Indian markets closed today for public holiday

The Nifty fell 2.69 per cent to end at 8,296.30, while the Sensex fell 2.54 per cent to 26,818.82 on November 11.

Indian stocks, bonds and currency markets will be closed on Monday for a holiday. Trading will resume on Tuesday.

The Nifty fell 2.69 per cent to end at 8,296.30, while the Sensex fell 2.54 per cent to 26,818.82 on Friday.

The rupee fell to 67.25/26 from its previous close of 66.6250/66.6350, while the benchmark 10-year bond yield rose 6 basis points to 6.72 per cent.

Tata Sons 'stooped low' in doubting neutral directors: Mistry

Ousted Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry has lashed out at those in control of the holding company for questioning the independent directors of group companies, several of whom have come in his support in the ongoing corporate battle at Bombay House.

"To question the independence of the directors by Tata Sons, is truly unfortunate given that the country acknowledges them as stalwarts of India Inc," Mistry said in his latest statement, issued late on Sunday.

He said to suggest that "ulterior objectives" and "clever strategy" can sway these eminent names in undertaking their fiduciary duties and in discharging their mandated duties was astonishing, and spoke of "how low" Tata Sons had "stooped" in their public statements.

Mistry specifically referred to some independent directors by name: Deepak Parekh, Gautam Banerjee, Ireena Vital, Keki Dadiseth and Nadir Godrej of Indian Hotels, as also Nasser Munjee, Nusli Wadia, Vibha Paul Rishi and Yashwant Thorat of Tata Chemicals.

"It is imperative to highlight that out of the above list of nine independent directors, six were appointed during Ratan Tata's tenure. Two of these directors also serve as Trustees on Tata Trusts," Mistry's statement said.

The statement came even as Tata Sons issued notices for shareholders' meeting in at least five companies last week -- Indian Hotels, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Chemicals and Tata Consultancy services -- seeking Mistry's removal from their boards.

Tata Sons had removed Mistry, 48, as chairman last month saying he had lost the confidence of the board due to several factors and that the trustees were increasingly concerned with the growing trust deficit.

Ratan Tata, who had made room for Mistry four years ago, was reinstated as the chair in an interim capacity. A search is on for a new chair.

Irdai questions Max India, HDFC Life merger

Insurance regulator Irdai on Saturday posed reservations on the present form of amalgamation of Max India and HDFC Life into a single entity.

The two companies, however, said they will clarify on the matter to the regulator.

The scheme of amalgamation proposes merging of insurance business in an agreement between Max Financial Services Ltd (MFSL), ts subsidiary Max Life Insurance Company Ltd (MLIC), HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Ltd (HDFC Life) and Max India.

HDFC Life and MLIC had filed an application seeking in-principle approval of Irdai for the proposed amalgamation scheme on September 21, 2016.

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"Irdai has expressed reservations to accept the scheme of amalgamation in its current form. MLIC and HDFC Life believe that the scheme of arrangement as submitted to the Irdai is in compliance with all applicable laws and propose to represent and clarify the matter to Irdai," they said in separate filings to the exchanges.

Irdai officials could not be contacted for comment on the matter.

In a complex and tier-structured demerger and merger plan, Max India will amalgamate Max Life Insurance with Max Financial Services.

Subsequently, the insurance business of the merged entity is to be demerged so that it can be transferred to HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company.

As per the proposed scheme, the remaining of the merged entity i.e., minus the insurance business, will be amalgamated with Max India.

Max Financial Services, promoted by $2 billion Max Group, is the holding company for Max Life.

Robin Hood tax on fliers to kick in on Dec 1

Fliers will have to shell out more for airfares with the government going in for a levy of up to Rs 8,500 per flight on major routes from December 1 to finance its regional connectivity scheme that aims to make air travel more affordable for the masses.

The levy will be a lump sum charge on the entire flight which will be shared among the total number of passengers. The increase in the price of each ticket will, therefore, depend on the number of passengers on a particular flight.

The UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme has been floated to connect small cities by air as well as make flying more affordable for the common man with airfares being capped at Rs 2,500 for one-hour flights.

Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey on Friday said the levy will be Rs 7,500 for flights up to 1,000 kilometre distance, Rs 8,000 for a 1,000-1,500 kilometre flight and Rs 8,500 for flights above 1,500 kilometre.

It will be applicable only on scheduled domestic flights operating on major routes and excludes regional flights, he said. To provide viability gap funding for the flights operated under UDAN, the ministry will charge the levy from airlines on every departure on major air routes such as the Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata. The government has created the Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF), of which 80 per cent will be financed by the Centre and the rest by respective states.

With the levy, the government estimates to have Rs 400 crore for RCF, Choubey said.

On top of it, another 20 per cent funding will come from state governments. "We are looking at roughly around Rs 500 crore per year available in the kitty," he said. Choubey was speaking at a stakeholders' conference and pre-bid meeting on implementation of UDAN.

The levy will push air fares slightly higher as airlines are expected to pass on the burden to flyers. However, Choubey said that even if the levy burden is passed on to the customers, the air fares will not go up significantly.

Stating that the levy will come into effect from December 1, 2016, Choubey said even if it is being passed on entirely by airlines without any quantum being absorbed by them the increase in airfares should not be more than, let's say, one per centof a ticket price.

"That is the ballpark figure.The average increase in fares will be one per cent and if the airlines decide to absorb a part of it, then the increase would be much less," Choubey added. However, airlines have already criticised the move for imposing the levy as it will make flying more expensive for their passengers.

Trump, Black Money crackdown impact: Gold price may shoot up to Rs 32,500 per 10 gm

Gold, which is considered as safe haven under uncertain circumstances, saw a surge in demand on Wednesday due to both global and domestic factors.

Gold, which is considered as safe haven under uncertain circumstances, saw a surge in demand on Wednesday due to both global and domestic factors.

Internationally, the major driver of gold prices was the victory of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the US. Apart from this, the surprise ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes by the government to clamp down on black money and fake currency led to a surge in domestic prices. 

Gold prices today shot up to a three-year high of Rs 31,750 per 10 gm, gaining a whopping Rs 900 following the government's scrapping high-denomination notes to curb black money.

Experts believe that gold prices are poised to move higher as uncertainties prevailing in the domestic as well as international market are unlikely to die down anytime soon. 

"Prices are poised to move higher towards the level of around Rs 31,200 per 10 gm initially with Rs 29,700 per 10 gm as a very strong support area. In coming days, we may see levels of around Rs 31,800 per gm and eventual breach of this level will pave way for higher level of Rs 32,500 per 10 gm," says Sugandha Sachdeva, AVP and incharge- metals, energy and currency research, Religare Securities.

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Kunal Shah, Head of Commodities Research at Nirmal Bang, says, "Investment demand in gold is likely to remain robust. Moreover, whatever has happened in India is causing surge in gold demand. Overall the trend in gold should remain bullish." 

However, the physical demand for gold has shot up overnight as people rushed to convert their black money into gold. Prices of physical gold have shot up to Rs 45,000 to Rs 60,000 per 10 gm due to tight supply in the physical market. As per sources, there was record buying of around 250 kg of gold in around three and half hours yesterday after the announcement. 

However, experts believe that ban on high denomination currencies will have short-term impact as there is a limit of Rs 2 lakh on how much a person can buy gold in cash without disclosing the PAN card number.

"There has been a risk aversion in the market and turmoil like situation because of the shock victory of Donald Trump. It ignited the safe haven demand for gold and prices rose to a five-week high," says Sachdeva. "Trump's victory is in favour of gold as there are a lot of uncertainties prevailing in the market about his policies. Uncertainties are good for the safe haven demand for gold."

