Mumbai, Sep 9: Domestic equity benchmarks opened lower on Wednesday, down about 0.5 per cent each with information technology stocks leading losses as investors remained cautious amid higher crude oil prices and escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Nifty 50 opened more than 100 points lower at 23,522.05, while Sensex fell over 350 points to 75,216.22.

Sector-wise, Nifty IT fell 3 per cent which was the worst-performing sectoral index in early deals, while Infosys dropped 3.34 per cent, Tech Mahindra fell 2.73 per cent, HCL Technologies declined 2.60 per cent, Wipro lost 2.34 per cent and TCS fell 1.71 per cent.

Similarly, the Nifty MidSmall IT & Telecom fell about 2 per cent, while financial services, auto, private banks and oil & gas stocks were also trading lower.

Meanwhile, healthcare, consumer durables and metal stocks bucked the broader trend. Nifty Consumer Durables rose 0.38 per cent, Nifty Metal gained 0.39 per cent and Nifty Pharma advanced 0.27 per cent.

According to market experts, two strong headwinds were weighing on equities — Brent crude trading around $100 amid escalating US-Iran tensions and the booming IPO market drawing liquidity away from secondary-market stocks.

They noted that IPO listing gains which have risen to about 22 per cent since June are attracting retail and institutional investors even as Nifty’s year-to-date return remains negative. Foreign institutional investors have sold equities worth about Rs 2.84 lakh crore through exchanges so far this year while investing around Rs 36,000 crore in IPOs.

Experts cautioned investors against blindly subscribing to IPOs driven by fear of missing out saying that some issues could fall below their offer prices.

The 23,500-23,260-23,000 zone is in focus. Alternatively, consolidation near 23,500 or an early move above 23,650 could create conditions for short covering towards 23,860-23,900, as per analysts.

Additionally, Asian markets traded mixed with gains in semiconductor stocks supporting sentiment.

Moreover, crude oil prices rose for a fourth straight session after fresh Iranian attacks on US military assets escalated Gulf tensions.

Mumbai, Sep 8: Indian equity benchmarks opened lower on Tuesday weighed by elevated crude prices with selling in IT and auto shares amid concerns over a possible US Federal Reserve rate hike this month.

Nifty 50 opened 36.05 points or 0.15 per cent lower at 23,743.10, while Sensex fell over 150 points or 0.21 per cent to 75,970.28.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty IT and Nifty Auto were top losers and plunged up to around 1 per cent in early trade. Nifty Oil & Gas fell 0.48 per cent, followed Nifty Private Bank which declined 0.39 per cent. On the other hand, Nifty Metal rose 0.45 per cent.

The market is now in its fifth week of a slow but steady downtrend, market experts said, citing elevated crude prices, selling in IT stocks, Fed rate hike fears and liquidity being absorbed by a booming IPO market.

They said the weakness in largecap stocks despite improving fundamentals could create opportunities for investors while a possible reversion to the mean in midcap and smallcap stocks may facilitate a rally in fundamentally sound largecaps.

“Instead of trying to time the market, investors can think about changing the weightage of portfolios towards largecaps where the risk-reward is favourable,” according to them.

Technically, the Nifty is expected to find resistance at 23,860, while 23,720 is seen as an immediate downside marker. A break below that level could expose supports at 23,570 and 23,260, the analysts said.

In addition, Asian markets traded mixed in morning trade on Tuesday lacking a clear direction amid uneven regional economic data and renewed concerns over Iranian threats in the Persian Gulf.

Crude oil prices continued to climb as concerns over an extended Middle East conflict intensified after Iran warned of retaliatory action against any fresh US strikes on its assets, raising fears of potential supply disruptions.

Mumbai, Sep 7: In a major move to boost its long-term development plans, the Maharashtra government on Monday constituted a specialised tendering committee to oversee the creation and operationalisation of a dedicated State financial institution.

Registered as a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), this entity is designed to cater to the state’s massive estimated infrastructure credit requirement of Rs 25–35 lakh crore over the next decade under the ‘Viksit Maharashtra 2047’ blueprint.

According to a Government Resolution (GR) issued by the Finance Department, the newly formed multi-disciplinary committee will drive the selection process for an expert advisory agency.

The procurement will follow a two-stage evaluation process — starting with an Expression of Interest (EoI) for shortlisting followed by a Request for Proposal (RFP) for final selection.

The initiative targets standardising funding channels to support the state’s ambitious Rs 25–35 lakh crore infrastructure push over the coming ten years.

The Maharashtra government hopes the state economy to become $1 trillion by 2029-30 and $5 trillion by 2047.

The state government’s move to raise funds worth Rs 25 to 30 lakh crore needed to achieve ‘Viksit Maharashtra 2047’ vision through NBFC is important due to constraints in raising funds during the volatile market conditions.

“Of the credit need of Rs 25-30 lakh crore, Rs 10-12 lakh crore are proposed for Metro expansion (Mumbai Metropolitan Region at Pune in Nagpur), Coastal Road extensions, Shaktipeeth and Ring Expressways, Vadhavan Port connectivity, Rs 3.5-4.5 lakh crore for Solar/wind generation, pumped storage projects, grid modernisations, and 24×7 rural water supply grids, Rs 3-4 lakh crore for AI Innovation cities, semiconductor clusters, auto/EV manufacturing zones, and logistics parks, Rs 1 lakh crore for island tourism, coastal cruises, fort conservation, and luxury resort hubs and Rs 1.5 lakh crore for the upgradation of smart villages, micro-irrigation networks, and rural cold-chain logistics.”

Stage 1 involves pre-qualification via an EoI response, while Stage 2 will consist of technical presentations and financial bidding under an request for proposal (RFP).

A four-member high level committee has been formed to ensure transparency, neutrality, and statutory compliance under the Companies Act, 2013.

The committee comprises key officials from administrative, legal, and finance sectors to maintain rigorous oversight.

The committee will be chaired by Finance Department Secretary (Financial Reforms) as Chairman/Presiding officer for administrative alignment and financial restructuring approvals, representative of law and judiciary (minimum deputy secretary rank as member (Legal) to provide legal oversight for company incorporation, Memorandum of Association and Article of Association vetting, and Companies Act compliance, expert nominated from RBI Bank or leading public sector bank to bring in specialised domain expertise in banking and NBFC operations and the Finance Department Deputy Secretary as member secretary to manage documentation, official correspondence, and state e-tendering.

The committee has been tasked with clear responsibilities throughout the procurement lifecycle to review and approve pre qualification and eligibility criteria for the expression of interest, open and verify state e-portal EoI submissions, evaluating candidate “Approach Notes”, and conducting technical presentations, finalise a shortlist of advisory firms scoring 70 marks or higher to advance to the RFP phase and oversee RFP technical/financial evaluations, analyse commercial bids, and submit final recommendations to the state government for selecting a single advisory partner agency.