Banking sector shares gained in trade on April 15 even as the headline indices traded lower during the day. The Nifty Bank index extended its gaining spree for the third straight day as it gained nearly 1 per cent to trade higher at 52,881.4 levels. On the other hand, the benchmark Nifty traded at 23,307.55 levels down by 21 points or 0.09 per cent.
IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Punjab National Bank Shares Gain
Shares of IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank and Punjab National Bank gained the most among the constituents of the Nifty Bank index. IndusInd Bank shares gained the most as they surged 6.78 per cent to trade at Rs 785.8 apiece on the NSE at the time of writing.
Earlier today shares of IndusInd Bank rallied 7.79 per cent to trade at an intraday high of Rs 793.25 apiece on the NSE. IndusInd Bank's stock gained after the lender said that an external auditor found the impact of the discrepancies in the bank's derivatives portfolio to be lower than its estimate.
The agency found that the impact of the discrepancy to be around Rs 1,979 crore or 2.27 per cent of IndusInd Bank’s total net worth which is below the bank’s estimate of 2.35 per cent.
The other major gainers Axis Bank and Punjab National Bank traded higher by 4.05 per cent and 2.19 per cent respectively on the NSE. Other constituents of the index such as Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda and IDFC Firstbank, Federal Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India also traded higher by up to 2.01 per cent higher at the time of writing.
The index surged in today’s trade as 10 out of 12 constituents traded in the green. On the other hand shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank and ICICI Bank traded marginally lower, down by 0.20 per cent and 0.24 per cent respectively.
Notably, shares of HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank are the top constituents of the index in terms of weightage. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank hold 28.27 per cent, 25.38 per cent and 8.53 per cent weightage in the index.
Why Is Nifty Bank Index Gaining
The Nifty Bank index has gained for the past three sessions. At the day-high level, the index has gained nearly 5 per cent since April 9 when it closed at 50,240.15. Trump’s decision to pause tariffs along with easing macroeconomic pressures have contributed to the three-session rally seen in banking sector stocks.
Data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation on April 15 showed that the country’s headline inflation fell to a 67-month low of 3.34 per cent in March. On the other hand core inflation also declined in March 2025. The ministry expected CPI inflation to decline to 3.9 per cent in Q4 FY25 and an average of 4.7 per cent for FY25. The FY26 projection for inflation ranges between 4.0-4.2 per cent, while core inflation is projected to range between 4.2-4.4 per cent.
These macroeconomic changes are likely to enable further rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India in the coming days. Increased chances of a rate cut might have also contributed to the rally seen in the Nifty Bank index. Typically rate cuts help the banking sector in decreasing the cost of acquiring funds, which in turn can potentially increase margins for banks.
Bhavya Shah the Head of Research, at Wallfort PMS told Outlook Money that multiple factors such as easing inflation rates, robust GDP growth and positive outlook for agriculture and manufacturing sector are expected to improve credit growth for the banking sector.
“Indicators in terms of easing of inflation, robust GDP growth forecast, positive outlook for agriculture and manufacturing sector, healthy rural demand and improving urban consumption lead us to believe that banking sector is poised for decent credit growth.
Shah added that despite the high credit growth potential maintaining healthy asset quality is likely to remain a challenge for banks. He added that rate-cuts are expected to support growth only if other macroeconomic factors remain robust.
Key challenge to address is maintain healthy asset quality while efficiently manage borrowing/deposit side. RBI’s accommodative stance reflects flexibility the current economic scenario presents to manoeuvre to support growth, however, rate cuts will support or drive further growth when various growth indicators mentioned remains robust.
