Sensex, Nifty close lower on PNB scam

NEW DELHI, Feb 16: PNB scam came back to haunt Dalal Street investors on Friday, as benchmark indices reversed early gains to end nearly a per cent lower, bogged down by losses in frontline bank stocks such as SBI and YES Bank, report agencies.

While the Sensex closed 286 points lower to 34,010, Nifty fell 93 points to close at 10,452 points.

The Sensex rose nearly 211 points in early trade to hit an intra-day high of 34,508 level. The index saw a continuous slide through the day as the impact of Rs 114.00 billion fraud in Punjab National Bank was felt on other lenders who had exposure to these funds.

Bank stocks were among the top losers with BSE bankex falling 335 points or 1.17 per cent to 28,396 level.

Bank Nifty too plunged 1.02 per cent or 260 points to 25,163 level. Auto and capital goods indices too shed 414 pts (1.65 per cent) and 258 points (1.33 per cent) on the BSE.

SBI, which has been directly affected by such unauthorised transactions was the top Sensex loser falling 2.55 per cent at 271 points. Reports said SBI had exposure of Rs 13.00 billion to the fraud. YES Bank (2.52 per cent), ICICI Bank (2.31 per cent) and Adani Ports (2.08 per cent) were other major losers on the index.

"Movement is erratic in many shares... impact on PNB stock may be done, but if other banks have exposure to the same group, then it could become an issue," said Jayant Manglik, President-Retail Distribution, Religare Broking.

Small cap and midcap indices led the decline falling 1.22 per cent and 1.20 per cent each.

Market breadth was negative with 709 stocks closing higher against 2095 falling on the BSE. 114 stocks were unchanged.

The Punjab National Bank stock closed 2.10 per cent lower at 125.65 level on BSE. During the last two trading sessions, the stock fell over 20 per cent on disclosure of Rs 114 billion fraud by the lender.

Shares of Gitanjali Gems tanked another 20 per cent after the detection of Punjab National Bank's fraud. Gitanjali Gems is one of the companies charged by investigating agencies for colluding with Nirav Modi in carrying out the fraud. The stock closed 19.94 per cent or 9.35 points to 37.55 level on BSE.