Indian shares led lower by ICICI Bank

by Richard Kilner

Story link: Indian shares led lower by ICICI Bank

Yesterday shares in India tumbled by 2% to reach their lowest ebb for half a year.

Leading the charge downhill was ICICI Bank, which reported that up to 9% could be cut from its profits following losses in investments.

It is speculated that other banks could see substantial writedowns following the US subprime mortgage crisis and credit crunch.

ICICI is particularly important, being the second largest lender in India, in addition to being the second biggest stock on the index.

Initially the bank’s shares slumped in value by 9.3%, only to stage something of a rally, and finish down by 5.2% (Rs971.60).

The BSE Index saw 337.99 points wiped from its value, with nineteen out of thirty components falling, to end the day on 16,339.89.

This year has not been a happy one for the index, which has lost 19.5% since 2008 began.