Markets Bounce Back, PNB Spurts

The India markets saw a smart recovery after India’s No. 2 state-owned bank Punjab National Bank reported an improvement in asset quality, which is a big concern for public sector banks. The Nifty is trading up by 2 points at 6071 and Sensex is lower by 7 points at 19,981.

The advance-decline is on the negative side in afternoon trades. On the NSE, 672 shares are in the red and 588 shares are positive.

Top 5 NSE Gainers: Punjab National Bank is the top gainer on the NSE, trading up by 4.57%, followed by HCL Technologies, SBI, Ambuja Cements and Bank of Baroda.

Top 5 NSE Losers: Sun Pharma is down by 2.62%. Axis Bank, Ranbaxy Labs, Jindal Steel and Power and NMDC are the others trading lower.

Most of the sectoral indices are trading in losses as of now. IT and TECk, though, are higher in the range of 0.87%-1.10%.

In the Asian markets, KOSPI is trading higher by 1.16%, followed by Straits Times and Taiwan Weighted. Nikkei 225 and China’s Shanghai Composite are trading lower in the range of 0.60%-0.66%.

Buzzers: Punjab National Bank moved higher by 4%, bouncing back almost 7% from its intraday low. This was after the bank saw its assets quality improve on a sequential basis, while maintaining the topline growth rate.

Public sector lender Union Bank is in the limelight ahead of its fourth quarter earnings. The stock touched an intraday high of Rs 255 and is currently trading 5% up at Rs 253.

The Nifty has seen range-bound trades in the afternoon session. If the market sustains above 6080, it may touch the 6100 mark.