Financial stocks crash

Mumbai: Financial sector stocks, including banks, NBFCs and housing finance companies, witnessed a sharp fall on Thursday. Disapp-ointed at RBI not spelling out some specific measure to bail out NBFCs and companies facing liquidity crunch led to a sell-off in stocks, marketmen said.

Mortgage lender Dewan Housing Finance (DHFL) not paying interest on time on its bond holders also put pressure on financial sector companies.

The Nifty Bank Index fell 2.32 per cent and the Nifty PSU Bank Index fell 4.90 per cent against benchmarks Sensex and Nifty-50’s fall of 1.38 per cent and 1.48 per cent, respectively. The BSE Bankex too fell 2.34 per cent.

Analysts said market was looking for specific, targeted solution to the liquidity crisis from the RBI. Downward revision of FY19-20 GDP growth to 7 per cent from 7.2 per cent and higher inflation expectation also dampened sentiment.

The top losers among the banks on the BSE were IndusInd Bank (-6.97 per cent), Bank of Baroda (-6.33 per cent), Yes Bank (-6.15 per cent), SBI (-4.34 per cent), Federal Bank (-2.69 per cent) and ICICI Bank (-1.75 per cent).