Top Nifty gainers and losers at mid-day: SBI Life Insurance up; SBI, Axis sink

Nifty rebounds from lows to stabilize near 19,750 while the NSE Advance-Decline ratio favours gainers. Small-caps shine in the broader markets, outperforming major indices. At 12:40 pm, the Sensex was down 61.75 points or 0.09 percent at 65,920.73, and the Nifty was up 2.40 points or 0.01 percent at 19,767.60. About 1812 shares advanced, 1335 shares declined, and 99 shares unchanged.

SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd: Shares of the insurance major surged over 4 percent to Rs 1,426 on November 17, extending gains for the third day in a row. As many as 21 lakh shares changed hands as against the 1-month average of 8 lakh shares.

HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd: Shares of the company advanced nearly 3 percent to Rs 653, a day after the stock traded in the red. Over the last five sessions, the scrip has surged nearly 5 percent on the exchanges. Over 26 lakh shares changed hands on the bourses, higher than the 1-month average of 21 lakh shares.

Hero Motocorp Ltd: Shares of the two-wheeler major climbed over 2 percent to Rs 3,350, extending gains for the fifth day in a row. The surge comes after it announced its highest-ever retail sales during India’s month-long festive season. The two-wheeler manufacturer revealed in a Thursday exchange filing that it sold over 1.4 million units in the retail market during the 32-day festive period, marking a 19 percent year-on-year growth.

Asian Paints Ltd: Shares of the paint giant rose 2.2 oercent to Rs 3,196, extending gains for the third day in a row after crude prices dropped to a four-month low, sparking hopes of lower input costs.Crude derivatives are key raw materials for paint manufacturing, accounting for almost 40 percent of the input bill for paint manufacturers. A fall in the price of crude can mean wider profit margins.

Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Ltd: Shares of the healthcare giant rose 2 percent to Rs 5,456, raollying for the third day in a row on November 17. About 5 lakh shares changed hands, matching the 1-month average. Brokerage firm Prabhudas Lilladher, in a recent report, mentioned its bullish stance on the stock citing a solid growth platform across segments.

SBI Ltd: Shares of India’s largest public sector lender slumped over 3 percent to Rs 566 a day after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) tightened norms for personal loans and credit cards to check the unbridled growth in this segment.

Axis Bank Ltd: Shares of the private lender tanked close to 3 percent to Rs 995 after the RBI tightened norms for personal loans and credit cards to check the unbridled growth in this segment. The central bank has raised credit risk weights on unsecured consumer loans by increasing the capital requirements for such loans as concerns have been growing over these borrowings.

ONGC Ltd: Shares of the oil exploration major fell over 2 percent to Rs 197 after crude oil prices dropped to a four-month low. Typically, a drop in the crude price has a negative impact on the company’s profitability due to lower realizations from its revenues.

Bajaj Finance Ltd: Shares traded in losses by falling 1.7 percent to Rs 7,236 after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) tightened the norms for personal loans and credit cards. A day earlier, the central bank increased the risk weight on consumer loans as the unbridled growth of these unsecured loans has been causing concern. The move, in the form of higher capital requirements, could raise lending rates for unsecured customer loans.

ICICI Bank Ltd: Shares of the bank fell almost a percent to Rs 928 after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) tightened norms for personal loans and credit cards. The RBI on November 16 raised the risk weights for lenders and NBFCs by 25 percentage points to 125 percent on unsecured retail loans.