S&P assigns stable outlook to 10 Indian banks

Globalrating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) on Thursday affirmed investmentgrade with 'stable' outlook to 10 Indian banks, including State Bank of India,ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and IDBI Bank.

SBI's fate in govt's hands

Therating affirmation came after applying new ratings criteria for banks, Standard& Poor's said in a statement.

The bankswhich are part of the list include Axis Bank, Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICIBank, IDBI Bank and Indian Bank.

Besides,other banks which have been provided investment grade are State Bank of India,Indian Overseas Bank, Syndicate Bank and Union Bank of India.

Therating action for domestic banks comes a day after S&P downgraded as manyas 15 large banks globally, including some big American names like Bank ofAmerica, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, coming as a major blow to thealready-struggling banking sector in a weak global economic scenario.

Standardand Poor's has also cut ratings for US-based banking giants like JP Morgan,Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, while some European banking titans like Barclays,HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) and Rabobank have alsobeen downgraded.

Earlierin October, another global ratings firm Moody's downgraded its rating of StateBank of India's (SBI) financial strength by one notch to 'D+' on account of thelender's low Tier-I capital ratio and deteriorating asset quality.

TheMoody's move had evoked sharp reactions from the government and bankers whodescribed the move as 'unwarranted' as the domestic banks are better than theirglobal counterparts.