Nifty Bank scales fresh all-time high; SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank gain

NEW DELHI: The Nifty Bank index crossed 23,800 mark for the first time on Monday after the central bank asked banks to start bankruptcy process against 12 large loan defaulters, raising hopes that reduction of bad debt will start to quicken.

Private sector lenders HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Federal Bank hit their fresh 52-week high during the trade.

Public sector majors State Bank of India, was trading nearly 3 per cent up in the late afternoon trade and ended the session 0.93 per cent up at 288.50. Bank of Baroda was up 0.55 per cent at 168.25. However, it corrected to 168, down 0.03 per cent at the end of the session.

The domestic banking system has been grappling with the issue of non-performing assets ( NPA) which is estimated to be of Rs 10 lakh crore.

Last week, the RBI had identified 12 such accounts that may soon be taken to the bankruptcy courts as they have failed to repay their loan amounts.

The Nifty Bank index was 1.02 per cent up at 23,742.15. The index opened at 23,571 and touched a high and low of 23,806.65 and 23,535.70, respectively.