Equity benchmarks started off the week on a flat note as investors digested the news of appointment of new RBI governor Urjit Patel. The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 12.55 points at 28064.45 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 4.50 points to 8662.40.

Adani Ports topped the buying list, up 2 percent followed by ITC, HDFC, HDFC Bank, HUL and Reliance Industries whereas TCS, Lupin and Tata Steel fell over a percent.

The government on Saturday evening appointed Urjit Patel as new RBI governor. Raghuram Rajan’s term as a governor will end on September 4.

Urjit Patel’s appointment as Reserve Bank Governor will ensure “institutional and policy continuity that will make the investor comfortable” says Arvind Sanger, Managing Partner at Geosphere Capital Management.

While some slight volatility might be seen in near-term over the news, Sanger says it will be a buying opportunity for investors. Most investors will be happy with downward inflation trajectory over a longer period. Growth in India is starting to improve. However, valuations continue to remain a challenge, Sanger says.

The Indian rupee opened lower by 13 paise at 67.19 per dollar today against Friday’s closing value of 67.06 a dollar.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, “Rupee is likely to depreciate today as we have seen supportive buying in the USD. However, the rally in USD could be limited to 67.30/dollar.”

“We expect the USD-INR pair to trade in the range of 66.80-67.30/dollar,” he said.

The dollar gained against major peers, as hawkish comments from a Federal Reserve official added to prospects that US interest rates will increase this year.

Brokerage Nomura has buy call on Fortis Healthcare and gives a target price of Rs 238 per share on account of its demerger plans.Fortis Healthcare will transfer its diagnostic business, including SRL Limited, to Fortis Malar Hospitals Limited. Before this, Fortis Malar ‘s Hospital business will be sold to Fortis Healthcare by way of a slump sale for a cash consideration of Rs 430 million.

Post the demerger, listed entity Fortis Malar will be renamed SRL, which will include Fortis Healthcare’s Diagnostic business and Fortis Malar.

The firm believes that the separation of the hospitals and diagnostics business into separate entities is going to be positive. The deal will bring in a great deal of focus and clarity in the running of the individual businesses. Not just this, it will also unlock value for current shareholders.

Asian markets were mostly trading lower with China’s Shanghai and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng falling 0.3-0.6 percent while Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.2 percent.