SBI reported a marginal 4.08 per cent increase in net

profit at Rs 3,396 crore for the third quarter mainly on account of higher provisioning for bad loans. "SBI witnessed continued pressures on the asset quality front, as elevated slippages and sequentially lower recoveries resulted in sequential rise in gross NPA levels," said Vaibhav Agrawal, VP Research- Banking, Angel Broking. Globally, Asian stocks ended higher as investors awaited the G20 meeting of finance and central bank officials for clues about global growth and the role currencies will play in the economies of individual member countries. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea rose by 0.18 per cent to 0.85 per cent while Singapore's Straits Times fell 0.32 per cent. European stock markets were trading lower after reports said French economy shrank more-than-expected in the final quarter of last year. Key benchmark indices in Germany and UK declined by 0.08 per cent to 0.17 per cent while France's CAC inched up by 0.05 per cent on value-buying. Turning back to the local market, 16 scrips out of 30-share Sensex declined while 14 ended higher. Major losers were Bharti Airtel (4.02 pc), Wipro (3.33 pc), Maruti Suzuki (3.30 pc), L&T (2.72 pc), RIL (2.63 pc), Tata Motors (2.59 pc), SBI (1.80 pc), ICICI Bank (1.64 pc), Cipla (1.57 pc), Dr Reddy's (1.44 pc), Hero MotoCorp (1.44 pc) and Sterlite Industries (1.11 pc). However, HUL rose by 2.24 per cent, followed by Gail India 1.97 per cent, HDFC Bank 1.65 per cent, Tata Steel 1.17 per cent, TCS 1.15 per cent, Coal India 0.92 per cent and Infosys 0.85 per cent. The market breadth continued to show negative trend as 1,501 scrips ended lower, while 656 stocks finished higher and 804 ruled steady. The total turnover improved further to Rs Rs 2,165.93 crore from Rs 2,041.36 crore yesterday. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth net Rs 800.31 crore yesterday as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.