India's mid-sized private lenders rise as RBI eases strict loan rules

AU Small Finance Bank

27/02/2025 04:40

** Shares of Bandhan Bank BANH.NS surge 7.3%, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank UJJI.NS up 5%, AU Small Finance Bank AUFI.NS and IndusInd Bank INBK.NS rise 4% and 1.4%, respectively

** Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday partially  reversed tighter rules for bank loans to small borrowers and non-bank lenders

** BANH sees best intra-day percentage gain since January 14, 2025

** RBI's move should provide relief to banks with higher exposure to microfinance sector, Nomura said

** Shares of AU Small Finance Bank lost 28%, Bandhan Bank fell 37% and IndusInd Bank was down 31% as of last close, since RBI's risk weight hike in November 2023

** Financial stocks .NIFTYFIN gain 0.8%

** Cholamandalam Investment CHLA.NS and Shriram Finance SHMF.NS lead gains in financial stocks, rising 4.4% and 3.6%, respectively; Bajaj Finance BJFN.NS shares rise 2.5%

 (Reporting by Sethuraman NR in Bengaluru)

 ((Sethuraman.NR@thomsonreuters.com; (+91 9945291420); Reuters Messaging: nallur.sethuraman.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))