Bank stocks slide across the board

After a steep intraday slide, key benchmark indices staged a recovery in afternoon trade. At 13:16 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was off 157.21 points or 0.61% at 25,729.41. The Nifty 50 index was off 51.75 points or 0.66% at 7,812.40. Key indices fell today, 4 December 2015, in line with drop in global stocks after the European Central Bank (ECB)'s stimulus package announced after policy meet yesterday, 3 December 2015, fell well short of markets' high expectations.

The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was negative. On BSE, 1,346 shares fell and 1,182 shares rose. A total of 154 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently off 0.51%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently off 0.14%. The decline in both these indices was lower in percentage terms than the Sensex's fall.

In overseas markets, Asian stocks declined as the European Central Bank (ECB)'s stimulus package fell well short of markets' high expectations. US stocks dropped yesterday, 3 December 2015 as the ECB disappointed market hopes for greater stimulus. The ECB cut its deposit rate deeper into negative territory and extended its asset buys by six months, as expected. But some market participants had hoped for greater stimulus.

The ECB President Mario Draghi after a policy meet yesterday, 3 December 2015, announced the central bank would extend its massive 60 billion euro ($63.5 billion) a month bond-buying scheme to at least March 2017. The ECB cut its deposit rate further into negative territory by 10 basis points to a fresh low of -0.3%, down from -0.2%.

Index heavyweight and housing finance major HDFC dropped 1.87% to Rs 1,178.55. The stock hit high of Rs 1,200 and low of Rs 1,173.05 so far during the day.

Metal and mining stocks gained. Steel Authority of India (Sail) (up 1.28%), Bhushan Steel (up 1.24%), Hindustan Zinc (up 2.44%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 2.88%), Vedanta (up 0.33%), Tata Steel (up 0.94%) and Hindalco Industries (up 0.25%) edged higher.

Hindustan Copper (down 1.02%), National Aluminium Company (down 0.89%), NMDC (down 0.43%) and JSW Steel (down 0.31%) fell.

Bank stocks fell across the board. Among private bank stocks, HDFC Bank (down 1.13%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 0.37%), ICICI Bank (down 1.47%), Axis Bank (down 0.72%), IndusInd Bank (down 0.04%) and Yes Bank (down 1.07%) declined.

Among PSU bank stocks, Punjab National Bank (down 1.9%), Bank of Baroda (down 2.74%), Canara Bank (down 2%), IDBI Bank (down 1.13%), Bank of India (down 0.88%), State Bank of India (SBI) (down 0.68%) and Union Bank of India (down 1.78%) dropped.

Dena Bank rose 2.36% after the bank said it received board approval to raise funds from the equity market by diluting the government's stake. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 December 2015.

Dena Bank said its board of directors' approved raising funds from the equity market by diluting the government's stake to 52% from the current 65%. As on 30 September 2015, the Government of India held 65% stake in Dena Bank.

Besides the stake dilution, the bank also plans to raise capital through additional tier-I (AT1) bonds of up to Rs 1500 crore in one or more tranches. It will also raise capital through tier-II bonds up to Rs 1000 crore, the lender said.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News