HDFCBANK

MUMBAI, May 14 (Reuters) - India's HDB Financial Services HDBF.NS plans to raise up to 16.75 billion rupees ($175 million), including a greenshoe option of 13.75 billion rupees, through the sale of bonds maturing in three years, three bankers said on Thursday.

It will pay a floating-rate coupon, with an initial rate at 7.3517%, and subsequent rates will be based on a three-month t-bill rate with a spread of 205 basis points, they said, adding the company has invited commitment bids on Friday.

HDB Financial did not immediately respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on May 14:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 95.7300 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Eileen Soreng)

((Dharamraj.dhutia@tr.com))

** India's bank index .NSEBANK falls 1.1% while private .NIFPVTBNK, state-owned lenders .NIFTYPSU drop 1.3% each

** Drag broader markets 0.7% lower, with top-weighted HDFC Bank HDBK.NS down 2.2%

** Jefferies says Indian banks underperformed EM, regional peers YTD on Iran war concerns, HDFC leadership issues

** HDFC chairman's surprise exit hurt bank valuations, pressuring other lenders despite Reuters report on review finding no major governance issues - Jefferies

** Jefferies says clarity on HDFC leadership "crucial for re-rating" in banking sector

** Bank sector's price-to-book ratio of 1.5x near 20-year lows, barring COVID-19, 2008 crisis periods

** YTD, NSEBANK down 7.5%; HDBK leads losses, down 21.5%

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

((bharath.rajeswaran@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9769003463;))

** HDFC Bank HDBK.NS shares rise nearly 3% to 796.95

** Law firms reviewing governance at the bank set to report that they have not found any major lapses, Reuters reported

** Shares were up about 2% before the report

** Clearance will pave way for reappointment of CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan

** Review after Atanu Chakraborty resigned as chairman, citing "incongruence" between personal values and bank practices

** None of the involved parties respond to request for comment, including HDFC and Chakraborty

** Thirty-eight analysts have a "strong buy" rating on avg; median PT is 1,050 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, HDBK down about 20%

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru)

((UrviManoj.Dugar@thomsonreuters.com;))

By Dharamraj Dhutia

MUMBAI, May 5 (Reuters) - Currency in circulation in India surged by over 610 billion rupees ($6.40 billion) in the first 15 days of April, pushing the total to a record 42.3 trillion rupees, and a sustained pattern could impact liquidity, economists said.

The spike, up 11.8% on-year and the highest since early 2017 after demonetisation, extends a rise in cash demand seen over the past six months and through the last financial year, central bank data showed.

Currency demand had been "somewhat subdued" relative to GDP growth in recent years, setting the stage for a sharper rebound, helped by strong rural demand, said Abhishek Upadhyay, co-head of research at ICICI Securities Primary Dealership.

A cut in the goods and services tax on several daily-use items in September also boosted demand.

Lower interest rates have further supported cash usage, particularly in rural areas with a higher propensity to spend, said Soumya Kanti Ghosh, group chief economic adviser at State Bank of India.

He added that higher prices of precious metals may have also lifted currency in circulation through recycling of gold and silver from households.

The surge, if it persists, could pose a challenge for surplus liquidity in the banking system, which the central bank has tried to maintain to support economic activity.

HDFC Bank expects the liquidity surplus to average around 1% of deposits in the first half of the current financial year, before easing to 0.5% in second half.

"But if CIC continues to remain elevated due to rise in inflation, further acceleration in rural demand, and any impact from state elections, liquidity balances could move towards the lower band of the forecast range," economist Sakshi Gupta said.

The RBI said in March that holding the surplus within a range of 0.6%-1.1% of deposits helps in keeping the spread between weighted average call rate and policy rate narrow.

RBI's infusions have kept banking liquidity in surplus but going forward, while RBI dividend will support it, CIC will drain it further, said Dhiraj Nim, an economist and FX strategist at ANZ.

($1 = 95.2725 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

((DharamrajLalit.Dhutia@thomsonreuters.com;))

Mumbai, May 2 (Reuters) - India's Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS reported a jump in fourth-quarter profit that beat estimates on Saturday, supported by strong loan growth and lower provisions for potential bad loans.

