Foreign investors sell Nifty Bank futures on margin worries

Foreign portfolio investors net sold Nifty Bank futures worth about 1,201 crore and offloaded about 1,121 crore in the cash market on Monday, triggered by net interest margin compression at major private banks. HDFC Bank reported a NIM of 3.26% in Q1 FY26 versus 3.4% in the prior quarter, while ICICI Bank's NIM rose 4 basis points to 4.36%. Bank Nifty fell 1% to 57,945, with HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank dropping between 2% and 5.5%, though ICICI Bank gained 1.1% on a strong showing.