Indian shares fall as banks drag; oil tops $110
Indian shares declined on Tuesday, as higher crude prices hurt sentiment and banking stocks came under pressure after the Reserve Bank of India’s final credit-loss guidelines. Brent crude rose above $110 a barrel as efforts to end the Middle East war appeared to have stalled. Higher oil prices are a negative for India, the world’s third-largest crude importer, due to heightened inflation risks and pressure on economic growth and corporate earnings. The Nifty 50 fell 0.4% to 23,995.70, while the BSE Sensex shed 0.54% to 76,886.91. Both benchmarks rose about 0.3% in the first hour, but reversed course ahead of the monthly derivatives expiry. Ten of the 16 major sectors logged losses. High-weight banks, private banks and state-owned lenders lost 1.5%, 1.2% and 2.2%, respectively, after the RBI’s new rules. “The market has taken cognisance of the fact that the upcoming expected credit-loss norms could erode profitability due to higher Stage 2 provisioning,” said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president of retail equities, SMC Global.