Indian shares were mixed on Friday as a drop in financials stocks after the country’s central bank tightened consumer lending rules offset a rally triggered by easing U.S. interest rate outlook and drop in oil prices.
Financials-linked indexes such as banks, financial services, private banks lost about 0.75% each, while public sector banks shed 2%. The drop in financials, the most weighted among the benchmark Nifty 50’s sub-indexes, comes amid concerns over the sector’s loan growth and profitability after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) tightened rules for personal loans and credit cards.
State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance were among the top Nifty losers, falling between 0.5% and 2.5%.
All other major Nifty sectors advanced, aided by hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will not hike rates again in this cycle as well as moderation in crude oil prices to a four-month low. A fall in oil prices is positive for importers of the commodity like India. Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd and Indian Oil Corp rose 1% each.
“Despite today’s slip due to financials, the overall sentiment in the market is positive,” said Anita Gandhi, director at Arihant Capital Markets.
Gandhi added that re-emergence of buying by foreign investors after a 15-session selling streak and the drop in crude oil prices could add to the momentum.
The Nifty 50 and Sensex have gained about 1.5% each for the week so far, pushed up by the information technology (IT) index , which has jumped 5.45% and is on track for its best week in 16 months.
