Asian shares are trading on a mixed note today. The Nikkei 225 is up 0.6% while the Hang Seng is up 0.04%. Back home, India share markets opened the day marginally higher. The BSE Sensex is trading up by 50 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 20 points. The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.4%, while the BSE Small Cap index has opened the day up by 0.5%.

Sectoral indices have opened the day on a mixed note with consumer durables stocks and realty stocks witnessing maximum buying interest. Metal stocks have opened the day in the red.

The rupee is trading at 67.63 to the US$.

In the news from the macroeconomic space, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) BS Yeddyurappa will take oath as Karnataka Chief Minister today.

The development comes as Yeddyurappa's party was invited to form a government, and is given 15 days to prove majority by the governor on Wednesday evening.

In response to the above move, the Congress, to ensure that does not happen, approached the Supreme Court late at night and asked for the swearing-in to be stopped.

Three judges of the Supreme Court heard the petition in an unprecedented 2 am hearing, but refused to stay the oath-taking ceremony.

Note that the BJP has 105 lawmakers, including an Independent, in the 222-seat assembly and is seven seats short of majority. Earlier on Wednesday evening, the Governor met a delegation of the Congress and JD(S) leaders, who also staked claim to form a government, claiming they have the majority.

There are high stakes involved as the final outcome will have a bearing on the stock markets too.

How the above decision pans out remain to be seen. Meanwhile, we'll keep a close watch on the developments in this space and keep you updated. Stay tuned.

In the news from the banking sector, as per a leading financial daily, the government is looking to impose strict deadlines on banks that are under the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) watch to implement a turnaround plan.

The deadlines will include fixed targets for recoveries of bad loans, sale of non-core assets and a differentiated lending roadmap with each bank specializing in a particular area.

The finance ministry is scheduled to review the performance of around 11 banks under RBI's prompt corrective action framework today.

If implemented, the above development will come as a welcome breather for PSU banks that are reeling in the pressure of bad loans.

Note that banks, in principle, must be careful about not extending loans to borrowers with poor creditworthiness or payment track record. That too, irrespective of the size of the borrower.

However, the data from State Bank of India shows that when it comes to big corporate borrowers, our banks literally look the other way. The share of large corporates, in total advances of the banking sector, has almost remained unchanged over past three years (at an average of 55%).

However, their contribution to incremental slippages has been huge. At one point, the big corporate borrowers accounted for nearly 90% of total NPAs of the sector.

Big Borrowers Turning into Big Offenders

Therefore, according to us, banks with large corporate books (be it PSUs or private sector) deserve a lower valuation if they can't keep NPAs in check.