The country's third-largest private lender's standalone net profit rose 13% to 40.27 billion rupees for the quarter ended March 31 from last year. Analysts had expected a profit of 37.37 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Loan demand in India gained momentum in the second half of the fiscal year ended in March ​as easing inflation and lower taxes supported household spending and corporate borrowing.

The lender's net advances expanded 16% in the quarter from a year earlier, mainly driven by retail and corporate loans. Total deposits rose by 15%.

Last month, larger peers HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and ICICI Bank ICBK.NS beat profit views aided by strong loan growth.

Net interest income – the difference between interest earned on loans and interest paid on deposits - rose 8% ​to 78.76 billion rupees.

Provisions and contingencies fell 36% quarter-on-quarter and 43% year-on-year to 5.16 billion rupees.

The lender's gross non-performing asset ratio fell to 1.2% at the end of March, from 1.42% in the year-ago quarter.

(Reporting by Ashwin Manikandan, Jayshree P Upadhyay in Mumbai and Nishit Navin in Bangalore; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair and Peter Graff)

((Nishit.Navin@thomsonreuters.com;))

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, April 30 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The jobs crisis stirring in India’s vast outsourcing industry spells trouble for the country’s $4 trillion consumption-led economy. With the gap between household income and spending already widening, the consequences of the churn on finance and markets will be far-reaching.

White collar jobs are starting to disappear in the world’s services capital where many global firms employ thousands of staff in global capability centres that are responsible for everything from back-office functions to fraud detection to critical research and development.

Following the launch of artificial intelligence tools by Anthropic and others that allow companies do the same amount of work with fewer people, Oracle ORCL.N laid off 10,000 workers, or one-fifth of its India workforce in March, and Amazon.com AMZN.O let go of 500 people in the country in January, the Economic Times reported, citing sources. It looks like just the beginning of the headcount reductions.

One executive of a global bank told Reuters Breakingviews their workforce in India could shrink by one-third. This could happen quickly within just one or two years because of the double digit attrition rates at offices of global firms in cities including Bengaluru, Gurugram and Pune. JPMorgan Chase JPM.N has a whopping 55,000 employees in the country, which equals about one-fifth of its total workforce and includes one-third of all its technologists; HSBC’s HSBA.L 47,000 local employees make up 23% of its global headcount.

Then there is also “AI deflation” – the term Indian IT firms that typically lap up fresh graduates use to refer to slowing revenue growth. Annual revenue in U.S. dollar terms at industry leader Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS shrunk for the year ended March 2026, marking the first decline since the $97 billion company's initial public offering ​in 2004.

Altogether, global capability centres and the IT sector employ up to 15 million people who anchor India’s middle class and whose jobs are under threat from generative AI, Bernstein analysts Venugopal Garre and Nikhil Arela said last week in an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Though this is a small fraction of India’s 616-million-strong workforce comprised mostly of swathes of informal and agricultural workers, the AI vulnerable cohort represents a sizeable chunk of the employed within the rising middle class. With fewer jobs, there will also be pressure on salaries for those who keep theirs.

For India, advances in generative AI are intensifying the intractable challenge of creating enough jobs in a country that skipped over the traditional manufacturing route and where 8 million people enter the workforce each year. Modi's push to drive manufacturing isn’t softening the blow much either, thanks to factory automation.

There are already signs that India’s world-beating 7.8% growth is decoupling from employment generation: New Delhi’s latest Economic Survey notes that since 2022 – the same year that OpenAI launched ChatGPT -- the labour intensity of output has marginally declined. That rupture will deepen unless workers upskill, the survey says, with the change coming “not in a single shock, but in a quiet, steady drift”.

This threatens a blow to spending on what people want, rather than what they need. Private consumption accounts for about 60% of GDP and the top 140 million Indians who on average each earn roughly $15,000 per annum, according to Blume Ventures, drive two-thirds of discretionary spending.

Any contraction in their incomes could force them to cut back, hitting sales of goods from new homes to cars and demand for experiences from dining out to live events. There will be a ripple effect too: Middle-class homes in India employ cooks, cleaners and drivers.