Apart from this, experts are expecting that the US Fed may delay its rate hike decision, which will favour the support the gold prices.

Sachdeva says, "Trump may try to have more control over Fed as he may chalk out his own policies. It is expected that the rate hike which was expected to happen in December may be postponed. If the current run in gold prices continues and if the current high of the year $1,377.5 an ounce seen in July is breached , it would actually usher in an era of firm bull run in gold prices where in prices can even move to a level of $1,460 as well."

Experts say that investors should use these corrections as good buying opportunities for medium to long term prospective.

Sun Pharma stock rises most on BSE as Q2 net profit up 90%

The Sun Pharma stock rose the most in an otherwise falling market in early trade a day after the firm reported a 90.19 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 2,471 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2016.

The drugmaker posted a net profit of Rs 1,299.20 crore for the corresponding quarter last year.

At 10:24 am, the stock was trading 5.35 per cent higher at 702 level.

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The stock opened at Rs 691 and hit a high of 708 and low of 680.20 in early trade.

It closed 3.30 per cent higher at Rs 688.95 on the BSE. The company said its revenue for the quarter jumped 20.90 per cent year on year to Rs 8,265 crore from Rs 6,837 crore in the same quarter last year.

The earnings were announced after market hours on Thursday. Around 7.73 lakh shares changed hands on the BSE in yesterday's trade.

Sun Pharma was the top loser on November 4, 2016 as it closed 7.41 percent lower, its steepest fall since 21 December 2015 after a news report the US has begun a probe on possible cartelisation.

Mercedes-Benz's new launches gives it widest portfolio of convertible luxury cars

Expanding its portfolio of 'dream cars', Mercedes-Benz, the country's largest luxury car maker, today launched the S-Class Cabriolet and the C-Class Cabriolet at price tags of Rs 2.25 crore and Rs 60 lakh, respectively (all prices ex-showroom, Delhi).

The 'open to drive soft top cars' come with a host of personalisation options and helped Mercedes-Benz redefine the top end of motoring. To make every S-Class Cabriolet truly unique in India, Mercedes-Benz India offers more than 13,000 possible customisation combinations to ensure no two S-Cabriolets in India are similar.

Speaking with Business Today, Roland Folger, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India said, "We have seen strong tractions for these models with sales reaching three-digit figures in the Indian market, prompting us to bring new options for our discerning customers. We have taken the convertible market beyond the earlier SLC and SLK models to the regular cars with the new S and C-Class in four-seater options. In fact the C-Class Cabriolet is the first ever cabriolet to be made on the C-Class platform by Mercedes-Benz."

The C-Class Cabriolet is powered by a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbocharged engine that's capable of delivering 241 bhp and 370 Nm of torque and also comes mated to a 9-speed 9G-Tronic Transmission. It goes 0-100 kmph in a mere 6.4 seconds and achieves top speed of 250 km/h.

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On the other hand, the mightier S-Class Cabriolet Scintillating Performance comes with 0 -100 kmph in just 4.6 seconds, thanks to its V8 petrol engine that produces 455 hp or 700 Nm of torque.

Adding frenzy to the audio-video circuit, Mercedes-Benz has featured a Burmester Surround Sound System with high-performance speakers. Like the S-Class Cabriolet Burmester comes with 23 specially designed speakers, 24 amplifier channels and a total system output of 1,520 watts in every car.

"The introduction of these C & S-Class Cabriolets is an illustration of our 'top of pyramid' strategy of bringing in the best of our products from the global portfolio for our distinguished Indian customers," Folger added.

These new cars are part of Mercedes-Benz's 15 launches planned in 2015 and the Cabriolets are its 10th and 11th new product introductions this year. Mercedes-Benz had sold 9,924 units in the January-September 2016 period, a marginal decline over the same period last year (10,079 units).

Its sales were impacted by the Supreme Court enforced ban on 2,000-cc vehicles across the NCR market, which almost stopped sales of its cars and SUVs in this market.