Nifty ends flat on Dec expiry; Bajaj Auto falls 2%, Axis up

3:55 pm Big Gains: Investors were excited about Manappuram Finance as the company is planning to foray into home finance segment. The stock jumped 7 percent in intraday trade. According to CNBC-TV18, the gold loan company is aiming to foray into home finance business in six months. It has already appointed merchant bankers to buy home finance operations, the company said. ''We are looking for into affordable housing segment. We are looking to get into that segment at the earliest. This diversification will help us in the medium to long term,'' says the management of the company in an interview to CNBC-TV18. Manappuram Finance will start secured lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in six months. Lanco Infratech rallied 16 percent in intraday trade. The company proposed to sell assets worth Rs 7,612 crore as a part of debt reduction programme, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources. It is learnt that the company is looking to sell three power projects for Rs 6,350 crore and road projects worth Rs 668 crore. It is also looking to sell one solar project, one real estate project, sources say. All sales will take place between 2016 and 2020.

3:45 pm Market closing: After a muted trade, the market ended December F&O series expiry on a positive note. The Sensex closed up  41.88 points at 21074.59, and the Nifty was at 6278.9, up 10.50 points. About 1624 shares have advanced, 894 shares declined, and 129 shares are unchanged. Tata Power closed the day with a 4 percent gain, while ONGC, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel and Wipro are other gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Bajaj Suto, Hero Motocorp, Dr Reddy's Labs, Reliance and M&M.

3:30 pm Crude update: Brent crude steadied below USD 112 a barrel on Thursday, holding near a three-week high touched earlier in the session, as civil unrest in Africa reduced supply, reports Reuters. The closure of key ports in eastern Libya has slashed output from the OPEC producer to 110,000 barrels per day (bpd) from more than one million in July, while the South Sudan government has shut 45,000 bpd of its production as a civil war raged on. Brent was unchanged at USD 111.90 a barrel byafter touching an intraday high of USD 112.12, the highest since December 5. US crude climbed 14 cents to USD 99.36, inching closer to a psychological resistance of USD 100. Both markets were shut for Christmas on Wednesday.

3:20 pm Big sale: Air India can now go ahead with the sale of its five long-haul Boeing 777 aircraft to Etihad Airways, with the government giving its nod to the deal today, reports PTI. The proposal for the sale of these wide-body planes, part of the national carrier's turnaround plan, was cleared at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, official sources said. Air India had earlier this month finalised the deal with the Abu Dhabi-based carrier,  which has also picked up 24 per cent stake in Jet AirwaysBSE 1.22 % worth over Rs 2,000 crore.

The market makes slim gains and has slipped into red just before ending December expiry series, though the Nifty has managed to trade above 6250 through the day. The Sensex is down 6.11 points at 21026.60, and the Nifty is down 4.10 points at 6264.30. About 1547 shares have advanced, 869 shares declined, and 147 shares are unchanged. The Bank Nifty outperforms. Bajaj Auto, Hero Motocorp, Dr Reddy's Labs, Reliance and Hindalco are top losers in the Sensex.

Among the gainers are Tata Power, ONGC, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel and BHEL. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved hike in Axis Bank FDI limit from 49 percent to 62 percent. This will allow more FII participation in the stock.  CCEA also extended coal supply to thermal power plants by three years. Axis Bank is up 1 percent. The Government today approved modalities for the beleaguered sugar industry to avail interest-free loans to the tune of Rs 6,600 crore from banks for effecting timely payment to cane growers.   The rupee trades marginally lower while gilts are mostly ranged ahead of the Rs 15000 crore auction tomorrow.

02:59pm Market Expert Sanjay Dutt, director, Quantum Securities believes the Indian economy has bottomed out and despite all the pessimism around the general elections, the market will rally in the new year 2014. Speaking to CNBC-TV18 on his expectations from the Indian equity market, Dutt says the Indian economy has, in Raghuram Rajan, a very good banking leadership and hence one should not write-off the public sector banks just yet. He believes the PSU banks are likely to give good returns in the next two years. "We have an excellent RBI governor in position who has modern ideas and would definitely come out with new concepts, new steps to sort out issues related to banks non-performing assets (NPAs)," he explains. Dutt further adds that the next fiscal year is likely to be based on the theme of foreign direct investments, strategic deals and public sector banking.

