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Sensex Extends Losses; FMCG and Energy Stocks Witness Selling
Mon, 18 Feb 12:30 pm

After opening the day marginally lower, share markets in India extended their losses and are presently trading on a negative note. Sectoral indices are trading mixed with stocks in the consumer durables sector, FMCG sector and energy sector witnessing maximum selling pressure, while realty stocks are trading in the green.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 211 points (down 0.6%), while the NSE Nifty is trading down by 64 points (down 0.6%). The BSE Mid Cap index is trading down by 0.8% and the BSE Small Cap index is trading down by 0.6%.

The rupee is trading at Rs 71.42 against the US$.

In the news from the banking sector, Yes Bank share price is in focus today. The stock of the lender witnessed selling pressure after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) warned the lender of regulatory action for disclosure of NIL divergence report in violation of the confidentiality clause.

Last week, the lender had received "no observation on divergence" in the bank's asset classification and provisioning in the RBI's Risk Assessment Report for FY2018 and shares of the bank recorded its sharpest intra-day rally since its listing on back of the above news.

As per an article in The Economic Times, against the Rs 7.5 billion of gross NPAs reported by Yes Bank as on March 31, 2016, the RBI assessment showed the tally at Rs 49.3 billion, leading to a divergence of Rs 41.8 billion.

Reportedly, the divergence increased to Rs 63.4 billion in FY17 which was the main reason former CEO Rana Kapoor's tenure was reduced last year by the central bank.

Note that the stock of the lender plunged to its lowest levels in over two years in November.

Losses were seen after credit rating agencies ICRA and CARE ratings downgraded the bank's debt instruments.

ICRA downgraded domestic long-term ratings of the bank's senior debt instruments to 'ICRA AA' from 'ICRA AA+' and its subordinate debt instruments to 'ICRA AA-' from 'ICRA AA'.

Meanwhile, CARE Ratings cut domestic ratings of Yes Bank's senior debt instruments to 'CARE AA+' from 'CARE AAA' and subordinate debt instruments to 'CARE AA' from 'CARE AA+'.

To know more about the bank, you can read Yes Bank's latest result analysis on our website.

Speaking of the banking sector, the Scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) credit growth moderated slightly to 14.5% YoY to Rs 943 billion as on 01 February 2019, compared with 14.6% growth a fortnight ago.

The credit growth has improved from 10.8% at end February 2018. Deposits rose 9.6% as on 01 February 2019.

The overall credit-deposit ratio eased to 77.8% as on 01 February 2019 from 77.9% a fortnight ago, while jumped from 74.9% in February 2018 with the faster growth in loans.

The investment-deposit ratio declined to 27.7% as on 01 February 2019, which is much higher above the Statutory Liquidity Ratio of 19.5%.

Also, note that the credit growth for banks is back to its 5-year high. Have a look at the chart below:

Credit Growth Back to 5 Year High

The credit growth that banks in India posted in December quarter of 2018, at 15.1% YoY, is not just very healthy. It's nearly 2 times GDP growth. But it also back to the five-year high.

Strong credit disbursal is clearly a sign of many things to come. Higher consumption demand, better capacity utilization, more capex and higher profits.

It would be interesting to see how this trend follows in 2019. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on all the developments from this space.

Moving on to the news from the housing finance space, Dewan Housing Finance Corp Ltd share price is also in focus today. The stock of the company witnessed buying interest on stake sale reports.

As per an article in The Economic Times, Baring Pvt Equity, Bain Capital, and Hero Fincorp are in talks to buy a stake in the debt-laden housing finance company.

The article also reported that the company's promoters are also looking to sell a 10% stake through various ways, including an open offer.

Last week, the company's Chief Executive Harshil Mehta has resigned. However, the company said in its regulatory filing that Harshil Mehta would continue to be associated with the company and shall hold the designation of Executive President - Retail Business with effect from February 14, 2019.

Besides, the board has recommended appointment of Sunjoy Joshi as an Independent Director and Srinath Sridharan as a Non-Executive Director.

Note that the stock of the company has been witnessing sharp selling pressure lately after Cobrapost said that DHFL diverted funds to shell companies to buy assets, and that firms linked to DHFL's controlling shareholders - the Wadhawan group made political donations beyond mandated levels.

DHFL is also facing questions about its financial health after the IL&FS default pushed up the cost of funds for the mortgage lender and made borrowing difficult.

Rating company Care ratings today downgraded ratings on the company's debt worth over Rs 1.2 lakh crore issued by DHFL.

As per an article in The Economic Times, the company revised the rating grade of AAA to AA+ for nonconvertible debentures and long-term bank loans. Commercial papers, short-term debt securities rated as A1+ have been put under credit watch.

The company has decided to divest its stake in Aadhar Housing Finance to Blackstone.

Private equity major Blackstone agreed to buy nearly 80% of affordable homes-focused Aadhar Housing Finance from the financially stretched Wadhawan group.

The group's holding company Wadhawan Global Capital (WGC) will be selling its 70% stake in the company, while DHFL will also be exiting its investment, which is reported to be around 9%.

Besides, with DHFL group companies' debt mess coming under lens, global brokerage Credit Suisse warned that it could trigger a second wave of risk aversion in India's debt mutual fund industry.

A report from the global brokerage stated that DHFL is among the largest borrowers from mutual funds and the aggregate exposure of debt mutual funds to the home financier's securities is Rs 85 billion.

This amounts to about 0.7% of debt mutual funds' assets under management (AUM) as of December 2018.

Furthermore, the exposure for some fund houses is larger, at 2-10% of total debt AUM, with some schemes having up to 30% of their AUM invested in Dewan securities.

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!

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