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The Reserve Bank of India may need to tighten retail credit norms as the unsecured loan portfolio for the banking sector doubled in four years to reach INR 11.1tn ($148bn) and risky borrowing among less-privileged sectors grew. Unsecured personal loans circulated by banks and NBFCs rose 20.2% in Q4 2022 over the same period the previous year.

Companies in India are turning to high-yield bonds and other alternative sources of finance after the removal of taxation benefits on market-linked debentures and debt mutual funds. The move has triggered a demand for private credit funds, alternative investment funds (AIFs), family offices, and high-net-worth individuals (HNIs). Private firms with ratings between BBB and A+ have seen limited appetite among qualified institutional buyers, and that has prompted them to seek funding elsewhere.

The rise of cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin and Ethereum, has piqued the interest of Indian investors and resulted in a market estimated to have 115 million investors. However, concerns around fraud and illicit activities have led to regulatory crackdowns, which may impact investors through heightened compliance obligations and short-term market fluctuations. Nevertheless, crackdowns aim to establish a secure foundation for the market.

​​Wipro is expected to get $32 million whereas Punjab National Bank, Bajaj Finance, Varun Beverages, and Adani Transmission could see inflow of $20 million each. Infosys, HCL Tech, and Equitas Small Finance could see an outflow between $13 million and $34 million.

The bond sale, which had a base size of ₹5,000 crore, received bids worth ₹23,629.50 crore, NaBFID said. SBI Capital Markets was the lead advisor to the issue, while Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas was the legal advisor.

Overnight Indexed Swap (OIS) rates, an indicator of how the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may act on policy rates, have climbed over the past eight days, reversing earlier optimism that rates were likely to head lower in the last quarter of calendar 2023.

Yet plenty on Wall Street have cause for concern. Think sobering economic signals in the bond market, rich equity valuations and febrile market patterns across decades of business cycles.

Private investment firm Bain Capital has sold partial stake in private lender Axis Bank via block deal on Thursday, while many domestic and foreign funds lapped up the shares.

I think that from a large cap side, I would think that as the banks are getting beaten down or not performing despite strong performance, I think from a perspective of one or two years, I would think ICICI bank looks reasonably placed because operationally they have been doing well, balance sheet is very strong.

​But having said that, if somebody is taking a slightly longer-term view, there is absolutely no problem. Also, I must say that there is definitely a positive tailwind behind BFSI as a whole and banking in particular and the top banks like ICICI and HDFC Bank will definitely benefit because of the tailwind. The credit growth is there, asset quality is improving and also recoveries are happening.