Analysts said smaller life insurance companies are struggling and many of them are up for sale. As there are not many suitors for firms without sizeable bancassurance distribution, the premium valuation paid for Exide Life looked unwarranted.

Losses were capped by concerns that US supply would remain limited in the wake of Hurricane Ida, which cut production from the US Gulf of Mexico.

This month’s output is expected to be between 180,000 and 215,000 units, which would be the lowest in almost a decade excluding the months when production was curbed due to the national lockdown last year to curb Covid-19 infection.

“India needs a judicious set of policies and regulations to create new opportunities, and appropriate steps are imperative for boosting viability of the sector and establishing a thriving three-private plus one PSU player (market) structure…,” Vodafone Idea (Vi) managing director Ravinder Takkar said.

Jio wants the government to auction spectrum for satellite broadband service providers and make them abide by the same security requirements as telcos, while Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal believes “there is absolutely no case for auctioning satellite spectrum”.

In August, the lender had said that Sebi had exempted the Jammu & Kashmir government from complying with its norms on substantial acquisition of shares and takeovers in the proposed acquisition of 16,76,72,702 equity shares (6.06 per cent) of the bank during 2021-22.

In another transaction, India Capital Management sold 216,854 shares of Kirloskar Industries at Rs. 1,407.1 apiece through a block deal on the BSE.

On the sectoral front, consumer-facing sectors like FMCG, retail and aviation are expected to do well as Indians venture out more amid relaxing of restrictions by most state governments.

Varun Beverages was among the most impacted companies due to Covid-19 disruption, but has seen spectacular recovery in the first half of this calendar year as the economy opened up and now the analysts are gung ho on the stock.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 42.09 points, or 0.12 per cent, at the open to 35,401.73.