L&T Finance, Just Dial rally 5% on inclusion in F&O segment

Shares of  L&T Finance Holdings and  Just Dial rallied more than 5 percent in early trade on Wednesday on inclusion in futures and options segment of the National Stock Exchange. 

"The futures and options contracts on L&T Finance and Just Dial would be available for trading w.e.f. Thursday, March 13, 2014. The market lot of these securities shall be informed on March 12 through a separate circular," the NSE said in its release. 

At 09:32 hours IST, non-banking finance company L&T Finance Holdings was up 4.13 percent at Rs 84.50 while local search services provider Just Dial rose 5.32 percent to Rs 1,700. 

L&T Finance has been in focus as analysts believe it is the strong contender for getting banking licenses that are likely to be issued in current calendar year, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources.

Sun Pharma up 3%, arm gets USFDA nod for schizophrenia drug

Investors are lapping up shares of  Sun Pharmaceutical Industries on Wednesday as its subsidiary Caraco has received approval from US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Risperidone oral tablets. The stock rallied as much as 3.4 percent intraday. 

At 10:29 hours IST, the stock rose 3.14 percent to Rs 598.60 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. It rallied more than 40 percent in last one year. 

Risperidone oral tablet is used for the treatment of schizophrenia (a mental disorder). Meanwhile, the healthcare major on Monday had voluntarily recalled 2,528 bottles of its generic version of diabetes drug Glumetza from US-based Santarus Inc after it received a customer complaint.

Engineers India shares surge over 6% as board to mull interim dividend

Shares of Engineers India Ltd today soared over 6 per cent after the company scheduled a meeting of the Board of Directors on March 15, 2014, to consider declaration of interim dividend for the financial year ending March 31.

EIL's shares ended the day 6.36 per cent higher at Rs 177.35 on the BSE after earlier hitting an intra-day high of Rs 179.40, exhibiting a gain of 7.58 per cent. On the NSE, the stock surged 6.37 per cent to close at Rs 177.90.

In a post market announcement to the BSE yesterday, the company said, "The Board of Directors will meet on March 15, 2014, inter alia, to consider declaration of interim dividend on the equity shares for the financial year 2013-14."

In a separate announcement, Engineers India said the record date for interim dividend 2013-14 would be March 21, 2014, if Board declares the interim dividend.

Credit Suisse sees retail inflation falling to 8.2% in Feb

Leading foreign brokerage Credit Suisse has said it expects retail inflation to fall further to 8.2 percent in February from 8.8 percent in the previous month, but warned that core inflation may remain elevated. The government will release both the consumer price as well as wholesale price-based inflation data later this week.

 "We expect CPI inflation to moderate further to 8.2 percent in February from 8.8 percent in January, driven by a fall in food price inflation. However, the core inflation is expected to remain elevated," Credit Suisse chief economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde said in a note today. It can be noted that the Urjit Patel committee report of the Reserve Bank has set an 8 per cent retail inflation reading by January next year and 6 per cent in January 2016. 

Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan, who increased lending rates by 25 bps each in three of the past four reviews, has been citing core inflation as a major reason for the overall price index to remain high.