Demand for their services, and those of India’s vast gig economy servicing the middle class, would recede. That puts at risk earnings of carmakers, consumer groups and financial services providers which, together with Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries RELI.NS – the owner of India’s largest retailer - account for nearly 62% of the benchmark Nifty 50 index .NSEI. Sluggish consumption is already hurting some of them: small car sales slowed at Maruti Suzuki India MRTI.NS last year and Unilever's ULVR.L Indian unit has been grappling with weak urban demand.

A potential 30% reduction in the 15-million-strong outsourcing and global capability centre workforce over the next two years could shrink the top consuming class by about 5 million to 135 million.

Assuming Blume Ventures' annual income estimate of $15,000, this cohort's total spending power stands to fall by roughly $75 billion a year, assuming those people don't find other employment or sources of income. That's equivalent to 10% of the Nifty 50 constituents’ net sales of 71.3 trillion rupees ($755 billion) for the financial year ended March 2025, per data from the National Stock Exchange.

Overall household savings are already declining as indebtedness mounts: Indians saved barely 23% of their personal disposable income in the financial year to March 2025, according to an estimate by CLSA, down from nearly 30% two decades earlier. Debt as a share of disposable income surged to 55% from 31% over the same period.

While India’s household debt to GDP ratio is much lower than for most peer economies, meagre earnings mean Indians end up spending 13% of their income on repaying borrowings, higher than 8.5% for China and 8% for the US.

Much of what Indians borrow goes towards financing consumption rather than creating assets. Households are leveraging up to pay for everything from overseas vacations to weddings and smartphone purchases.

Such financing, which the Reserve Bank of India calls non-housing retail loans, makes up 55% of household obligations and is growing faster than mortgages. India's household debt to GDP ratio stands at 41.9%. If half of those borrowings are consumption-linked, it implies household discretionary debt amounts to roughly 21% of GDP. Apply that to India’s nominal GDP of 331 trillion rupees for 2024-25 and you have at risk loans worth 69 trillion rupees across the country’s banks and non-bank lenders.

This threatens the loan quality at financial institutions led by the $130 billion HDFC Bank HDBK.NS as well as lenders backed by global investors from Sumitomo Mitsui Financial 8316.T to Blackstone BX.N who are accelerating their expansion in India to tap retail credit demand.

The impact of AI on the global workforce may ultimately create more jobs. First, though, it may turn India’s already weak consumption and much-vaunted demographic dividend into a nightmare.

Follow Shritama Bose on LinkedIn and X.

(Editing by Una Galani; Production by Aditya Srivastav)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on BOSE/shritama.bose@thomsonreuters.com))

MUMBAI, April 18 (Reuters) - India's HDFC Bank HDBK.NS reported a stronger-than-expected increase in fourth-quarter profit on Saturday, on a pick-up in lending to consumers but lending margins remained weak.

The bank, which is reporting its first set of quarterly earnings since its chairman resigned citing differences over "values and ethics", did not comment on the ongoing independent legal evaluation of the concerns raised in its press release.

The country's largest private lender posted a standalone net profit of 192.2 billion Indian rupees ($2.08 billion) for the quarter ended March 31, compared with 176.16 billion rupees a year earlier and marginally above analysts' estimates of 191.16 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Loan demand in India gained momentum in the second half of the fiscal year that ended in March as easing inflation and lower taxes supported household spending and corporate borrowing.

HDFC Bank's advances rose 12% from a year earlier at the end of the quarter, driven primarily by retail loans that include mortgages and personal debt. Total deposits rose 14.4%.

The lender's net interest income – the gap between interest earned on loans and interest paid on deposits, a key measure of profitability – rose 3.2% to 330.8 billion rupees.

The net interest margin was stable at 3.38% but remained below the 4% level seen before the bank merged with its parent HDFC Ltd in 2023.

Analysts have watched for an improvement in margins as an indicator of success of the $40 billion merger.

Gross non-performing loans as a share of total loans eased to 1.15% at end-March from 1.24% in the previous quarter.

Income from treasury operations fell 13.6% on-quarter to 19.25 billion rupees as rising bond yields and the Indian central bank's curbs on forex options hurt banks.

($1 = 92.5980 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ashwin Manikandan; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Louise Heavens)

((Ashwin.Manikandan@thomsonreuters.com;))

Recasts, adds details, background, dealer's comment

April 17 (Reuters) - India issued an order on Friday listing banks authorised to import gold and silver, providing relief for banks that were forced to halt imports because the list's publication was delayed.

