On Wednesday, share markets in India opened flat but ended the day in red.

The BSE Sensex closed lower by 284 points to end the day just above the 33,000 mark. While the broader NSE Nifty ended the day lower by 95 points to end at 10,150 levels.

Among BSE sectoral indices, infrastructure stocks fell the most by 2%, followed by capital goods stocks at 1.9%. SBI and Adani Ports and ICICI Bank were among the top losers.

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Tata Motors share price is likely to be in focus today after company-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) reported 2.6% decline in global sales at 39,911 units in February.

ICICI Bank share price and Axis Bank share price are among the stocks to watch today, as the bank's senior officials were summoned by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) with regard to the PNB scam.

PSB Loan Write-off Continues

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has stated that public sector banks (PSBs) have written-off loans worth Rs 816.8 billion in the financial year 2016-17, including Rs 203.4 billion by the State Bank of India.

Reportedly, the amount written off by nationalized banks was Rs 287.8 billion during the current fiscal (up to September 2017). Besides, it was noted that writing-off of loans is done for tax benefit as well as capital optimization. However, borrowers of such loans continued to be liable for repayment.

As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines and policy approved by bank Boards, non-performing loans, including those in respect of which full provisioning has been made on completion of four years, are removed from the balance-sheet of the bank concerned by way of write-off.

The minister further stated that recovery of dues takes place on ongoing basis under legal mechanisms, which include, the Secularisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, Debts Recovery Tribunals and Lok Adalats. Therefore, write-off does not benefit borrowers, the reports noted.

Besides, in the five-financial years since 1 April 2013, banks have reported 13,643 cases of fraud involving a total amount of Rs 527.2 billion.

While the bad loans struggle has been going on since a decade, there are other issues that have recently cropped up adding to PSU's pile of misery. Bureaucracy and a lack of autonomy have ensured the sub-optimal profitability and asset quality of these state-run banks.

This has reflected in their stock performance too. The returns of PSBs over the last five years have underperformed at the Sensex.

Global Financial Markets Slump as Trump's Key Economic Advisor Quits

Global financial markets were on edge after US President Donald Trump's Economic Advisor, Gary Cohn, announced his resignation.

Market participants believed that the former president of Goldman Sachs was a moderating voice in Trump administration, helping to temper more aggressive views on economic policy and especially trade.

Global markets also reacted negatively to the resignation. European stocks dropped in early trading, with many key indexes down by about 0.5%. Losses exceeded 1% in some Asian markets.

Indian Share Market Update: Top Gainers and Losers