02:52pm Gainers and Losers Tata Power and ONGC are top gainers, rising 2-3 percent followed by HDFC Bank , Axis Bank , Sun Pharma , Bharti Airtel , BHEL and NTPC with a 1 percent upmove. However, Reliance Industries , Bajaj Auto and Hero Motocorp fell 1 percent each.

02:42pm Prestige Estates talks to CNBC-TV18 Despite a general slowdown across real estate market,  Prestige Estates has seen a strong second quarter and a successful first half. According to a Firstcall Research report, Prestige Estates Projects achieved a turnover of Rs 475.3 crore for the second quarter of the current year (2013-14) as against Rs 241.4 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. CMD Irfan Razack, says the company is trying to keep its dependence on debt very low and has been able to bring down the borrowing costs by 1 percent  this fiscal. He said acquiring land projects is an ongoing business plan for the company. Prestige Estates recently has launched its ambitious project Lake Side Habitat and the pre-launch sales had been very encouraging, said Razack on CNBC-TV18.   Citi rates Prestige as buy with a target of Rs 170 on the back of a strong execution track record. "The company has impressive growth plans in varied real estate segments, with a focus on residential and commercial. It has attractive geographic exposure to Bangalore and several South India cities, which have been more resilient as seen in the last downturn. Prestige has a growing rental annuity portfolio," it said.

02:32pm Lanco Infratech on buyers' radar post CDR details Lanco Infratech proposed to sell assets worth Rs 7,612 crore as a part of corporate debt restructuring, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources. It is learnt that the company is looking to sell three power projects for Rs 6,350 crore and road  projects worth Rs 668 crore. It is also looking to sell one solar project, one real estate project, sources say. All sales will take place between 2016-2020. Lanco Infratech is trading at Rs 7.60, up 10.95 percent on the BSE.

02:22pm Manappuram Finance on fire Shares of Manappuram Finance gained 6 percent as the company is planning to foray into home finance segment. According to CNBC-TV18, the gold loan company is aiming to foray into home finance business in six months. It has already appointed merchant bankers to buy home finance operations, the company said. ''We are looking for into affordable housing segment. We are looking to get into that segment at the earliest. This diversification will help us in the medium to long term,'' says the management of the company in an interview to CNBC-TV18. Manappuram Finance will start secured lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in six months.

02:12pm Andhra Bank talks to CNBC-TV18 The quantum of non-performing loans (NPLs) at Andhra Bank is likely to stay above 5 percent for the rest of the financial year, CVR Rajendran, CMD, Andhra Bank, told CNBC-TV18. Rajendran added that he expected the bank's earnings to improve by the second quarter next fiscal, during which time the bank may look to raise additional capital through a qualified institutional placement.

02:02pm The market remained marginally higher with the Nifty hovering around the 6280 level ahead of December series expiry today. Nitin Jain, head - capital markets, Edelweiss Securities sees the December series expiring around 6,275-6,325. The Sensex rose 22.82 points to 21,055.53, and the Nifty advanced 8.55 points to 6,276.95. Two shares advanced for every share declining on the BSE. Jain says the midcaps are likely to outperform largecaps in near-term since there are huge valuations on midcaps which is expected to converge going ahead. BSE Midcap Index gained 0.7 percent and Smallcap rose 1.4 percent. Shares of  Amtek India and  Amtek Auto rallied 12 percent and 10 percent, respectively as Amtek India has entered into an agreement to acquire substantial business interests in Kuepper group of Germany, through its 100 percent subsidiaries. Reports suggest that deal value is 200 million euros (around Rs 1680 crore).  The deal may provide Amtek access to high-tech German machining technology and new product customers from Europe. It is likely to bring synergy with Amtek's core expertise in casting and forging operations and strengthens its market position.