Reuters reported earlier on Friday that more than 5 metric tons of gold and around 8 metric tons of silver were stuck without customs clearance pending the order, which is typically issued at the start of each financial year.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade, part of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, which issued the order on Friday, did not give any reason for the delay.

Authorised by the Reserve Bank of India, the order permits 15 banks, including the State Bank of India SBI.NS, HDFC Bank, HDFC.NS, Bank of India BOI.NS to import both gold and silver from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2029.

It also allows Union Bank of India and SBER Bank to import only gold.

None of the banks made any public comment.

A Mumbai-based dealer with a private bank, speaking on condition of anonymity, said banks would now be able to clear consignments from customs.

(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav and Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by YP Rajesh and Barbara Lewis)

((shilpa.jamkhandikar@thomsonreuters.com;))

Correct typographical error in headline

April 16 (Reuters) - HDB Financial Services HDBF.NS rallied as much as 11% on Thursday after the Indian non-bank lender reported a sharp 41.4% increase in quarterly profit on margin expansion and healthier asset quality

The stock touched its highest level in nearly two months, and was last up 9% at 702.25 rupees, putting it on track for its best session on record.

(Reporting by Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru)

((pranav.kashyap@tr.com; +919886482111;))

April 15 (Reuters) - Indian non-bank lender HDB Financial Services HDBF.NS posted a 41.4% rise in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, supported by healthy loan demand and a sequential improvement in asset quality.

Net profit rose to 7.51 billion rupees ($80.40 million) for the quarter ended March 31, from 5.31 billion rupees a year earlier.

($1 = 93.4080 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar)

((pranav.kashyap@tr.com; +919886482111;))

By Gopika Gopakumar

MUMBAI, April 8 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India plans to revise guidelines for bank boards to encourage greater focus on policy matters rather than day-to-day operations, Governor Sanjay Malhotra said in a monetary policy speech on Wednesday.

The move follows recent tensions at HDFC Bank HDBK.NS, the country's largest lender, where the chairman resigned abruptly, citing differences over "values and ethics."

Reuters has previously reported, citing sources, that the chairman's involvement in operational and management matters had led to internal friction with CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan.

"A comprehensive review of instructions is being undertaken following the request of banks, which will facilitate better utilisation of bank boards' time," Malhotra said.

"We propose to revise and rationalise matters that require the attention of the board. This will result in boards being able to divert more time to policy matters, leaving operational matters to the management."

(Reporting by Gopika Gopakumar; Editing by Sumana Nandy)

((Gopika.Gopakumar@thomsonreuters.com;))

** HDFC Bank HDBK.NS reports 12% growth in gross advances, 14.4% jump in deposits as of March 31, 2026

** Higher growth in deposits help reduce loan-to-deposit ratio by 400 bps to 95%

** LDR jumped in Q3 vs bank's target of bringing it down to 90% by FY27, raising concerns of slower deposit growth

** Bernstein says bank's Q4 provisional update enough to address LDR concerns that cropped up in Q3

** Macquarie says robust deposit growth, materially lower LDR should be viewed as positive

** However, Bernstein, Citi flag below system-level growth in advances

** HDBK up 0.4% at 754 rupees; benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI down 0.3%

** Stock rated "buy" on average; median PT is 1,150 rupees, per data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, HDBK down ~24%

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M)

((VivekKumar.M@thomsonreuters.com;))

April 2 (Reuters) - HDFC Bank Ltd HDBK.NS:

• HDFC BANK -TO CONSIDER ISSUANCE OF PERPETUAL DEBT INSTRUMENTS

• HDFC BANK - TO CONSIDER ISSUANCE FOR FINANCING INFRASTRUCTURE SUB- SECTORS OVER PERIOD OF NEXT TWELVE MONTHS

Source text: ID:nBSE8mYCtD

Further company coverage: HDBK.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

** JP Morgan upgrades India's HDFC Bank HDBK.NS to "overweight" from "neutral" with PT of 1,010 rupees against 1,090 rupees earlier

