'Inter-ministerial coordination, information on the proposed PSUs, and due diligence are taking longer than expected to conclude the process.'
The comments come about a week after PSU bank employee unions went to a four-day relay strike to press for early revision of wages.
Indian stock markets are expected to be driven mostly by global factors this week amid a lack of local triggers and earnings season largely coming to an end, say analysts. Crude oil prices, rupee movement and US Federal Reserve meeting minutes to be released this week will also influence the market sentiment. "With the earnings season behind us, global cues would largely dictate the trend in the coming week," Ajit Mishra, SVP - technical research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.
Stocks of public sector companies, especially the oil refining and marketing companies (OMCs) - Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) - logged gains on Tuesday in a weak market. While the Nifty lost nearly 1 per cent in trade on Tuesday, the Nifty CPSE index - a gauge of performance of central public sector enterprises on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) - gained over 3 per cent in intra-day trade. The rally in PSU stocks comes on the back of the BPCL chairman, Arun Kumar Singh suggesting in the company's annual general meeting (AGM) on Monday that the government intends to complete the divestment process in the OMC by March 2022.
Pawan Verma contended that PSU banks are influenced to give loans to the people who are not able to repay them.
Despite multiple headwinds at the start of 2023, the Indian markets delivered a strong performance, posting 19-20 per cent growth for the year. Even as new records were set, investor sentiment remains strong going into 2024, given the lower inflation, expectations of steady to lower interest rates, higher economic growth, and strong inflows. However, the overriding concern for most brokerages is valuations.
Foreign brokerages said if SBI decide to buy stake in the bank, they should buy it at Rs 1 per share as the net worth is hugely impaired.
State-run banks that hiked interest rates without their respective Boards' nod last week are expected to obtain approval now, but none of them are likely to rollback the hike, bankers felt.
Simple tips to prepare for bank interviews from M B Sivaramakrishnan, a HR professional and author of the book Guide to Bank Interviews.
Conducted by research firm IDC, the study titled 'Understanding the Indian Retail Banking Customer' says push marketing is fast becoming obsolete and the thrust should be on creating brand advocates.
The other prominent gainers were Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Wipro, State Bank of India and Larsen & Toubro. Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement and HDFC Bank were among the laggards.
Price correction over post-election peaks could throw disinvestment calculations awry.
At this time of fear and apprehension over jobs, public sector banks are swimming against the tide to go on a hiring spree.
The banking stocks have been rallying since the RBI policy announcement four days back, and today they got an booster after the Cabinet cleared capital infusion of Rs 15,000 cr in PSU banks.
Bajaj Finserv was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding over 3 per cent, followed by Maruti, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance and HDFC.
"Subject to synergy, subject to reasonable similarity in culture, they (public sector banks) in the next 5-10 years really need to look at consolidation and merger," finance secretary Ashok Chawla said after launching the mobile banking service of Vijaya Bank in New Delhi.
Punjab National Bank is the second largest PSU bank, in which government holding is 58.87 per cent.
'I find the RBI edict to the Kotak Mahindra Bank to reduce Uday Kotak's shareholding very unreasonable,' says Sudhir Bisht.
The most sought after exam for aspiring probationary officers will be held on Sunday, April 28.
Replying to a question on charges of money laundering by certain employees of three private sector banks, Chidambaram said the RBI and the Finance Ministry are looking into the issue.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday asked banks to tap the vast opportunity provided by the semi-urban and rural markets by converting savings in these areas into financial assets.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that at a time when the private sector has been somewhat conservative in investments, public investment always takes the lead.
The government on Monday said there was "tremendous" need for consolidation to enable banks gain financial muscle and absorb risks in the years to come.\n
Jefferies has identified 11 stocks set to benefit from long-term macro trends like capital expenditures, government manufacturing initiatives, and financialisation.
Bank of Baroda Q4 results: Key brokerages have raised their target prices on Bank of Baroda after the state-owned lender posted better-than-expected March quarter (Q4FY23) results. Analysts now see up to 29 per cent upside in the stock from a one-year perspective as they believe BoB is well-placed among the large public banks with nearly all key business metrics moving closer to the top-tier banks. Valuations, too, remain attractive despite steady strong quarterly performances.
"The bank strike is expected to be called off today. I am being told that talks are on between the bank associations and worker unions," he said replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour.
A local official confirmed the incidents but said the causes of these suicides were yet to be ascertained.
The S&P BSE Sensex and the Nifty50 have hit record highs amid the poll outcome-triggered bull frenzy at the bourses. Most analysts feel that the indices are on course to rise further over the next few months - till the general elections - albeit amid intermittent corrections - largely triggered by global developments. Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) win in the three state elections of Madhya Pradesh (MP), Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, analysts at Jefferies believe, reinforces the consensus expectations of a Modi win 2024 national elections with a greater likelihood of over 300 seats for the BJP.
When AS-15 became operative in 2006, the initial estimate for additional pension provisioning was estimated at Rs 6,000 crore. However, the latest wage revision may bring in an additional 275,000 bank employees who opted for PF. Banks may also provide for the pension liabilities of 65,000 employees who have retired but have been seeking resort to the defined pension scheme since 1996. This will require additional provisioning of Rs 6,000 crore.
FM recommended a 0.5% cut in deposit and lending rates to banks to encourage investments.
The government on Thursday said it will encourage mergers of public sector banks to create strong entities, which can compete with other world-class banks.
It is to keep labour unions away and make the employees feel important.
Mangalore-based Corporation Bank is considering merger of its housing finance arm Corporation Bank Homes with itself.
HDFC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting over 2 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, M&M, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement and ONGC. NSE Nifty rose 98.35 points to 14,823.15.
The meeting comes a day after Finance Minister P Chidambaram met heads of PSU banks and got an assurance from Indian Banks Association that banks would consider interest rate cut and come up with some decisions on the price at which credit will be delivered to different sectors. Following the meeting many public sector banks announced their decision to cut lending rates by up to 75 basis points.
The government on Monday said that its mantra for banking reforms would be 'consolidation, competition and convergence' to enable PSU banks to become more stronger, bigger and globally competitive.
Enthused by government's commitment to act proactively and ensure more liquidity to promote economic growth, ICICI Bank managing director K V Kamath on Monday promised to review interest rate in the next few days.
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