Activities in the Indian services sector eased in January but continued to remain above its long run average. Nifty managed to close above the resistance of 17760 and in the process registered a weekly gain of 1.42%. Now the Nifty could test the 17972-18063 band in the near term while 17542 could now act as a support," Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said.

If at all stock crosses above 580 level then it will again resume its uptrend which we have witnessed earlier part of this year. So looking at the overall setup, we are bullish on SBI also with a stop loss of 530. Bank of Baroda is another stock which we feel that upside can be continued towards 181-195 zone, one can buy and hold this stock also with stop loss of 150.

If at all stock crosses above 580 level then it will again resume its uptrend which we have witnessed earlier part of this year. So looking at the overall setup, we are bullish on SBI also with a stop loss of 530. Bank of Baroda is another stock which we feel that upside can be continued towards 181-195 zone, one can buy and hold this stock also with stop loss of 150.

Earlier in the day, the Reserve Bank of India issued a statement, saying Indian banks remain healthy.

This is after a over USD 100-billion rout in value of group stock since the US short seller Hindenburg Research accused Adani group of stock manipulation and accounting fraud. Adani Group has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has threatened to sue Hindenburg

Bank of Baroda Q3: Net Interest Income (NII) has risen by 26.5 percent to Rs 10,818 crore in the third quarter.

Banks are set to see higher credit growth as the government has pegged capex spend 33 percent higher at Rs 10 lakh crore for FY24

Total income during October-December 2022 increased to Rs 27,092 crore as against Rs 20,482 crore in the year-ago period, BoB said in a regulatory filing.During the quarter, interest income increased to Rs 23,540 crore as against Rs 17,963 crore in the same period a year ago.

After turning net buyers on the first day of February, Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have again returned to old ways by selling shares worth Rs 3,065 crore on Thursday, provisional data showed. DIIs on the other hand, net bought shares to the tune of Rs 2,371 crore.

Adani stocks came under pressure after global investment banker Credit Suisse assigned zero lending value for bonds sold by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Adani Green Energy and Adani Electricity Mumbai. It has stopped accepting bonds of Adani companies as collateral for margin loans to its private banking clients following allegations made in Hindenburg report, Bloomberg said.

"Pharma is certainly one of the spaces that one should look at because that is one of the space which has not done anything at all. They have only gone down. I think one should definitely look into some of the frontline pharma stocks like Sun Pharma, Lupin, Cipla. I will also be a little more comfortable with something like Larsen & Toubro or Siemens or ABB."

“The fiasco in the last two days has dampened overall sentiments and certainly disrupted prices across the board,” said Sameet Chavan, chief analyst - technical and derivatives at Angel One. "From an optimist's point of view, its good that the market is approaching the Budget on a lighter note, and any favorable outcome would lift the markets higher," Chavan said, but added that any slight disappointment would result in a further aberration in the market.

"The market seems to be looking at some adverse scenarios of banks' exposure to the Adani Group especially when their share prices are falling," said Siddarth Bhamre, head of research Religare Broking. "That is weighing down the risk appetite for bank shares."

Of the total 30 stocks, Dabur India, ITC, Tata Power and Mahindra & Mahindra were the only stocks that ended in green

The NSE Bank Nifty Index dropped as much as 3.5%, extending declines of the previous session, underperforming broader stock benchmarks. Bank of Baroda and State Bank of India were among the biggest decliners, falling at least 5% each. LICs shares extended their drop to 4.3% intraday before paring some losses.

Dalal Street investors were left poorer by Rs 4.9 lakh crore as the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed stocks dropped to Rs 2,76,495 lakh crore. Bank stocks were among the worst affected as Nifty Bank lost over 1,000 points or 2.5%. PSU bank stocks, which were outperforming in the last few months, were among the worst hit.

A total of 203,797 shares changed hands on the counter till 11:28AM (IST)

On the technical charts, the 200-day moving average of the stock stood at Rs 133.96.

​Now some people might be happy not to create wealth but most people in my generation, most of my client base want to create a degree of wealth for themselves and I am afraid that is not going to come from investing in fixed deposits in a country like India, that is only going to come from investing in high quality equities.

Outlooks on the long-term ratings of all four banks remain stable.

