Shares of Pantaloon Retail, the largest retailer, and construction major L&T declined in the morning trade after the annoncement that L&T General Insurance will be merged with Future Generali Insurance.
Pantaloon Retail shares declined 1.7% and were trading at Rs 143.60 while L&T shares declined 1.3% to Rs 1,349.75. However, L&T Finance Holdings shares rose 2.45% and were trading at Rs 73.35 at 11.15 am.
Post transaction, L&T will hold 51%, Future will hold 23% and rest will be held by the Generali Group in the merged entity.
"Pantaloon has stated intent of divesting non-core business and L&T did it through L&T Finance Holdings. It is just the market sentiment that is driving down these stocks. They were in the positive territory in the early morning trade," said Rikesh Parikh, Vice-President, Market Strategy at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
