Benchmark Sensex succumbed to fag- end profit-booking to end 144 points lower on Wednesday after banking stocks tumbled on RBI’s new norms for recognising stressed assets.
Punjab National Bank (PNB) plunged 9.81 per cent after the state-owned lender said it has detected fraudulent transactions worth USD 1.77 billion (about Rs 11,335 crore).
In a bid to hasten the resolution of bad loans, the RBI has tightened rules to make banks identify and tackle any non-payment of loans rapidly.
The Reserve Bank of India abolished half a dozen existing loan-restructuring mechanisms and instead provided for a strict 180-day timeline for banks to agree on a resolution plan in case of a default or else refer the account for bankruptcy.
The benchmark BSE index opened higher at 34,436.98 on positive domestic and global cues and advanced to hit a high of 34,473.43.
However, it slipped on profit-booking to touch a low of 34,028.68. It finally ended 144.52 points or 0.42 per cent down at 34,155.95.
The NSE Nifty settled the day 38.85 points or 0.37 per cent lower at 10,500.90 after shuttling between 10,590.55 and 10,456.65, intra-day.
Data released after market hours on Monday showed that industrial output expanded by 7.1 per cent in December on robust performance by manufacturing and capital goods sectors.
Retail inflation, on the other hand, eased marginally in January to 5.07 per cent — after touching a 17-month high of 5.21 per cent in December — as food prices cooled.
“Strong IIP growth and slowing retail inflation is providing some signs of stabilisation in economy. However, the broad market witnessed some volatility due to under- performance in financials.
“The PSU banks witnessed sell-off as RBI scrapped a number of loan-restructuring schemes which may lead to further jump in provisions, impacting profitability of these banks,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 814.11 crore on net basis on Monday, while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 1,342.70 crore, provisional data showed.
In the banking space, Yes Bank slipped 4.40 per cent, SBI 4.06 per cent, Axis Bank 3.35 per cent, ICICI Bank 2.29 per cent and Bank of Baroda 1.75 per cent.
Other losers included ONGC, Sun Pharma, TCS, Power Grid, NTPC, ITC, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, Dr Reddy’s, Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp, Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Asian Paints, falling up to 2.62 per cent.
However, Coal India, RIL, Wipro, Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports, Tata Motors, L&T, HDFC Ltd, HUL and IndusInd Bank ended higher, rising up to 2.47 per cent.
The BSE mid-cap index edged higher by 0.17 per cent, while small-caps gained 0.16 per cent.
Among the BSE sectoral indices, PSU fell the most at 1.80 per cent, followed by banking (1.62 per cent), healthcare (0.69 per cent), power (0.68 per cent), oil and gas (0.34 per cent) and auto (0.30 per cent).
However, capital goods rose by 0.33 per cent, realty 0.19 per cent and infrastructure 0.12 per cent.
Globally, Asian share markets ended mixed and European bourses opened higher as investors await US inflation numbers for clues on the pace of interest rate rises in the world’s biggest economy.
Japan’s Nikkei fell by 0.43 per cent and Singapore shed 0.36 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 2.27 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.45 per cent.
In the Eurozone, Paris CAC 40 rose 0.70 per cent and Frankfurt moved up 0.76 per cent in their early deals. UK’s FTSE also traded higher 0.68 per cent.
