Mumbai: The BSE benchmark Sensex rose over 100 points to 35,257.88 and the NSE Nifty regained 10,600-mark on Thursday backed by gains in auto, pharma, energy and financial stocks amid fresh foreign fund inflows and easing global crude prices.

The appreciating rupee and mixed leads from other Asian markets too influenced sentiment.

Shares of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd lost 2.3% on the National Stock Exchange after it reported weaker-than-expected numbers for the September quarter (Q2) on Wednesday. Revenue growth was a tepid 6.6%, reflecting muted volumes. But what caught the Street off guard is a sizeable reduction in profitability of the automobile segment.

Margins from automobiles dropped 2.7 percentage points from a year ago. The rise in raw material costs, introductory pricing for the new vehicle and higher promotional expenses were the reasons.

Amid concerns over Cyclone Gaja spoiling the launch of the country’s heaviest satellite to be carried on board an indigenous rocket from Indian soil, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) pulled off the feat to perfection on Wednesday.

Private sector lender ICICI Bank has increased its fixed deposit rates by 10-25 basis points (bps) for various maturities. For the 1 year-up to 389 day period, the new rate will be 6.9%, up 15 bps, while for 390 days-to-two years, the rate is 7.1%. For over 2 years up to 3 years, the bank will offer 7.5% to the depositor. Deposit rates have also been raised by 25 bps for some shorter tenures.

In order to capitalise on the huge growth opportunity and to give greater focus, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited (AHEL) on Wednesday announced the restructuring of its pharmacy business. The board, which met to announce the audited results, has approved the segregation of the front-end retail pharmacy business carried out in the standalone pharmacy segment into a separate company called Apollo Pharmacies Limited (APL).

Vodafone Idea on Wednesday posted a massive consolidated net loss of Rs 4,974 crore for the July-September quarter, underlining once again the financial stress the telecom operators are undergoing due to below-cost tariff which is leading to customers migrating to lower average realisation per user (Arpu) offerings.

It won’t be a cakewalk for the telecom regulatory authority of India (Trai) which will soon address a long pending issue between the industry and over the top (OTT) players including WhatsApp, Skype, Google Duo among others.

The bone of contention is whether any regulatory imbalance exists between the two segments. While some say OTT industry should be regulated, others think that there needs to be a light touch regulation considering the fact that telecom networks are capital intensive.

Two members of the board of directors at YES Bank have resigned with immediate effect — Ashok Chawla, its non-executive chairman, and Vasant Gujarati.

The bank, fourth largest among private lenders, has appointed Uttam Prakash Agarwal, a chartered accountant, as an independent director in place of Gujarati. The appointment will have to be confirmed at the next shareholder meeting.

KOLKATA: Ten out of 24 thermal power stations of India’s largest power generation company, NTPC, are stranded with zero fuel inventory or stocks that won’t last a day.

This has hit generation and revenue as the state-run firm is unable to cater to higher demand, company executives said.

Thousands of firefighters battled blazes in northern and southern California on Tuesday as body recovery teams searched the remains of houses and charred cars for victims of the deadliest wildfire in the history of the US state.

At least 50 deaths have been reported statewide so far from the late-season wildfires, and with hundreds of people unaccounted for, the toll is likely to rise.

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