Markets opened flat but slipped into negative territory weighed down by profit taking in IT majors and index heavyweight ITC.

At 9:35AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 52 points at 28,392 and the 50-share Nifty was down 13 points at 8,512.

Despite a 35 per cent rally in the equity market, India Inc has managed to raise only less than Rs 900 crore, lowest in more than a decade, through four initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2014. This was the main topic of discussion at the Primary Market Advisory Committee (PMAC), a Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) expert panel, meeting held on December 1, sources said.

At the meeting, the capital market regulator sought feedback from industry players on why there are few companies coming forward with IPO plans, despite encouraging investor appetite.

Uncertainty looms over the fate of Tata Consultancy Services’ (TCS) $2.2-billion contract with UK-based Friends Life Group with Aviva, the UK’s second-largest insurer, saying it is buying out Friends Life in a $8.8-billion deal.

TCS, India’s largest information technology (IT) service provider, had bagged the contract in 2011 for a period of 15 years through its UK-based business process outsourcing unit Diligenta.

Markets opened flat on Wednesday with Tata Motors leading the gains in early trades along with select index heavyweights.

At 9:19AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 6 points at 28,450 and the 50-share Nifty was up 4 points at 8,529.

HSBC India Services PMI for November 2014 is due on Wednesday. Adjusted for seasonal factors, the headline HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index fell to 50 in October, from 51.6 in September.

Bajaj Auto today reported 6% decline in motorcycle sales at 2,61,94 units in November 2014.

The company had sold 2,78,703 units in the corresponding month of previous year, Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) said in a statement.

BAL said exports were up 23.93% during the month at 1,65,733 units as compared to 1,33,731 units in November 2013.

Infosys is trading lower by 1.5% at Rs 2,143 in early morning deals on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after turning ex-bonus today.

The stock opened at Rs 2,165 and hit a low of Rs 2,139 on NSE. A combined 188,234 shares have changed hands on the counter till 0916 hours on BSE and NSE.

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the counsel of N Srinivasan to prove there was no conflict of interest among his roles in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK). “Show us there was no conflict of interest, from the facts before the Mukul Mudgal committee report,” the judges said.

As the court hearing in the IPL spot-fixing case resumed on Monday, Srinivasan’s counsel Kapil Sibal had a tough time proving he had no role in the scam. He submitted before a Bench presided over by judge T S Thakur that Srinivasan acted immediately when the media reported his son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan, was involved in spot fixing.

Tata Manza, the only mid-size sedan sold by Tata Motors, is struggling to keep up with the competition, fueling possibilities of a potential withdrawal from the market.

Just 776 Manzas were sold by the Mumbai-based company in first six months of this year, marking a fall of 26% when compared to the same period last year of 1,054 units. This makes an average monthly volume of 130 units.

Using human shields, Maoists today unleashed a major attack killing 14 CRPF personnel, including two officers, and injuring 12 others in the second ambush on the force in 10 days in the same area in Naxal-infested Sukma district of Chhattisgarh.

The Maoist strike on the CRPF when its personnel were returning to their camp was the biggest attack on the paramilitary force in Chattisgarh this year. On March 11, eleven CRPF men were among 15 people killed in a Maoist attack in Sukma district.

The flow of price-sensitive information between a company and research analysts could tantamount to insider trading under new regulations approved by the markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). This is the first time contents of research reports published by brokerage houses could be checked for violation of insider trading norms.

The move is aimed at cracking down on market participants' non-discriminatory access to price-sensitive information. Last month, Sebi had approved new regulations on insider trading, recommended by a panel headed by N K Sodhi, former chief justice of the Karnataka High Court.

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