Banks under pressure; Nifty Bank, PSU Bank indices crack up to 5% in 2 days

Banking shares were under pressure with Nifty Bank, Nifty Private Bank and Nifty PSU Bank indices declining up to 5 per cent in past two trading days amid a heavy sell-off in equities.

At 09:41 AM; Nifty Bank, Nifty Private Bank and Nifty PSU Bank indices were down 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). In comparison, the Nifty 50 was down 0.67 per cent. In past two trading days, the banking indices have declined between 4 per cent and 5 per cent, as against 2 per cent decline in the benchmark index.

ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Bandhan Bank and State Bank of India (SBI) were down 2 per cent today. In past one week, Bank of India, YES Bank, RBL Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Central Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank slipped in the range of 6 per cent to 10 per cent. The Nifty 50 was down 1.5 per cent in past one week.

A sharp fall in banking shares has been witnessed after US-based investment research firm, Hindenburg Research, alleged on Wednesday that the Adani group had engaged in “a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme”. It also accused the conglomerate of improper use of offshore tax havens, and flagged concerns about the group’s high debt. CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT

However, global broking and research firm CLSA said on Thursday, that the Adani Group poses no "significant downside risk" to Indian banks. It said that the total exposure of Indian banks is less than 40 per cent of the group's total debt.

“Indian banking exposure is less than 40 per cent of total group debt. Within this, private banks’ exposure is below 10 per cent of total group debt and most banks (including ICICI/Axis) have indicated that they have largely financed assets with strong cashflows, such as airports/ports,” CLSA said in India financials sector outlook.

The foreign brokerage firm further said, PSU banks do have material exposure (30 per cent of group debt) but this debt has not increased in the past three years. Most of the incremental funding to the group for new businesses and acquisitions has come via overseas sources.

To conclude, the ballpark exposure of private banks is 0.3 per cent of FY24 loans and 1.5 per cent of FY24 networth. For PSU banks, the exposure is 0.7 per cent of FY24 loans and 6 per cent of FY24 networth, CLSA said.