These banking and financial stocks are in action today!

RBI on Wednesday raised the benchmark lending rate or repo rate by 40 basis points (bps) to 4.40%. Further, it also hiked the cash reserve ratio by 50 bps to 4.5%. The unprecedented step was taken to counter the rising inflation that has remained above 6% for three months in a row.

Following the step by RBI, ICICI Bank has raised the external benchmark lending rate by 40 bps to 8.10%, while Bank of Baroda has hiked the repo-linked lending rate by 40 bps to 6.90%. Shares of ICICI Banks are trading up by 2.13% at Rs 739.65 while Bank of Baroda is trading at Rs 110.05 up by 1.76%.

Other banking and financial stocks that are on investors' radar are - SBI, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Equitas Small Finance Bank, Max Financial Services and IIFL Wealth Management. Let us see why!

State Bank of India (SBI): The board will meet on Tuesday, May 10, to consider raising funds to USD 2 billion through a public offer and/or private placement of senior unsecured notes in US Dollar or any other convertible currency during FY22-23. At the time of writing, SBI was trading at Rs 492.50, up 2.69% or 12.90 per share.

Kotak Mahindra Bank: The lender reported strong Q4 results on Wednesday, May 4, with consolidated PAT for Q4 FY22 coming in at Rs 3892 crore up by 50.33% from Rs 2589 crore in Q4FY21. In Q4, the lender's net interest income (NII) increased to Rs 4,521 crore, from Rs 3,843 crore in Q4FY21, up 18%t. Net Interest Margin (NIM) was 4.78% for Q4FY22. As of March 31, 2022, GNPA was 2.34% and NNPA was 0.64% and CASA ratio stood at 60.7%. Advances increased by 21% and stood at Rs 2,71,254 crore as of March 31, 2022. On Thursday, the shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank were trading at Rs 1809.95 up 1.94% or Rs 34.35 per share.

Equitas Small Finance Bank. Net Interest Income for Q4FY22 is reported at Rs 552 crore as against Rs 449 crores in Q4FY21 and NIM stands at 9.12%. PAT for Q4FY22 is at Rs 120 crore as against Rs 113 crore in Q4FY21. GNPA is reported at 4.06% which is up by 47 bps on a YoY basis but has come down by 33 bps on a sequential basis. Disbursements for FY 22 are at Rs 10549 crore and Q4 FY22 at Rs 3279 crore, which are the highest ever disbursements. On Thursday morning, the shares are trading at Rs 53.75, a gain of 3.07 per cent or 1.60 over its previous close.

Max Financial Services: On Wednesday, the NBFC reported its Q4 results wherein Assets under Management (AUM) stood at Rs 6246.80 Crore with a growth of 16.27% and PAT at Rs 42.57 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2O22, which grew by 16.55% as compared to the same period last year. Capital Adequacy Ratio (including Tier ll capital) as of March 31, 2022, stood at 26.35%. The board declared a dividend of 17.50% at Rs 1.75 per share. At the time of writing, the shares of MAS Financial Services were trading at Rs 624.75, down 5.57% or Rs 36.85 per share.

IIFL Wealth Management: IIFL Wealth Management Ltd reported a consolidated Profit After Tax of Rs 168 crore for the quarter, up 8% QoQ, and 51% YoY, and Rs 582 crore for FY22, up 58% over FY21. Revenue from operations stood at Rs 423 Crore up 12% QoQ and 59% YoY, and Rs 1,398 crore for FY22, up 53% over FY21. Asset under Management (AUM) as of March 31, 2022, stood at Rs 261,745 crore with Rs 31,422 crore net new flows in FY22. At the time of writing, the stock was trading at Rs 1753.65 with a gain of 1.5% or Rs 25.95 per share.