** Brokerage says HDBK's valuation reset creates an attractive entry point with its core franchise appearing strong; expects loan growth recovery and easing funding pressures

** Stock down 24% YTD vs 14.2% drop in banks index .NSEBANK after part-time chairman abruptly resigned on March 19; stock down 11% since then

** Jefferies says stock slump following chairman's exit has created attractive valuations with the stock trading near historical lows

** Brokerage says concerns around asset quality, board issues and merger integration look overdone

** Jefferies keeps stock among top sector picks with a buy rating and a 1,240-rupee target

** Avg rating of 38 analysts on HDBK at "buy"; median PT at 1,150 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

((Kashish.tandon@thomsonreuters.com))

March 26 (Reuters) -

• POWER STRUGGLE WITH CEO LED TO RESIGNATION OF HDFC CHAIR - FT

• CHAKRABORTY OPPOSED EXTENDING HDFC BANK CEO JAGDISHAN'S TENURE, WHILE MOST OF THE BOARD BACKED HIM - FT

Source text: [ID: https://tinyurl.com/25f3q5l8]

Further company coverage: HDBK.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

By Jayshree P Upadhyay

MUMBAI, March 26 (Reuters) - India's markets regulator has begun a preliminary review of the resignation letter of former HDFC Bank HDBK.NS chairman Atanu Chakraborty for possible violations of rules governing directors of listed companies, two sources familiar with the matter said.

Chakraborty told Reuters he was not aware of any examination by the regulator.

In his resignation letter, Chakraborty cited "certain happenings and practices within the bank" that he said were "not in congruence" with his personal values and ethics.

He did not elaborate. The letter triggered an 8.7% slide in the stock the following day and wiped $16.3 billion in market value over three sessions.

REGULATOR MAKING CHECKS

A department of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) that oversees corporate disclosures and governance is examining the former chairman and other directors for alleged failures to do their fiduciary duties, the sources said.

"(The) examination is to verify claims made in the resignation letter and whether other directors were aware of any material information and did not document them," one said.

The Reserve Bank of India, the primary regulator in the case, said last week it had found "no material ​concerns on record as regards its (bank's) conduct or governance".

"We are also checking if there was any misreporting of any events which could impact minority investors," the first source said, adding that SEBI was reviewing the adequacy of disclosures by both the bank and Chakraborty.

India's rules for listed companies require independent directors to assess the quality and timeliness of information flow between management and the board.

Email queries sent to HDFC Bank and SEBI were not immediately answered.

Chakraborty told Reuters by text that he had not made any insinuations in his letter. He added that no one from the regulator had contacted him and that he was unaware of any SEBI review.

Earlier this week, SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey, without commenting on individual cases, said independent directors must follow the code of conduct set ​out in regulations.

"No one can make insinuations without proper evidence being recorded," Pandey said. "Any such comments do have an impact on minority shareholders .... Independent directors have to be responsible in ⁠terms of ​what they say."

HDFC Bank said on Tuesday it had appointed external law firms to independently assess the concerns raised in the resignation letter. Chakraborty told Reuters the firms had not contacted him.

(Reporting by Jayshree P Upadhyay. Editing by Mark Potter)

((Jayshree.Pyasi@thomsonreuters.com; 9920092491; Reuters Messaging: Twitter: @jaysh88))

March 24 (Reuters) - HDFC Bank Ltd HDBK.NS:

• HDFC BANK: APPOINTMENT OF EXTERNAL LAW FIRMS

• HDFC BANK: CHAKRABORTY DID NOT MENTION ANY HAPPENINGS AND PRACTICES WHICH WERE NOT IN CONGRUENCE WITH HIS PERSONAL VALUES AND ETHICS

• HDFC BANK - EXTERNAL LAW FIRMS TO REVIEW CHAKRABORTY RESIGNATION LETTER AND PROVIDE REPORT

• HDFC BANK: LAW FIRMS HAVE BEEN ADVISED TO PROVIDE THEIR REPORT ON SAME WITHIN A REASONABLE PERIOD OF TIME

• HDFC BANK: CHAKRABORTY DID NOT MENTION ANY HAPPENINGS AND PRACTICES WHICH WERE NOT IN CONGRUENCE WITH HIS PERSONAL VALUES AND ETHICS

Source text: ID:nBSE2hhm2v

Further company coverage: HDBK.NS

((reuters.briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

Updates for markets close

By Bharath Rajeswaran

March 20 (Reuters) - Indian shares climbed on Friday, helping limit steep weekly losses, as investors sought bargains following a sharp selloff triggered by concerns over the Iran war and a decline in heavyweight HDFC Bank.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI rose 0.49% to 23,114.50 and the BSE Sensex .BSESN gained 0.44% to 74,532.96, on Friday.

