A few banks, NBFCs find market favour as funding pressure recedes

Asset quality improvement, receding funding pressure boost confidence, with 14 stocks trading near 52-week high

Banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), including housing financiers, went through tough times last year, which also disappointed investors. 

Banking stocks were affected by the spike in bad loans or non-performing assets (NPAs), fraud and top-management related issues, among others. Also, the worries over the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI's) NPA regulations, introduced in February last year, saw the Nifty Bank index plunge around 15 per cent last March, from its peak level in January.  And, for NBFCs, it was the liquidity issue after a default by IL&FS in September that hurt them the most.

However, some banks and NBFCs,