Gravita India, Dilip Buildcon, Graphite India and ITDC gained up to 7 percent while Central Bank of India, IDBI Bank, SBI and PNB were mildly lower.

10:12 am Deal Break-up: Edelweiss Financial Services said its acquisition of Religare Enterprises Ltd’s securities business had been terminated for want of necessary approvals.

“Due to the seller’s inability to obtain the requisite clearances within the agreed timeline, the binding agreement has come to an end on March 15, 2018”, the company said in a statement.

Edelweiss Group’s wealth management unit had in December said it would acquire the securities business of Religare Enterprises for an undisclosed sum.

10:02 am Market Update: Benchmark indices extended losses amid political developments after the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) formally decided to quit the NDA government.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 187.17 points at 33,498.37 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 51.20 points to 10,309.

10:00 Politics: The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) formally decided to quit the NDA, days after two of its ministers quit the Narendra Modi government protesting for Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh.

The party will also move a no-confidence motion against the Modi government over the injustice meted out to the state, an official communique said.

Union ministers — P Ashok Gajapati Raju and Y S Chowdary — had quit on March 8 after a meeting with the prime minister over the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.

The TDP politburo unanimously took the decision during a tele-conference with party supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu this morning.

9:52 am Infosys Q4 Earnings: Infosys informed exchanges that a meeting of the board of directors will be held on April 12 & 13, 2018 to consider the audited consolidated financial statements of the company and its subsidiaries as per Indian Accounting Standards (INDAS) for the quarter and year ending March 31, 2018.

9:45 am Market Update: The market extended opening losses amid sluggish global cues and trade war concerns, weighed by oil, financials, technology stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 131.36 points at 33,554.18 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 34.90 points to 10,325.30.

About two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

Midcaps continued to outperform frontliners, with the Nifty Midcap index up 0.2 percent.

9:35 am Buzzing: State-run coal mining company Coal India shares lost as much as 6 percent after the stock adjusted for bonus share issue.

The board of directors of the company, on March 10, had approved payment of interim dividend for the financial year 2017-18 at Rs 16.50 per share of the face value of Rs 10 as recommended by the Audit Committee.

source: moneycontrol.com