Indian equity benchmarks fluctuated in opening trade as RBI's monetary policy committee is schedule to meet today.
The S&P BSE Sensex fell as much as 0.27 percent to 39,974.71 and the NSE Nifty 50 fell nearly 0.50 percent to 11,961.45 as of 10:10 am.
The broader market index represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index fell around 0.54 percent. The market breadth was tilted in favour of sellers. About 561 stocks advanced and 1,038 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.
Seven out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE declined, led by the NSE Nifty PSU Index's 2 percent fall. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty FMCG Index was the top sectoral gainer, up 0.24 percent.
DHFL Falls To Over Five-Year Low
Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd.'s shares slumped as much as 18.3 percent to Rs 91.30 apiece on Thursday, its lowest since Dec. 2013, after CRISIL and ICRA downgraded the home financier's commercial papers to ‘D' (Default) owing to liquidity concerns.
CARE ratings also downgraded all borrowings of DHFL to ‘D' from ‘BBB-', according to a statement.
Eros International Slips On Downgrade
Shares of the entertainment company were locked in the lower circuit after it plummeted 20 percent to an all-time low of 53.15 apiece.
CARE Ratings downgraded the company's long-term and short-term bank facilities to ‘D', or default rating, citing delays and default in its debt-servicing ability.
The stock has fallen 60 percent in the last 12 months compared with the Sensex's 14 percent gain.
Trading volume was over 18 times the 30-day average for this time of the day, according to Bloomberg data.
GAIL Falls On Lower-Than-Expected Tariff Hike
Shares of the state-run gas distributor tumbled 9.7 percent intraday, the most in eight months, to Rs 323.40 per share.
The Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board approved an integrated tariff rate for two of the key pipelines managed by GAIL. While the new rate is 18 percent higher than the previous, it's nearly 58 percent lower than what the gas producer had asked.
Trading in the company's call options totalled 1,491 contracts, compared with the average of 1,011 over the past 20 days. Trading in the company's put options totalled 886 contracts, compared with the average of 359 over the same period.
Trading volume was 19 times the 30-day average for this time of the day, according to Bloomberg data.
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