2:00 Market outlook: Sanjay Dutt, director, Quantum Securities believes the Indian economy has bottomed out and despite all the pessimism around the general elections, the market will rally in the new year 2014. Speaking to CNBC-TV18 on his expectations from the Indian equity market, Dutt says the Indian economy has, in Raghuram Rajan, a very good baking leadership and hence one should not write-off the public sector banks just yet. He believes the PSU banks are likely to give good returns in the next two years. "We have an excellent RBI governor in position who has modern ideas and would definitely come out with new concepts, new steps to sort out issues related to banks non-performing assets (NPAs)," he explains. Dutt further adds that the next fiscal year is likely to be based on the theme of foreign direct investments, strategic deals and public sector banking.

1:50 pm Stock in news: Investors are excited about Manappuram Finance as the company is planning to foray into home finance segment. The stock jumped 7 percent in intraday trade on Thursday. According to CNBC-TV18, the gold loan company is aiming to foray into home finance business in six months. It has already appointed merchant bankers to buy home finance operations, the company said. ''We are looking for into affordable housing segment. We are looking to get into that segment at the earliest. This diversification will help us in the medium to long term,'' says the management of the company in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

1:40 pm Interview: Cement prices have fallen 3-7 percent month-on-month (M-o-M) across regions in December. Industry participants attribute this to weak demand trend and most now expect a meaningful pick-up only after elections, as infra activity picks up, said a CLSA report. However, H M Bangur, MD, Shree Cement , expects revival in demand soon becasue the base in the past three-five years had been very low as there had not been any significant rise in the cement prices over three-four years. The company's current capacity is at 13.5 mt, which it expects to double up to 26 mt in the next three-four years.The company expects to end Q3 with same margins as Q2.

1:30 pm Buzzing: Shares of state-run oil marketing companies gain after a media report said the petroleum ministry was planning to propose a hike of 5 rupees in diesel prices. The ministry is considering the diesel price hike along with a proposal for a new subsidy sharing mechanism, a media report said. Shares of Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd are trading 2-3 percent higher.

The market is flat on the expiry day of December series. The Sensex is up 20.43 points at 21053.14, and the Nifty is up 10.80 points at 6279.20. About 1580 shares have advanced, 757 shares declined, and 126 shares are unchanged. Broader markets outperform benchmark indices. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up by nearly 1 percent each. Sun Pharma gains as Taro begins its share buyback offer. Agencies report that the company has got US FDA nod for Sanofi's nasal spray generic. Among the other gainers in the Sensex are Tata Power, ONGC, NTPC and Tata Steel. Bajaj  Auto, Hero Motocorp, Reliance, Dr Reddy's Labs and Tata Motors are losers in the Sensex. CCEA has approved changes in mega power policy along with changes in tapering coal linkage policy. Additionally, CCEA has okayed three-year extension of coal supply to thermal power plants.

12:59pm Market Expert Ambareesh Baliga, managing partner-Global Wealth Management at Edelweiss Financial Services believes that the market is now shifting its focus towards midcaps and smallcaps. According to him, the Nifty hover around 6,800-7,000 levels by April-May, but until then, the market will be slow moving with the smallcaps and midcaps 'flying'.

12:50pm Manappuram Finance in focus Gold loan financing company Manappuram Finance says it is eyeing home finance foray in six months. "We will start secured lending to small medium enterprises (SMEs) in six months. We appointed merchant bankers to buy home finance operations," it adds. Manappuram Finance is trading at Rs 16, up 6.31 percent over previous close.

12:40pm Emkay downgrades Persistent Systems Emkay Global downgraded Persistent Systems to reduce from cut with a revised target price of Rs 870 (based on 10 times FY16 expected EPS) given expensive valuations at around 13.4x/11.5x FY15/16 P/E on aggressive growth assumptions. "Linear IP business growth remains tardy; company intends to focus on "enterprises" beyond tech product companies. Platform and IP business is on a healthy wicket. Valuations are at the upper end of other mid tier peers (on aggressive growth assumptions) and on par with Tier I names like HCL Technologies ," Emkay report said. Persistent Systems is trading at Rs 982, down 1.56 percent compared to previous close.