"When stocks move from under ownership to adequate ownership, prices spurt," said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services. "The sudden change in earnings and improving prospects have led to a market re-rating which has resulted in spurt in stock prices."

2023 will be a strong year of earnings for Indian banks, Morgan Stanley said in a note. Traders can deploy a Barbell strategy that could bring better outcomes this year, said the global brokerage.

The FPO could result in the stakes of promoters led by Gautam Adani falling by 3.5%. As of September 2022, the promoters owned 72.63% of Adani Enterprises, while the remaining 27.37% was with public shareholders. Life Insurance Corporation held 4.03% among the public shareholders, while Nomura Singapore, APMS Investment Fund, Elara India Opportunities Fund, and Lts Investment Fund owned stakes between 1% and 2%.

"Overall, we forecast top seven PSBs under our coverage to report a profit after tax of ₹1.3 lakh crore in FY25 versus a loss of ₹59,400 crore in FY18. Thus, we expect 29% earnings compounded annual growth over FY22-25 and estimate these PSBs' RoA/RoE to improve to 0.9%/14.2% in FY25, respectively," the brokerage said in a report.

AII and RHFL had filed separate but identical appeals seeking the go-ahead for the former's resolution plan to take over the company in June 2021. The offer translates into a 74% haircut on RHFL's total dues of ₹11,541.44 crore.

However, the gains have been short-lived as the local unit has been impacted by outflows from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and persistent dollar buying by state-owned banks likely on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prevented the rupee from rising further.

Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have come a long way over the past five years with profitability of top 7 PSBs under our coverage improving to an estimated Rs 909 billion in FY23 from a loss of Rs 594 billion in FY18. We estimate earnings traction to sustain aided by improved loan growth, margins and controlled credit costs," the brokerage said.

Public sector banks remained the darling of the Street as they gained by a majority. UCO Bank, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Indian Bank, and IDBI Bank joined the gainers list.

In his application to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), CCCL promoter R Sarabeswar has offered to pay ₹167 crore in cash and also promised to pay another ₹165 crore to make up for any invoked government guarantees and money received from arbitration claims from the government in the future.

Three other Indian banks also put money on the table for the acquisition of the Griffin Coal mine by Lanco, which went bankrupt. The loans turned bad in 2017 and ICICI Bank claims it as fully provided for in FY18.

“In my view, the RBI would probably continue with one more rate increase in February and could reach 6.5% after which, there could be a longer pause, depending upon how the inflation numbers look. While overall the number does look good for the entire year, we could still end up with a growth rate of around 5% to 6%. Looking at the specific industry performance within the manufacturing sector, that is what should actually be catching our attention.”

​IT index is down more than 25%. So I feel that post TCS results one thing was very clear that it looks like that IT has made a bottom. I think obviously we need to look into most of the others earnings as well to get a clearer picture.

SBI's offer to sell this account comes even as the Orissa High Court, for the second time, stayed initiation of the insolvency process against Visa after the Cuttack bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had admitted the borrower for commencement of bankruptcy proceedings, acting on a plea by Punjab National Bank (PNB) late November.

The brokerage has recently raised FY23E earnings by 8% for BoB, however, with asset quality risks abating and steady credit growth outlook, there is likelihood of further earnings upgrade.

Prabhudas Lilladher is bullish on Bank of Baroda has recommended buy rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 220 in its research report dated January 11, 2023.

Goldman Sachs maintained a buy rating on PVR for a target of Rs 2250. It was a subdued quarter which is not indicative of underlying weakness. The risk-to-reward ratio is attractive. Improving content slate, and strong pricing power are key triggers for PVR.

"Where there is uncertainty, the best thing is not to step into those muddled waters. The Indian economy has got substantial leverage plays which can really pan out across the length and breadth of the country and across the spectrum of sectoral allocations. I believe one should keep a close tab on this segment but not to venture until the scenario clears completely."

Adani Enterprises late November announced the initiation of a much-awaited follow-on public offer (FPO) to raise as much as ₹20,000 crore ($2.5 billion) from retail and institutional investors, riding piggyback on the meteoric 18-fold jump in its stock prices in the last five years. This will be the largest such issuance in India to date.