Mumbai - Shares of auto major Tata Motors slumped over six percent Friday after the company reported 25.5 percent drop in consolidated net profit for the December quarter.

The stock tanked 6.24 per cent to Rs 552.75 on the BSE.

On the NSE, it fell sharply by 6.27 per cent to Rs 552.20.

The scrip was the top loser among the frontline stocks on both Sensex and Nifty.

"Tata Motors' Q3 FY15 results were below our estimates due to higher losses in the standalone business and lower than expected margins at JLR," said Bharat Gianani, Senior Research Analyst - Automobile, Angel Broking.

Mumbai - Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium will host the final of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament next month while Kolkata and Bengaluru would conduct the two semi-finals, according to BCCI sources.

The national championship's summit clash is scheduled from March 8-12 while the semi-finals are to be held from February 27 to March 1.

Meanwhile, the BCCI has allotted the four quarter finals to Cuttack, Indore, Lahli and Jaipur, sources added. The quarter finals are slated from February 15 to 19.

The final group phase matches of the championship to spot the knock out qualifiers commenced today. PTI

Mumbai - Anushka Sharma's cricketer boyfriend Virat Kohli may have been the butt of jokes during the controversial comedy show 'AIB Roast' but the actress feels such humour should not be taken seriously.

"The way I look at it, I think it was in a good humour. Not meant to be taken very seriously. This is my opinion and someone else may have a different opinion about it and that is the beauty of a living in a democratic setup," she told reporters here.

The celebrity roast, the first of its kind in India which featured a panelist of AIB members with filmmaker Karan Johar taking over the role of 'roast master' to grill 'Gunday' stars Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor on their professional and personal lives, sparked a controversy for obscene language and content.

Mumbai: As Abhishek Bachchan turned 39 today, father and megastar Amitabh Bachchan recalled the 'joyous' moment when the 'Happy New Year' actor was born.

Bachchan, 72, who is a proud father of daughter Shweta and son Abhishek with wife Jaya, wrote on his blog how he celebrated the moment.

"The birthday has been brought in and Abhishek is another year older, 39 years... Strange but he was born just the other day... And the euphoria and the champagne opening at the Breach Candy Hospital, the traditional cigar smoked, general joy and celebration...

Mumbai: Country's largest lender by market value HDFC Bank on Thursday raised Rs 9,880 crore in the largest share sale in the secondary market by a private entity to overseas and domestic investors through a mix of qualified institutional placement and American depository shares.

Merchant bankers said the issue has been successfully closed and the final pricing is expected shortly.

According to merchant bankers who include Barclays, JM Financial, Citi, JP Morgan and BofA-ML among others, said the bank opened the QIP issue first and the ADR was launched a few hours later.

The bank has plans to raise Rs 2,400 crore from QIP and the rest from ADRs, but sources said the composition got changed after the sale began.

Mumbai - The benchmark BSE Sensex extended losses for the fifth straight day by falling over 58 points in early trade today on sustained selling by funds amid a mixed trend in other Asian markets.

The 30-share index, which has lost 798.66 points in the previous four sessions, fell further by 58.23 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 28,824.88.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange index Nifty declined by 18.65 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 8,705.05.

Profit-booking in stocks of oil & gas, realty, capital goods, consumer durables and healthcare sectors, negatively impacted the sentiments.

Besides, the depreciation in the rupee dampened local equities, experts said.

Mumbai: Encouraged by foreign exchange reserves touching record levels, the Reserve Bank on Tuesday doubled the annual overseas investment ceiling for individuals to USD 2,50,000.

"On a review of the external sector outlook and as a further exercise in macro-prudential management, it has been decided to enhance the limit under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) to USD 2,50,000 per person per year," the RBI said in its Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement.

Mumbai - At least 113 entities, including top corporates such as RIL, Aditya Birla Group, Airtel, Vodafone and Future Group, have approached the RBI to seek licences for setting up payment or small finance banks.

"72 applications for Small Finance Banks and 41 applications for Payments Banks were received up to the deadline for submission yesterday," RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said during a bi-monthly monetary policy review.

Indicating that the final tally may increase, he said "this number excludes applications that might have been received at other venues".

Mumbai: After two sessions of losses, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose over 130 points in early trade Tuesday on fresh spell of buying by participants ahead of RBI's monetary policy review.

The 30-share index, which had lost 559.50 points in the previous two sessions, recovered by 130.79 points, or 0.44 percent, to 29,253.06, with consumer durables, FMCG, oil & gas, auto and banking sector stocks leading the rise.

On similar lines, the National Stock Exchange index Nifty gained 26.00 points, or 0.30 percent, to 8,823.40 in early trade.

Mumbai: The rupee strengthened by 15 paise to 61.65 against the US dollar in early trade Tuesday at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on increased selling of the American currency by exporters ahead of RBI's policy review.

Dealers said increased selling of the dollar by exporters and a higher opening in the domestic equity market supported the rupee but the greenback's rise against some overseas currencies capped the gains.

The rupee had gained six paise to close at 61.80 against the American currency in yesterday's trade on fag-end selling pressure from banks and exporters due to a weak dollar in the overseas markets.

Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex fell by 136 points in early trade on Monday on sustained profit-booking by participants after recent gains amidst a weakening trend overseas.

The 30-share index fell by 136 points, or 0.47 percent, to 29,046.95 as banking, PSUs, metals, oil & gas and FMCG stocks witnessed tremendous sell-off.

The gauge had retreated from record-high and tumbled by 498.82 points in the previous session on Friday on heavy profit-booking.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange index Nifty dipped below the psychological 8,800-mark by falling 27.90 points, or 0.32 percent, to 8,781.00 in early trade.

Mumbai: The rupee weakened by nine paise to 61.95 against the dollar in early trade on Monday at the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to high demand for the US currency from importers.

Dealers attributed the domestic currency's fall to increased demand for the American currency from importers and a lower opening in the domestic equity market but the dollar's strength against other currencies overseas, limited the gains.

The rupee had ended steady at 61.86 against the American currency in the previous session on Friday due to mild selling of dollars by banks and exporters.

Mumbai: The country's largest lender, SBI has said that public sector banks should be given an opportunity to tap the best talent from premier institutes like IITs and IIMs.

"The public money goes into formation of the institutions like IITs and IIMs. From all of these good institutions, which nurture the best talents of the country, the public sector banks are barred from recruitment," SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said at a recent event.

She said currently the Supreme Court does not allow state-run banks to go for campus recruitment to these premier institutions as every vacancy has to be advertised so that everyone should be able to participate in it.

Mumbai: TV actor Gautam Gulati wants to cut his teeth in Bollywood post emerging victorious on the celebrity reality show 'Bigg Boss 8 - Halla Bol'.

Gautam, 27, beat other finalists Karishma Tanna, Pritam Singh, Ali Quli Mirza and Dimpy to become the winner of the four month-long season of the show.

The young star, who played the second fiddle on popular daily soap 'Diya Aur Baati Hum', has reportedly been offered a lot of film projects.

Asked about trying his luck in the silver screen, the actor said, "I will take a break first and spend time with my family. After that, I will focus on films."

New Delhi/Mumbai - The RBI may cut its policy rate further by 0.25 percent this week to boost growth, as inflation remains under control and fiscal situation appears better following a record CIL disinvestment.

RBI, which last month announced a surprise rate cut of 25 basis points after maintaining a hawkish monetary stance for 20 months, is scheduled to undertake its sixth bi-monthly monetary policy review, 2014-15 on Tuesday, February 3.

Mumbai - Actress Karishma Tanna says her much-talked about romance with actor and fellow contestant Upen Patel on reality show 'Bigg Boss' was not fake, contrary to what other contestants said.

Karishma earlier said on the show that she was committed to a businessman and would marry him once the show ends. The actress raised eyebrows when she showed affection towards Upen without formally ending her relationship with her boyfriend.

"My feelings for Upen were real. I am not a person to compromise on my priorities and family just for a show. I was true to him and to my feelings. I will never create a romantic angle to survive on a game show.

Mumbai : Tech Mahindra on Friday reported a 20.25 percent drop in its December quarter net at Rs 805.3 crore due to currency losses and wage hikes.

The IT services provider had posted a post-tax profit of Rs 1,009 crore in the year ago period.

Overall revenue grew to Rs 5,751.17 crore in the third quarter under review, up from Rs 4,898.5 crore in the year-ago period. The operating profit was also up at Rs 1,160 crore as against Rs 1,136 crore last year.

Mumbai: The rupee recovered by 12 paise to 61.74 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on fresh selling of the American currency by exporters.

Forex dealers said the dollar's weakness against other currencies overseas and a higher opening in the domestic equity market also supported the rupee.

The rupee had lost 45 paise against the dollar yesterday, its worst single-session drop in nearly seven weeks, to end at 61.86 on month-end dollar demand from importers and banks amid speculation that the

US Federal Reserve is considering raising interest rates later this year.

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex continued its record setting spree and hit a new peak of 29,844.16 and the NSE Nifty inched towards the 9,000-level in early trade on Friday on robust fund inflows and sustained optimism over the upcoming Budget.

The 30-share index rose by 162.39 points, or 0.54 per cent, to hit a new peak of 29,844.16 (intra-day), breaking its previous record of 29,786.32 touched on January 28.

In previous ten sessions, the Sensex had recorded a massive rise of over 2,346 points, or more than 8 per cent.

Stocks of realty, power, IT, capital goods, PSU and oil & gas sectors, led the rise.

Mumbai: The rupee fell by seven paise to 61.48 against the dollar in early trade on Thursday at the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to appreciation of the Greenback against other currencies overseas.

Dealers attributed the fall to the dollar's gains against other currencies overseas and month-end demand from importers for the US currency.

Besides, a lower opening in domestic equity market put pressure on the rupee.

Yesterday, the rupee closed unchanged against the US dollar at 61.41 ahead of the outcome of the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex was down by 152.74 points, or 0.51 per cent, at 29,406.44 in early trade today.--PTI