New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) are closely monitoring developments in financial markets and are ready to take appropriate steps if needed, a central bank statement said on Sunday.
The statement comes after the Indian stocks, forex and bonds market turned volatile on Friday on worries over weak balance sheets of housing finance companies.
Shares of housing finance companies came under sharp selling pressure on Friday after Dewan Housing Finance Corp. Ltd (DHFL) slumped nearly 60% in afternoon trade, dragging down other home finance companies as well. Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd slumped 23%, Gruh Finance 15%, LIC Housing Finance Ltd 15% and L&T Housing Finance Ltd 12%.
DHFL shares closed at ₹ 351.55 per share on the BSE, down 42.43%, or ₹ 259.05, from the previous session. The benchmark Sensex fell 0.75%, or 279.62 points, to end the day at 36,841.60 points.
The real estate market has been under pressure as firms have not able to raise funds due various policy steps—RERA, GST and demonetisation—taken by the government to curb black money.
The rupee, Asia’s worst performing currency this year against the US dollar, has lost about 12% of its value against the U.S. currency so far this year, hitting successive lows in the past few weeks amid a widening current account deficit and a selloff in emerging markets.