Nifty below 18,400 level, PSU bank shares advance

The key equity indices reversed gains and slipped into the negative terrain in morning trade. The Nifty traded below the 18,400 mark after hitting the day's high of 18,473.35 in early trade. PSU bank shares witnessed bargain buying after declining in the past four trading sessions.

At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 80.98 points or 0.13% to 61,621.31. The Nifty 50 index declined 22 points or 0.12% to 18,363.30.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.24% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.17%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,751 shares rose and 1,440 shares fell. A total of 171 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 455.94 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 494.74 crore in the Indian equity market on 20 December, provisional data showed.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty PSU Bank index rose 1.24% to 4,367.25, snapping four day losing streak. The index witnessed bargain hunting after falling 5.19% in the past four trading sessions.

UCO Bank (up 8.97%), Indian Overseas Bank (up 6.81%), Central Bank of India (up 6.3%), Bank of India (up 4.63%), Union Bank of India (up 3.16%), Bank of Maharashtra (up 3.04%), Punjab National Bank (up 1.8%), Canara Bank (up 1.32%), Bank of Baroda (up 0.87%) and State Bank of India (up 0.32%) edged higher.

Central Bank of India rallied 5.29% after the bank said its board will consider fund raising on Monday, 26 December 2022.

Stocks in Spotlight:

City Union Bank slipped 5.16% after the bank said that the Reserve Bank of India has discovered divergence in additional gross NPA for the financial year ended March 2022, amounting to Rs 259 crore. The RBI conducted the on-site Inspection for Supervisory Evaluation (ISE) for the ended March 2022 from 7 October 2022 to 18 November 2022 and the final meeting concluded on 19 December 2022.

The private lender bank stated that divergence to the tune of Rs 259 crore consists of 13 borrower accounts with an outstanding balance of more than Rs 1 crore for an amount of Rs 230 crore and 218 borrowers with an outstanding balance of less than Rs 1 crore for an amount of Rs 29 crore. Out of these 231 borrowers, five accounts have already been classified as NPAs by the bank during first half of FY23 and 57 accounts stand close.

Gail (India) fell 0.51%. The company announced that it has issued 15,750 senior, unsecured, listed, rated, taxable, non-cumulative, redeemable, NCDs of Rs 10 lakh each aggregating to Rs 1,575 crore, having a coupon rate of 7.34%

Powered by Capital Market - Live News