Sensex ends at 33,703; PNB settles in green after 5-day bloodbath, other PSU banks rally up to 5%

India’s stock market ended on a negative note on Tuesday after falling in the last hour of the closing bell with Sensex losing 71 points to end at 33,703 and Nifty shedding 18 points to conclude at 10,360. Indian equity markets traded saw a vertical decline at around 2:45 pm with the BSE Sensex tumbling 116.77 points to hit the day’s low of 33,657.89 after trading higher up until the afternoon trades. Shares of the fraud-hit Punjab National Bank finally managed to close in green after the five-day bloodbath as India’s second-largest lender was hit by the so-called biggest banking scam in the nation. The S&P BSE Sensex fell 71.07 points or 0.21% to finish at 33,703.59 whereas NSE Nifty ended 18 points or 0.17% lower at 10,360.4 on Tuesday.

Shares of Punjab National Bank jumped 0.47% to close at Rs 117.05 after hitting an all-new 52-week low of Rs 111 on NSE. Following the recovery in the shares of PNB, the benchmark Nifty PSU Bank index also managed to end in green with shares of Syndicate Bank, Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Indian Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Canara Bank, Andhra Bank, Union Bank of India, Allahabad Bank, Bank of Baroda and State Bank of India gaining up to 5%. Nifty PSU Bank advanced 0.83% to finish at 3,136.55.

In the last 5 days of trading, following a steep plunge in the shares of Punjab National Bank, about Rs 10,904 had been washed away from the market capitalisation of PNB. As per today’s closing price of Rs 116.55, PNB commands a market capitalisation of Rs 28,270.22 crore as against Rs 39,175 on 12 February 2018. Earlier last week on 14 February, PNB said that the bank has found fraudulent transactions totalling $1.77 billion or Rs 11,400 crore (approx). The diamond merchant Nirav Modi was allegedly named in obtaining buyer’s credit against the fake LOUs (Letter of Undertakings) from Punjab National Bank through the unauthorised process.

Shares of Coal India, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India, TCS and Hero MotoCorp were the only notable gainers while M&M, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma and HDFC Bank lost up to 3%. During the day, the 30-share indicator Sensex moved in a range of 33,657.89-33,960.95. Among the group ‘A’ shares of BSE, stocks of Jindal Saw, Fortis Healthcare were the lead gainers while the stock of Astra Microwave Products, Prestige Estates Projects, Vakrangee, Religare Enterprises and L&T Tech lost up to 6.1%.