12:30pm Shree Cements talks to CNBC-TV18 Cement prices have fallen 3-7 percent month-on-month (M-o-M) across regions in December. Industry participants attribute this to weak demand trend and most now expect a meaningful pick-up only after elections, as infra activity picks up, said a CLSA report. However, H M Bangur, MD, Shree Cement, expects revival in demand soon becasue the base in the past three-five years had been very low as there had not been any significant rise in the cement prices over three-four years. The company's current capacity is at 13.5 mt, which it expects to double up to 26 mt in the next three-four years.The company expects to end Q3 with same margins as Q2. The CLSA report said the dealers expect cement price stabilisation by January 14, driven by seasonality. However, based on the pricing weakness, it has cut the earnings estimates for majors like ACC, Ambuja and UltraTech. It has downgraded Shree Cements to outperformer from buy.

12:20pm Midcaps and Smallcaps Gitanjali Gems topped the buying list among midcaps, rising 13.05 percent. Amtek India and Amtek Auto surged 11-13 percent after former decided to buy Germany-based Kuepper group. WABCO India climbed 11 percent and Balkrishna Industries spiked 8.79 percent. In the smallcap space, Opto Circuits soared 20 percent followed by Indoco Remedies , Accelya Kale, Atlanta and AGC Networks with a 10-11 percent upmove.

12:10pm Movers and Shakers PSU oil and gas stocks like BPCL and ONGC gained 2-3 percent while petrochemical major Reliance Industries declined 1 percent. Tata Power , Sun Pharma , Bharti Airtel and NTPC climbed 1 percent each. Infosys , ITC , HDFC Bank , HUL and TCS are other gainers in the Sensex. However, Hero Motocorp fell 1.5 percent followed by Bajaj Auto with a 1 percent loss. ICICI Bank and HDFC are also under pressure.

12:00pm Equity benchmarks remained rangebound with a positive bias, but the broader markets are strong with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gaining 1 percent each. The Sensex advanced 43.37 points to 21,076.08, and the Nifty rose 15.90 points to 6,284.30. About 1404 shares have advanced, 636 shares declined, and 127 shares are unchanged. December derivative contracts will expire today. The Nifty is likely to continue its upside momentum and the December series, which expires today, will end around 6,280 or 6,300 levels, Hemant Thukral of Aditya Birla Money said. ''I don't see Nifty expiring below 6,240. For the day 6,320 would act as a small resistance,'' he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview. Thukral is bullish on the January series as well and recommends buying the index on dips. Stop loss for long positions for January series should be kept at 6,180, he said. ''The 6,200 Put has been accumulating quite a bit of open interest on the upside. Support will remain at 6,150 and the target of Nifty is 6,450-6,500 on the upside,'' he added. Those holding long positions should rollover Nifty stocks and index to the next series, he said.

11:40 am Buzzing: Shares of Allahabad Bank rallied 3 percent intraday trade on Thursday. The bank has got the shareholders' approval for a preferential issue of Rs 400 crore and a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) of Rs 320 crore for shoring up the equity base of the lender. ''At an extra-ordinary general meeting of the bank, the shareholders approved the preferential issue of Rs 400 crore to government against capital infusion and shareholders to access the market for issue of equity shares through Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) aggregating up to Rs 320 crore in such a manner that government's holding will continue to be at 55.24 per cent of the total paid-up capital,'' it said.

11:30 am Trading tips: Midcap stocks are likely to see more action than large caps stocks going ahead, believes Taher Badshah, Senior VP and Fund Manager Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company . Midcap stocks witnessed a stellar performance against blue-chips last year, but this year the segment failed to maintain its sheen primarily due to low participation from investors. Cherry picking stocks from this space, Badshah recommended betting on Bata India , Page Industries , Cummins India and Voltas . From the midcap IT space, Tech Mahindra is the fund house's top pick and has exposure in the stock. He further added that recent top level exits will not impact IT giant Infosys' upward move and the underlying growth momentum for the company is likely to continue. Continuing his bullish tone, he said oil and gas stocks are in for a huge upside.

11:20 am Macro economy: Poor performance of the economy during 2013 derailed Planning Commission's ambitious growth target of 8 per cent for the 12th Plan, which the nation's official think-tank will revise downwards in the new year as part of its mid-term review exercise. Attributing lower-than-expected growth to global factors, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said 12th Plan's growth target could be lowered to around 7.5 percent. "In the 12th Plan for the first time, upper-end performance was going to be around 8 percent average in a year but since then global economy has done much worse. "So, today 8 percent is bit on the high side. The possibility for next five years I feel is 7.5 percent which is not impossible," Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.

