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Of the Fall in Banking Stocks, EU's Retaliatory Tariff Proposal, and Top Cues in Focus Today
Wed, 7 Mar Pre-Open

Share markets in India closed on a negative note yesterday. Losses were seen across most sectors with stocks in the realty sector and stocks in the banking sector leading the losses.

At the closing bell yesterday, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 430 points (down 1.3%) and the NSE Nifty closed down by 110 points (down 1%). The BSE Mid Cap index ended the day down 0.8%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day down by 1.3%.

Top Stocks in Focus Today

Axis Bank share price will be in focus today as the Reserve Bank of India has slapped a Rs 30 million penalty on the bank.

From the cement sector, market participants will be tracking Ramco cements share price. The company has reported entering into an agreement with Ramco Industries, a Related Party, for acquisition of their clinker grinding unit situated at Kharagpur, West Bengal.

Market participants will also keep tabs on JSW Energy share price as it was yesterday reported that the company acquired JSW Electric Vehicles Private Ltd. The JSW Electric Vehicles is part of diversification strategy of JSW Energy Ltd to foray into electric vehicles, energy storage systems and charging infrastructure.

SFIO Summons Top Bankers

Banking stocks witnessed selling pressure yesterday after the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) summoned top bankers, including ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and Axis Bank CEO Shikha Sharma, in a case related to Rs 50 billion loan extended to Mehul Choksi's Gitanjali Gems.

As per the news, the SFIO was said to have summoned senior executives from 31 banks with business dealings with the firms promoted by Nirav Modi and Choksi.

EU Proposes Retaliatory Tariff Against US Goods

As per a leading financial daily, the European Union (EU) has proposed to apply a tariff of 25% on a range of consumer, agricultural, and steel goods imported from the US.

The proposal is a retaliatory measure against President Donald Trump's plan to impose a 25% tariff on foreign steel.

Note that US President Donald Trump announced plans to impose across-the-board tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. He proposes to slap a 25% tariff on imports of steel and a 10% tariff on imports of aluminum. The formal announcement is expected to be made this week.

The above announcement by Trump also sent Indian metal stocks in the red. Companies such as SAIL, NMDC, JSW Steel, Nalco, and Tata Steel witnessed selling pressure and cracked around 5% due to the announcement.

One of the recent editions of Equitymaster Insider explains what the above salvo means for global trade and the Indian metal stocks. You can read the same here (requires subscription).

Govt. to Receive Over Rs 100 bn Interim Dividend from RBI

According to a leading financial daily, the government is set to receive over Rs 100 billion as interim dividend from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

As per reports, the amount has been calculated for the six months through Dec 31 as RBI's financial year runs from July to June.

The RBI had paid Rs 306 billion worth of dividend to the government in August 2017. The amount was almost half the normal rate, as the RBI cited costs related to demonetisation for the lower figure.

The central banker had earlier declined requests from the government for an additional payment after the dividend payout dropped to a five year low. However, an interim dividend worth Rs 100 billion looks to be on the cards.

The above revenue from the RBI could boost the government's chances of meeting its fiscal deficit target.

RBI Slaps Rs 30 mn Penalty on Axis Bank

Moving on to news from stocks in the banking sector. The RBI slapped a Rs 30 million penalty on Axis Bank.

The banking regulator fined the bank for violation of non-performing asset (NPA) classification norms. The regulator said it found discrepancies in the lenders assessment of non-performing assets which warranted a monetary penalty.

Axis Bank which is currently struggling under the burden of its legacy infrastructure loans reported divergence of Rs 56.3 billion for FY17 while this number was at Rs 94.8 billion for FY16.

The regulator in its statement also said that its action was based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance. It also said that the action by the regulator does not cast any view on the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.

Also note that Axis Bank is not the only bank to have been penalised by the RBI for divergences in NPA classification. Last October, Yes Bank was slapped with a Rs 60 million fine for the same reason.

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