Financial shares rally on stimulus package hope; IndusInd Bank soars 40%

IndusInd Bank snapped its eight-day losing streak and surged 40% to Rs 421.8, its biggest-ever one-day gain on the NSE

Shares of financials, including banks, non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), housing finance companies (HFCs) and insurance companies, rallied up to 40 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday on expectation of huge stimulus package announcement by the government.

At 10:25 am, Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Private Bank indexes rallied between 9 per cent and 10 per cent, while the benchmark Nifty 50 and Nifty PSU Bank index were up 5 per cent. In the past three trading days, the financial sector indices have surged in the range of 15 per cent to 20 per cent, after recording up to 42 per cent fall during first three weeks of March.

US indices have witness back-to-back gains in the last two trading session amid hopes of a huge stimulus package approval.

According to a Business Standard report, the Narendra Modi government is also said to be considering an income support scheme for those worst hit by the slump in economic activity owing to the coronavirus pandemic and the resultant nationwide lockdown.

The scheme could mean transferring Rs 5,000-6,000 into the bank accounts of 80-100 million poor families, added report.

There are also discussions on allowing a deferment of equated monthly instalments (EMIs) for targeted individuals, and loan repayments for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). But this will require providing some support to the banking system as well, sources said. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL REPORT

Among individual stocks, shares of IndusInd Bank snapped their eight-day losing streak and surged 40 per cent to Rs 421.80 on the NSE on Thursday. This is the stock's biggest-ever one-day gain.

Despite today's strong rally, the stock has fallen 66 per cent thus far in the current month. In Monday's session, the private lender's stock tanked as much as 30 per cent to hit an 8 year low of Rs 235.55 after the bank's managing director and chief executive officer (MD & CEO) Romesh Sobti retired.

In February, global rating agency Moody’s had revised the outlook on IndusInd Bank’s instrument to “negative” from “stable” to account for the risk of further asset quality deterioration. However, it affirmed ratings on foreign and domestic currency deposits, on the back of a strong capital base. Over the last few quarters, the bank has seen a deterioration in its asset quality, particularly in the corporate segment. Tight refinancing conditions for borrowers were a key trigger for the crystallization of nonperforming loans (NPLs), the agency said.

COMPANY	LATEST	PREV CLOSE	GAIN(%)
INDUSIND BANK	391.65	301.30	29.99
BANDHAN BANK	201.15	154.75	29.98
ICICI BANK	364.40	316.90	14.99
ICICI LOMBARD	1101.10	984.95	11.79
BAJAJ FINSERV	5376.85	4830.30	11.32
ICICI PRU LIFE	353.65	320.45	10.36
AXIS BANK	359.45	326.80	9.99
BAJAJ HOLDINGS	1753.00	1594.50	9.94
HDFC LIFE INSUR.	476.45	434.30	9.71
H D F C	1800.00	1646.05	9.35
BAJAJ FIN.	2801.35	2585.60	8.34
SBI LIFE INSURAN	636.20	587.85	8.22
SHRIRAM TRANS.	612.10	567.00	7.95