Here's how the Banking stocks are doing at the Markets today

Banking futures, particularly of PSU lenders, were among the top gainers in the futures and options space on news that the Finance Ministry had called for a press conference and 4 pm today. The market is expecting Minister Arun Jaitley to recapitalise some of these banks after dismal numbers on non performing assets hit these stocks badly earlier this month.

The entire sector was painted with a dark shade of green. Overall the sector rose an average 3.7 percent in price and 2.4 percent to total Open Interest in the derivatives space. The top gainers included:

Punjab National Bank added 5.7 percent to 162 rupees
Oriental Bank of Commerce rose 5.4 percent to 167.70 rupees
Bank of India was up 5.4 percent to 166.35 rupees
Canara Bank surged 4.9 percent to 363.80 rupees
Allahabad Bank gained 4.9 percent to 90 rupees
Union Bank was up 4.7 percent to 206.50 rupees
Bank of Baroda rose 4.2 percent to 185 rupees

Open Interest for these bank futures gained between 1.4 percent to 12.9 percent.

Public sector banks' balance sheets have been weighed down by a sharp rise in both net-non performing assets and gross non performing assets as major sectors like Steel, Power and infrastructure suffer a sharp slowdown in earnings and sales. Dozens of borrowers have been unable to pay interest on their debt and have lined up to get loans restructured.

Image credit: Indiatimes