Sensex Closes Above 34,000, PSB NPAs Continue To Swell, And Cues To Watch Out Today

On Tuesday, share markets in India finished on an encouraging note red after trading range bound throughout the day. The BSE Sensex closed higher by 70 points to end above the 34,000 mark for the first time, at 34,011while the broader NSE Nifty ended the day higher by 39 points to close at 10,531.

Among BSE sectoral indices, realty stocks rose the most by 1.7%, followed by metal stocks by 0.8%. Bharti Airtel and Sun Pharma were among the top gainers.

Top Stocks in Action Today

IOC share price and BPCL share price is set to be in focus today amid reports that the oil majors are both keen to acquire gas utility GAIL India to become fully integrated energy companies.

Both IOC and BPCL have separately indicated to the petroleum ministry their interest in taking over GAIL to help add natural gas transportation and marketing business to their kitty.

BHEL share price is likely to be in focus today after the state-run company secured a landmark contract for 146 sets of IGBT-based 3 phase electrics for 25 KV AC Mainline EMU (MEMU) trains.

The order is valued at Rs 6.7 billion, which has been placed on BHEL by Rail Coach Factory (RCF), Kapurthala.

BHEL’s scope of the work in the order envisages design, manufacture, supply, installation and commissioning of IGBT-based propulsion system and other equipment for MEMU trains of Indian Railways.

NPAs Continue Rise

NPAs of Public Sector Banks (PSB) reached to Rs 7.33 trillion as of September 2017, mainly due to corporate defaulters despite the governments’ various efforts.

As per the RBI data, though the bad loans of PSBs are rising high, the private sector banks reported a considerably lower NPA figure of Rs 1.02 trillion.

Public sector banks appeared more stressed than private banks, with country’s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI) accounted for the largest share in the total NPAs at over Rs 1.86 trillion, followed by Punjab National Bank (Rs 576.3 billion), Bank of India (Rs 493.07 billion), Bank of Baroda (Rs 463.07 billion), Canara Bank (Rs 391.64 billion) and Union Bank of India (Rs 382.86 billion).