The market is managing to hold firm on December F&O expiry. The Sensex is up 64.61 points at 21097.32, and the Nifty is up 21.75 points at 6290.15. About 1327 shares have advanced, 477 shares declined, and 81 shares are unchanged. ONGC , Tata Power , Sun Pharma , Bharti Airtel and BHEL are top gainers in the Sensex. On the losing side are Hero Motocorp , HDFC , Reliance , ICICI Bank and Tata Motors . The rupee is down on month-end dollar demand from oil importers. Losses are seen limited on likely dollar sales by exporters. The dollar continued to be firm on hopes of recovery in the US. The dollar hit a 5-year high versus the yen. Commodities saw the gold bounce back above USD1200/oz while Brent crude recovered to USD 112/ oz on unrest in Sudan. The Asian markets are mostly in green today with the Nikkei rising to a fresh 6-year high on the back of a weaker yen.

10:59am Torrent Pharma in focus CNBC-TV18 reported quoting sources that Torrent Pharma has received an approval from US Food and Drug Administration for epilepsy drug Lamotrigine The stock is trading at Rs 485.30, up 1.13 percent over previous close on the BSE.

10:50am IRB Infra gains 2% IRB Westcoast Tollway, wholly-owned subsidiary of the IRB Infrastructure, has achieved financial closure in terms of the concession agreement executed with NHAI, by tying up of project finance of Rs 1,406 crore for Solapur road project. "The total cost of this project is Rs 2,639 crore, out of which viability gap funding from NHAI of Rs 536 crore, equity contribution by the company will be approximately Rs 697 crore and remaining will be funded through project finance of Rs 1,406 crore, according to its filing to the BSE. The stock rose 2.05 percent to Rs 94.75.

10:40am Havells India talks to CNBC-TV18 Anil Rai Gupta, Joint Managing Director, Havells India, believes the Indian economy is bottoming out and a turnaround in sentiment should increase demand for its products. About 25 percent of the company's business comes from the industrial segment, which tends to be an early indicator of the economy, he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview. ''That segment had started de-growing at the start of the year and has now inched up to 10 percent growth. We believe this will be followed by a revival in the consumer business, which is 75 percent of our business.'' ''Our company-level net profit margins had slowed down to 10 odd percent. We expect them to increase to 13-13.5 percent by next year,'' he said. When asked about analysts' concerns over sluggish growth at its 2007 acquisition, Sylvania, Rai said the company had turned profitable and even as the economic situation in Europe remained challenging, he expected 5-6 percent profits at the operating level going forward

10:30am BHEL holds 1% gain Shares of BHEL jumped over 1 percent on the back of an order. The PSU has bagged a Rs 1,023 crore contract from Neyveli Lignite Corporation for supplying turbine generator package at a thermal power project in Tamil Nadu.   BHEL says in a statement that the order is for their upcoming 1,000 MW Neyveli New Thermal Power Project (NNTPP) at Neyveli, Tamil Nadu.

10:20am Amtek India , Amtek India on fire Amtek India, in its filing to the exchange, said it has signed an agreement to acquire substantial business interest of Germany-based Kuepper group, through its 100 percent subsidiaries. The Kuepper group is engaged in the business of iron and aluminium casting and intergrated machining having five manufacturing units across Germany and Hungary. Amtek Auto surged 8.61 percent to Rs 74.45 and Amtek India rallied 12 percent to Rs 69.50.

10:10am Market Expert Gautam Shah of JM Financial believes there is clear loss of momentum around the level of 6300. ''Many of the technical indicators are now turning negative. If this indeed turns out to be true then the market could start a leg down that should take the Nifty back to towards 5950 levels,'' he adds. He will remain cautious or bearish till the Nifty clears 6350 on a closing basis.

10:00am The market maintained positive bias amid choppy trade ahead of December derivative contracts expiry today. The Sensex rose 42.24 points to 21074.95, and the Nifty climbed 14.40 points to 6,282.80, but the broader markets outperformed benchmarks for the third consecutive session. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices added 1 percent each. About five shares advanced for every share declining on the BSE. Shares of ONGC , Sesa Sterlite and Tata Power gained more than a percent followed by Tata Motors , Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank with a 0.8 percent upmove.