The rupee breached the 93 per dollar mark for the first time to an all-time low against the U.S. dollar on Friday.

The Nifty and Sensex fell 3.3% each on Thursday, their worst session since June 4, 2024. However, they ended the week down only 0.16% and 0.04%, helped by value buying earlier and a partial rebound on Friday.

Brent crude LCOc1 traded at $111 a barrel on Friday after leading European nations and Japan offered to join efforts to secure safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

It rose to $119.13 a barrel in the previous session. O/R

"Investors remain wary of tensions in the Middle East, as even an immediate end to the war would leave energy supplies taking months to normalise," said Vivek Shukla, regional head at Emkay Global Financial Services.

"Still, the recent correction is beginning to draw value buyers, with more attractive valuations and entry points cushioning the markets from steep losses, as seen this week," Shukla said.

Ten of the 16 major sectors posted weekly losses. Small-caps .NIFSMCP100 fell 1.1%, while mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 rose 0.2%.

HDFC Bank HDBK.NS, the benchmarks' top weight, lost 4.5% this week after the abrupt exit of its part-time chairman.

The stock pulled financials .NIFTYFIN and private banks .NIFPVTBNK down 1.4% and 1%, respectively.

The auto index .NIFTYAUTO rose 2.2% this week after its worst weekly showing in six years last week.

On the day, IT index .NIFTYIT gained 2.2% after U.S. peer Accenture ACN.N posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema, Mrigank Dhaniwala, Janane Venkatraman and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

((bharath.rajeswaran@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9769003463;))

Add market cap losses for NSE-listed companies since Iran war broke out in paragraph 3

By Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M

March 19 (Reuters) - Indian equity benchmarks slumped more than 3% on Thursday in their worst session since June 2024, dragged down by heavyweight HDFC Bank after the abrupt exit of its chairman and by a surge in crude prices following attacks on Middle East energy facilities.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI fell 3.26% to 23,002.15 points, while the BSE Sensex .BSESN also lost as much to settle at 74,207.24.

About 13 trillion rupees ($139.47 billion) in market value was wiped out on the National Stock Exchange of India on Wednesday with market cap losses since the start of the war totalling about $400 billion.

The Indian rupee is expected to fall past the 93 to dollar mark when the local FX market opens after a day's break on Friday.

The sharp selloff followed a fresh escalation in the war, stoking fears of supply disruptions and sending Brent crude to its highest level in over a week.

"Even if the conflict gets resolved, energy prices may not come back to pre-war levels immediately, given the damage to energy infrastructure in the region," said Dhiraj Relli, managing director and chief executive officer of HDFC Securities.

India is particularly vulnerable to energy price shocks, importing the bulk of its crude and gas. A sustained rise threatens to stoke inflation, dent growth and widen the current account deficit in Asia's third-largest economy.

All 16 major sectors declined, with financials .NIFTYFIN and banks .NSEBANK falling 3.8% and 3.4%, weighed by HDFC Bank.

Auto stocks NIFTYAUTO dropped 4.3%, losing the most among major sectors, while real estate .NIFTYREAL and travel and tourism .NIFTYINDTOURISM fell 3.8% each.

Oil marketing companies and consumer durable makers also slipped.

Broader markets mirrored the weakness, with mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 and small-caps .NIFSMCP100 declining 3.2% and 2.9%.

"We are likely to see downward revisions in earnings forecasts for Indian companies, driven both by the direct impact of higher crude prices and their cascading effect across input costs and consumption," analysts said.

State-run explorer ONGC ONGC.NS was the only gainer on the Nifty, settling up 1.6%.

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Sonia Cheema)

((VivekKumar.M@thomsonreuters.com;))