshore Services Company WLL (HOSC).

L&T Finance Holdings, through its subsidiary, has sold all its shares, worth Rs 183.4 crore, in City Union Bank (CUB).

CUB has its head office at Kumbakonam in east-central Tamil Nadu. L&T Vrindavan had 4.55 per cent stake in it, about 24.7 million shares. These were all sold, at Rs 74.25 a share.

It is quite a coincidence that Vishal Sikka took up the top job at Infosys. Sikka, a former executive board member at German software maker SAP AG, is said to have left the company over a power struggle with the management. Infosys, which had been battling succession planning issues for a couple of years now, has also seen high-voltage power struggles with several senior executives quitting the firm within a matter of months. Sikka’s appointment is expected to end such mass exodus in future.

Infosys’ 33rd annual general meeting (AGM) on Saturday seems the last with N R Narayana Murthy, founder of the Bangalore-based company, in the chair. This is also true for the rest of the co-founders, S Gopalakrishnan and S D Shibulal.

Vishal Sikka, chief executive officer (CEO)-designate at Infosys, could be the costliest boss of an Indian information technology services company.

Experts said Sikka would not only earn more than any of his predecessors at Infosys but also among CEOs of competing companies.

In a major boost to Gujarat which has been regularly facing water woes due to deficient rains, Chief Minister Anandiben Patel today announced that they have got approval to raise the height of Narmada dam to 138.72 metres (455 feet).

"The Narmada Control Authority (NCA) has given the approval to raise the height of the dam to 138 metres," Patel said in Junagadh while she was there to attend a function.

In the biggest industrial accident in recent years, at least six employees of Bhilai Steel Plant were killed and more than 30 others injured after a gas leak on Thursday night. The victims included two deputy general managers.

The incident occurred when repair work was being carried out in a section of the plant. Sources said a blast furnace reported leakage, and when officials and firefighters reached the spot, there was a blast in a nearby pipeline.

Enthused by robust response to OFS mechanism of selling shares by companies, market regulator Sebi plans to provide discount for retail investors in such share sales and allow a larger set of firms to tap this route.

Besides, Sebi is considering at least 10 per cent of the shares to be sold through the OFS mechanism to be revered for retail investors, while non-promoters may also be permitted to tap the route, officials said.

Equities bounced back and posted modest gains today after overnight fall on the NSE led by select blue-chips ahead of key economic data on a day when top level changes at IT giant Infosys dominated the market.

Firm buying in healthcare, FMCG, auto, financial and technology counters supported the recovery, but selling in index-heavyweights Infosys, which got its first outsider CEO in Vishal Sikka, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank capped gains.

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