Sun Pharma advanced 0.75 percent to Rs 571.40 as its Israeli subsidiary Taro announced the preliminary results of its self-tender offer. Taro purchased shares worth USD 191 million from its tender offer which was worth USD 200 million in value of shares. However, the laggards are HDFC , TCS , Wipro , ITC and Hero Motocorp . Hindalco Industries declined 0.25 percent to Rs 121.70 as media reports indicated that the coal ministery has issued show cause notice to company on the back of delay in development of blocks.

Long accused of being a route for avoiding taxes for foreign investments into India, Mauritius says it has put additional safeguards in place to thwart such wrong perceptions and to boost its image as a preferred global financial centre, reports PTI. Mauritius' integrated financial sector regulator FSC has put in place 'greater substance requirements' for global business companies operating from its jurisdiction to ensure their substantial presence there, and not just a 'proxy address' to benefit from tax treaties with India and other nations.

9:50 am Buzzing: Shares of BHEL jumped over 1 percent in early trade on Thursday on the back of an order. The PSU has bagged a Rs 1,023 crore contract from Neyveli Lignite Corporation for supplying turbine generator package at a thermal power project in Tamil Nadu.   BHEL says in a statement that the order is for their upcoming 1,000 MW Neyveli New Thermal Power Project (NNTPP) at Neyveli, Tamil Nadu.

9:40 am Stock in news: Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), will hear the Western Region Load Despatch Centre's petition, challenging Reliance Power's claim of commissioning the first unit of its Sasan ultra mega power project, in Madhya Pradesh. The CERC will hear issues related to commercial operation of the Sasan plant, according to information available on the regulator's website.

9:30 am Outlook for 2014: Mutual funds had a tough 2013. Volatile equity markets forced domestic funds to focus more on debt market, eyeing higher interest rates. Domestic mutual funds offloaded shares in November selling equities worth Rs 482 crore in the month to take total outflows from equities to Rs 13,721 crore in 2013 so far. They have invested Rs 4.3 lakh crore in the debt market in the first 11 months of the year. But, Sunil Singhania, head-equity, Reliance MF believes with clarity on the US Fed tapering of its bond-buying programme, foreign inflows in Indian equity would accelerate. ''With QE tapering happening there is an added incentive for global investors, specifically US investors to start moving away from debt to equity and that has already started. The November figures for US equity inflows have been the highest in the last four years and that also should start to reflect in emerging market flows,'' he said.

The market has opened in the green territory. The Sensex is up 26.86 points at 21059.57, and the Nifty is up 1.70 points at 6270.10. About 316 shares have advanced, 82 shares declined, and 27 shares are unchanged. Bharti, BHEL, Bajaj Auto and Wipro are top gainers in the Sensex. The Indian rupee opened flat at 61.85 per dollar versus 61.80 Tuesday.The dollar hit a five-year high against the yen on Thursday and held firm against other currencies on expectations the US economy will continue a solid recovery, allowing the Federal Reserve to gradually withdraw its stimulus next year. Asian markets extended the week's gain on strong retail buying. Nikkei has raced to a fresh 6-year high in early trade supported by a weaker yen. Investors are now eyeing Shanghai post the release of Beijing's five-year plan to fight corruption.

In commodities, crude prices inch up in early trade with Brent nearing USD 112 per barrel with Nymex trading below USD 100 per barrel. From precious metals space, gold id trading above USD 1200 although a tad weak,  while silver is down a quarter of a percent. Additionally, the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has amended collective investment scheme rules. In proving the way to settle large corporate cases, its has also approves settlement regulations.

Meanwhile, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) raised the red flag on royalty payments as outflows to foreigners double in the past few years. The Commerce Minister Anand Sharma has written to the Finance Minister asking him to decide on imposing a cap on the same or to tax royalty payments. And in political news, Delhi will now have a government this weekend. Aam Aadmi Party Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet will take oath as the Chief Minister (CM) on Saturday.  Meanwhile, the party has denied any rift over cabinet berths and the Congress has said it is not rethinking on its outside support to the AAP.