Mumbai, Sep 19: The Indian benchmark indices opened marginally lower on Friday, with IT stocks leading the losses in early trade.

As of 9.26 am, Sensex was down 241 points or 0.29 per cent at 82,772 and Nifty was down 63 points or 0.25 per cent at 25,360.

The US Federal Reserve resumed interest rates cut cycle by reducing rates by 25 basis points but the outlook on further easing in the months ahead failed to meet the investors’ dovish expectations, while markets awaited more cues into US policy path, according to analysts.

Nifty Midcap 100 inched up by 0.16 per cent, and the Nifty Small cap 100 lost 0.04 per cent.

Hero MotoCorp, Shriram Finance, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC, Tech Mahindra were among major gainers on Nifty, while losers were ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, Tata Consumer and Titan Company.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty IT, the top loser, lost 0.40 per cent. Nifty FMCG and Nifty Private bank also weighed down on the indices. Except Nifty Realty and PSU Bank all other sectoral indices were trading in the red or with marginal gains.

The Nifty50 held firmly above the 25,400 mark in the previous session, signalling investor confidence with upside momentum intact.

Analysts said that while buying interest is visible at lower levels, the 25,500–25,600 zone remains a stiff hurdle on the upside. On the downside, support is placed at 25,300–25,100 for any minor pullback.

“Market is on an uptrend and is well positioned to set new records soon. Fundamentals, technicals and sentiments are favourable for a steady uptrend. Earnings are likely to improve from Q3 onwards. Technically, short covering is happening and can accelerate,” said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

From the market sentiment perspective, a US-India trade deal without the penal tariff and a lower reciprocal tariff is likely, he added.

Major US indices made gains overnight as the Nasdaq added 0.94 per cent, the S&P 500 edged up 0.48 per cent and the Dow inched up 0.27 per cent.

Most of the Asian markets were trading in the green during the morning session. While China’s Shanghai index dipped 0.12 per cent, and Shenzhen advanced 0.23 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei edged up 0.77 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index moved up 0.12 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.46 per cent.

On Thursday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 366 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of equities worth Rs 3,326 crore.

Mumbai, Sep 19: Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) on Friday claimed that the Maharashtra government was a government of “braggers” and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his two deputies, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, have been engaged in boasting most of the time.

The trigger for the Thackeray camp’s outburst is the praise showered by the trio on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday, claiming how he has changed the lives of people in the country. It targeted Dy CM Shinde in particular for releasing a full-page advertisement on PM Modi’s Viksit Bharat 2047 goal.

The Shiv Sena(UBT) in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ editorial alleged that the claims made by CM Fadnavis and Dy CMs Shinde and Pawar about development during PM Modi’s tenure were an exaggeration. It alleged that the “once advanced, wealthy state like Maharashtra is now reeling under a public debt burden of a whopping Rs 9.50 lakh crore. In the last three months, the state government has taken a loan of Rs 24,000 crore, further increasing the debt burden”.

“Chief Minister Fadnavis announced that now we are going to make one crore woman Lakhpati Didis at a time when Maharashtra has gone into the abyss. Corruption and looting have reached their peak. The Chief Minister and the people of Dy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar-led parties have become millionaires and billionaires through the brokerage of contractors. Whether Maharashtra is drowning in debt or farmers have committed suicide due to debt and drought, it does not matter to people like Eknath Shinde,” said the editorial.

The Thackeray camp slammed Dy CM Shinde over his statement that the government is going to take development to the last person, saying that only if villages are developed, the development of the taluka, district, state and country will take place.

The editorial also took a swipe at Dy CM Shinde’s statement that he goes to his native village only to get rejuvenated by working in agriculture. However, the editorial said Dy CM Shinde’s views are contradictory to the ground-level situation, especially when the condition of farmers in Maharashtra is not good. The crops have been washed away due to floods and rain. Farmers have been pleading in front of the officials who came for the Panchnama. In these eight days, 17 farmers committed suicide and over 2,000 in a year. “Lakhs of farmers are in debt, and the smiles on their faces have faded. So, what kind of farm does Dy CM Shinde have and what grows in that farm that makes his face look younger after working in agriculture? So what is he doing to ensure that smile on his face will also be seen on the faces of lakhs of farmers in the state who are in distress?” asked the editorial.

Stepping up the attack on Dy CM Shinde, the editorial claimed that his claim of taking development to the last person is a joke when many villages in his home Thane district are still desperately waiting for the rays of development. “There are no roads, no schools, no health services. During the rain, children have to walk through mud and sometimes through the flooded river to go to school. Sick and pregnant women have to be taken to the taluka by ‘doli’ (a palanquin), but Dy CM Shinde is reaping the fruits of development.”

Thackeray camp said Dy CM Shinde goes to the fields in a helicopter when he is bored. “People like Dy CM Shinde may be looking evergreen, but there is no smile on the people’s faces. His fields should be opened for tourism. Let the people know what grows in his fields. Many millions of farmers get seeds from his lush farming,” it taunted.

Chennai, Sep 18: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday launched extensive searches in Chennai and Hyderabad in connection with a money laundering probe into an alleged Rs 200 crore bank fraud and benami property dealings linked to V. K. Sasikala, the confidante of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.

Officials confirmed that the searches covered at least ten locations across the two cities.

The premises, according to the source, are connected to a businessman who has been identified as an alleged benami of Sasikala. The raids were conducted under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The investigation stems from a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which had earlier filed an FIR over what it described as fraudulent banking transactions running into hundreds of crores.

Acting on this, the ED initiated its own money laundering probe to trace the flow of funds and identify properties suspected to have been acquired through illegal means or in the names of benami holders.

Sources said officials are seizing documents, financial records, property deeds and electronic evidence from the searched locations. These materials will be examined to establish links between the bank fraud and assets allegedly concealed through benami arrangements.

While the extent of seizures is not yet clear, officials indicated that the raids were aimed at unearthing the full scale of transactions connected to the case.

The action once again puts Sasikala back in the spotlight. A key player in Tamil Nadu politics for decades, she has previously faced allegations and legal battles over disproportionate assets.

The ED’s current move revives scrutiny into her financial networks, particularly through associates and business entities suspected to have acted as fronts.

Investigators are likely to expand the probe depending on the findings from the ongoing searches. If evidence of laundering or concealment is confirmed, assets may be provisionally attached under PMLA, and further charges could follow.

The raids have drawn political attention as well, with observers noting that the timing and the scale of the operation underscore the central agency’s renewed focus on high-profile economic offences in Tamil Nadu.