BUSINESS HIGLIGHTS

New Delhi, Jul 1 (PTI) Following are the top business stories at 2020 hours: DEL73 BIZ-LD-STOCKS **** Sensex, Nifty close at fresh record highs on gains in IT, banking shares Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex rose by 443 points to close at a new record high while Nifty settled above the 24,100 mark on Monday on buying in banking and IT shares in line with gains in Asian and European markets. **** DEL104 BIZ-LD RUPEE **** Rupee falls 10 paise against US dollar Mumbai: The rupee depreciated 10 paise to settle at 83.44 against the US dollar on Monday, tracking rising crude oil prices in international markets. **** DCM82 BIZ-LD AUTO SALES **** Passenger vehicle dispatches see muted growth in June as high base effect kicks in New Delhi: Passenger vehicle wholesales saw a marginal growth of 4 per cent in June on account of high base effect and muted demand due to severe heatwave conditions in several parts of the country. **** DCM89 BIZ-LD-PATANJALI FOODS **** Patanjali Foods to acquire Patanjali Ayurved's home, personal care biz for Rs 1,100 cr New Delhi: Edible oil major Patanjali Foods Ltd on Monday said it will acquire Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurved's home and personal care business for Rs 1,100 crore, as part of its efforts to become a leading FMCG company. **** DEL21 BIZ-PMI-MANUFACTURING **** India's manufacturing sector growth ticks higher in June; record upturn in employment New Delhi: India's manufacturing sector output increased at a sharp pace in June as new business continued to flow in amid favourable demand conditions and resulted in record upturn in employment, a monthly survey said on Monday. **** DEL59 BIZ-ATF-PRICE **** ATF price hiked 1.2%, commercial LPG cut by Rs 30 New Delhi: Jet fuel or ATF price on Monday was hiked by 1.2 per cent while that of commercial LPG used by hotels and restaurants cut by Rs 30 per 19-kg cylinder in line with international oil price trends. **** DEL64 BIZ-AP-BIHAR-SPECIAL STATUS **** Granting special status to Bihar, AP should be decided on non-political considerations: Ashima Goyal New Delhi: The issue of granting special category status (SCS) to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh should be decided on non-political considerations by a constitutional body, RBI's monetary policy committee member Ashima Goyal said on Monday. **** DEL86 BIZ-BSE-MCAP **** Mcap of BSE-listed firms hit lifetime high of Rs 443 lakh crore New Delhi: The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms hit a lifetime high of Rs 4,43,05,344.36 crore on Monday, driven by a rebound in equities, where the benchmark Sensex ended at a new all-time peak. **** DEL62 BIZ-GOLD-PRICE **** Gold flat at Rs 72,350 per 10g, silver rises by Rs 200 New Delhi: Gold prices traded flat at Rs 72,350 per 10 grams while silver gained Rs 200 per kg in the local market on Monday, according to HDFC Securities. **** PTI SGC SHW