Central Bank, Union Bank up 2% in a weak market; Canara Bank hits 52-wk low

After a sharp slide in the bank stocks, especially the public sector banks, on Tuesday, Nifty PSU Bank index was trading over 1 per cent higher on the NSE on Wednesday. Shares of Union Bank of India, State Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Syndicate Bank, and Allahabad Bank gained 1 to 3 per cent in the intra-day trade. 
 

While shares of Syndicate bank jumped 3 per cent in the morning deals, it erased the gains to slip to an equal percentage. At the time of writing of this report, the stock was trading 1.25 per cent lower at Rs 31.55 apiece.
 

Similarly, shares of UBI, SBI, and Central bank of India hit an intra-day high of over 2 per cent, and were leading the Nifty PSU Bank index. That apart, shares of Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda (BoB), Allahabad Bank, Indian Bank, and Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) gained a per cent each.  
 

Notably, Canara Bank, which had tanked 12 per cent intra-day yesterday, slipped further by 3.2 per cent to hit its 52-week low of Rs 190.6 per share on the NSE. 

On Tuesday, shares of public sector banks, including Punjab National Bank (PNB), Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), Canara Bank, Indian Bank, and Union Bank of India, tanked up to 13 per cent on the BSE after the government on Friday announced mega-merger plan for PSBs in post-market hours on Friday. 

Among individual stocks, Indian Bank and Canara Bank were the worst-hit, plummeting 13 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively in the intra-day, eventually closing 12 and 11 per cent lower. While, shares of Allahabad Bank, Union Bank of India, PNB, and OBC were down in the range of 6 to 11 per cent intra-day.
 

At 10:50 am, the Nifty PSU Bank index was trading 0.22 per cent lower. In comparison, the broader Nifty50 index was trading 0.45 per cent lower at 10,749 mark. BoB, PNB, UBI, Bank of India, OBC, Syndicate Bank, Indian Bank, and Canara Bank had erased their gains and were ruling 0.05 to 3 per cent down. 
 

So far in CY2019, the Nifty PSB index has underperformed the benchmark Nifty50. The former has plunged 24 per cent YTD, as against a 0.6 per cent decline in the latter.