Indian share markets ended with sharp gains followed by its Asian peers. At the closing bell, BSE Sensex ended up by 383 points, while, NSE Nifty ended up by 141 points.

Barring IT stocks, all sectoral indices ended in green with energy stocks, power stocks, consumer durables stocks and metal stocks witnessing maximum buying interest.

Globally, Asian stock markets finished broadly higher today with shares in China leading the region. The Shanghai Composite is up 1.9% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng is up 1% and Japan's Nikkei 225 is up 0.5%. European markets are higher today with shares in London leading the region. The FTSE 100 is up 1% while Germany's DAX is up 0.1% and France's CAC 40 is up 0.1%.

Bank stocks ended the day on a positive note with Punjab & Sind Bank & Union Bank leading the gainers. As the largest lender in the country, State Bank of India (SBI) has plenty of firsts to its credit.

It added one more over the weekend with its decision to link a portion of its savings bank deposits as well as select loans to an external benchmark, the repo rate.

Incidentally, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its fifth bi-monthly monetary policy statement in FY19 had recommended the use of an external benchmark for swifter transmission of policy rates.

RBI had suggested banks should price their floating rate retail/MSME loans based on an external benchmark.

SBI has decided to price savings accounts with deposits above Rs 1 lakh at 2.75% below the prevailing repo rate of 6.25%. The effective rate works out to be 3.5%, which is same as the prevailing rate.

But a closer look shows SBI is placating the regulator without hurting its shareholders. As on December 2018, the share of savings account deposits in total deposits was 38.9%. According to SBI, close to 33% of its savings bank deposits are above Rs 1 lakh. Essentially, the move would impact close to 12.8% of its total liabilities, the reports noted.

On the asset side, SBI is linking external benchmarking to a similar sized exposure, thereby balancing assets and liabilities without hurting margin.

On the advances side, the bank has announced cash credit accounts and overdraft facilities over Rs 1 lakh to be priced at 2.25% over the repo rate.

At the prevailing repo rate of 6.25%, this would mean a floor price of 8.5%. The bank would charge a risk premium over the floor rate, depending on the credit quality of the borrower.

So, will other banks follow the suit? That's the key to watch out for. We will keep you updated on developments from this space.

SBI share price ended up by 2%.

Moving on to the news from them. Oil prices rose today, lifted by comments from Saudi oil minister Khalid al-Falih that an end to Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)-led supply cuts was unlikely before June and a report showing a fall US drilling activity.

Brent crude futures were at US$ 65.04 per barrel, up by 0.5%.

Saudi oil minister Khalid al-Falih said that it would be too early to change OPEC+ output policy at the group's meeting in April.

However, oil marketing companies including the likes of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Oil & Natural Gas Corporatio,  and Reliance Industries were all trading in the green by up to 6%.

Further, the S&P BSE Energy jumped over 2%.

Talking about the OPEC meeting and its impact on crude oil prices, here's some interesting data.

After OPEC meetings, crude oil prices have seen volatile moves both ways.

Look at this chart...

Volatile Up and Down Moves Post-OPEC Meetings

Here's what Research Analyst, Sarvajeet Bodas thinks about the movement in crude oil prices:

• "In the last four years, crude oil prices have moved between -7% and 9% in a single day immediately after OPEC meetings.
  
  So, I won't be surprised if we see a similar volatility after today's meeting.
  
  It is important to note that, in the short term, OPEC has a significant influence on the price of crude oil. But in the long term, its ability to influence the price of oil is quite limited. This because individual countries within OPEC have different incentives than the group as a whole."