PSU banks slide up to 5% amid war-led selloff; UCO, BoB, punished most

PSU bank stocks fell up to 5% on Friday amid a broader rout in the stock markets. Investors' wealth eroded by over Rs 8 lakh crore, weighed down by the Iran-Israel war, falling rupee and foreign investment outflows. The Nifty PSU Bank index was the worst sectoral loser, dropping 3.4% or 300 points intraday to hit the day's low of 8,285.

All 12 stocks in the index were trading in the red, with Punjab National Bank (PNB) emerging as the worst loser in the pack. It fell nearly 5%, hitting the session's low of Rs 105.01 on the NSE. The next to follow were Bank of Baroda (BoB), Canara Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB) and UCO Bank, each declining by over 4%.

The other losers include Bank of India, Indian Bank, Central Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of Maharashtra, which were down between 1.6% and 3.6% around 2:30 pm.


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Price performance in war period

The war, which began nearly a month ago on February 28, has washed away the entire month for PSU lenders. The index has fallen nearly 16% in this period, with stocks plunging up to 20%. Not a single stock has managed to deliver positive returns.

UCO Bank remains the biggest laggard (-20%), closely followed by BoB (-19%) and PNB (-19%). The rest have also fallen in double digits.

While investors punished most sectors, the onslaught was most severe on PSU banks. The broader Nifty plunged 400 points or 1.7% intraday.

Meanwhile, the 30-stock BSE Sensex tanked 1,650 points to hit the day's low of 73,621.17. The all-India market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies eroded by Rs 8 lakh crore, falling to Rs 423 lakh crore from Rs 431 lakh crore.

The decline followed a strong two-day rally of over 3.5% in the benchmarks. A record-low rupee, along with fading hopes of a de-escalation in the Iran-US conflict, weighed on sentiment and brought bears back to Dalal Street.

The situation remains fluid, with Iran and the US failing to reach an agreement. US President Donald Trump reiterated that talks with Iran were going “very well”. However, an Iranian official quoted by Reuters said that the US proposal for ending the war was “one-sided and unfair”.

Trump announced late on Thursday that he is postponing an attack on Iran’s energy facilities, as he delayed the deadline for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz to April 6. The announcement did not impress markets, as investors chose to book profits after a two-day rally.

The INR fell to 94.79 per dollar, breaching its previous all-time low of 93.98 hit earlier this week. It has declined about 3.5% since the war began late last month.

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