<p>Bengaluru: Shares of India's HDFC Bank stock fell as much as 7 per cent on Wednesday, marking their worst intraday fall since May 2020, after the country's biggest private lender reported weak margins for a second consecutive quarter.</p>.<p>While HDFC Bank's standalone net profit for the third fiscal quarter beat analysts estimates, its core net interest margin (NIM) on total assets fell to 3.4 per cent from 3.65 per cent in the previous quarter.</p>.<p>Those margins were above 4 per cent for the bank before it merged with parent Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) in July last year.</p>.India’s markets are turning into an inexorable force.<p>Since then, HDFC's higher borrowing costs and a lower-yielding loan book have weighed on the margins in the two quarters it has reported results as a merged entity.</p>.<p>Brokerage Jefferies said margins were a "key miss" and that higher retail deposit mobilisation and lending will be key to lifting NIMs.</p>.<p>HDFC Bank's stock was last down about 6 per cent on Wednesday and was the main reason for the benchmark Nifty 50 index's 1 per cent drop.</p>.<p>"Improvement in NIM is critical for re-rating of the stock," Macquarie said in a report late on Tuesday.</p>.<p>HDFC Bank's stock rose around 5 per cent in 2023, less than the 12.3 per cent jump in the Nifty Bank index and a 20 per cent gain in the Nifty 50. </p>
<p>Bengaluru: Shares of India's HDFC Bank stock fell as much as 7 per cent on Wednesday, marking their worst intraday fall since May 2020, after the country's biggest private lender reported weak margins for a second consecutive quarter.</p>.<p>While HDFC Bank's standalone net profit for the third fiscal quarter beat analysts estimates, its core net interest margin (NIM) on total assets fell to 3.4 per cent from 3.65 per cent in the previous quarter.</p>.<p>Those margins were above 4 per cent for the bank before it merged with parent Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) in July last year.</p>.India’s markets are turning into an inexorable force.<p>Since then, HDFC's higher borrowing costs and a lower-yielding loan book have weighed on the margins in the two quarters it has reported results as a merged entity.</p>.<p>Brokerage Jefferies said margins were a "key miss" and that higher retail deposit mobilisation and lending will be key to lifting NIMs.</p>.<p>HDFC Bank's stock was last down about 6 per cent on Wednesday and was the main reason for the benchmark Nifty 50 index's 1 per cent drop.</p>.<p>"Improvement in NIM is critical for re-rating of the stock," Macquarie said in a report late on Tuesday.</p>.<p>HDFC Bank's stock rose around 5 per cent in 2023, less than the 12.3 per cent jump in the Nifty Bank index and a 20 per cent gain in the Nifty 50. </p>