Nifty Bank P/B at 1.64, near its lowest since 2020

The number

Nifty Bank closed at 54,450.75 on 1 October 2026, at a price-to-book ratio of 1.64. Its P/E was 12.91 and its dividend yield 0.73%.

These are NSE's end-of-day figures. The daily history is on the Nifty Bank valuation page.

Why book value, for a bank

For most indices the P/E is the first number people read. For banks it is often the second.

A bank's reported profit depends heavily on how much it sets aside for loans that may not be repaid. In a bad-loan cycle profits shrink, and the P/E balloons even if the price falls. Nifty Bank's own year-end figures show it:

The P/E tripled in three years. The P/B moved within a narrow band. Book value, what shareholders' equity is worth on the balance sheet, is the steadier yardstick.

It also came through NSE's 2021 methodology change more cleanly. On 31 March 2021, the switch to consolidated earnings cut Nifty Bank's P/E from 31.30 to 25.87 in a day. Its P/B went from 2.83 to 3.03.

How low 1.64 is

Since 31 March 2021, Nifty Bank's P/B has ranged from 1.62 to 3.24, with a median of 2.63. Only two of 1,359 sessions closed lower than today: 28 September 2026 at 1.63 and 29 September at 1.62.

The full record goes back to 15 September 2003. Over those 5,696 sessions the median P/B is 2.46, and 305 sessions (5.4%) closed below 1.64. They cluster in a few periods:

• 2003 and 2004, at the start of the record (134 sessions), plus two sessions in 2006;
• 2008 and 2009, around the global financial crisis (157 sessions), with the all-time low of 0.97 on 9 March 2009;
• five sessions in 2013 and five in March 2020, the low being 1.58 on 23 March 2020;
• and the two sessions last week.

The price barely moved; the book grew

A year earlier, on 1 October 2025, Nifty Bank closed at 55,347.95 at a P/B of 2.08 and a P/E of 15.28.

• The index is down 1.6% over the year.
• The P/B is down 21.2%.
• Dividing one by the other, the book value behind the index rose about 24.8%, from roughly 26,610 to 33,202 index points.
• The earnings behind it, worked out the same way from the P/E, rose about 16.4%.

So this is not a crash in bank prices. It is a year in which the price stood still and the balance sheet grew. The book figure moved up in steps of about 3% at a time, mostly at month ends.

Price did fall from its high. Nifty Bank set a record close of 61,550.80 on 18 February 2026, dropped to 50,275.35 by 30 March, 18.3% lower, and now sits 11.5% below the record.

The rest of the financial pack

The low readings come from the private banks and the wider financials. Nifty Financial Services is at its lowest P/B of the whole period. The PSU Bank index is close to its own middle: it is cheap on book in absolute terms, but it usually is.

What this does not tell you

Book value can be wrong. A bank's book is only as good as its loans. If bad loans are understated, book is overstated and a low P/B is less cheap than it looks.

Some of the book growth may be the index changing. NSE reweights and occasionally changes the index's members. A 24.8% rise in book value over a year is fast, and the published ratios cannot separate balance-sheet growth from membership changes.

Cheap on history is not a forecast. In 2008 the P/B went below 1.64 and kept falling to 0.97 before it recovered.

It describes the index, not a fund. A banking fund holds its own mix of lenders, insurers and other financials.

Where to go from here

The Nifty Bank valuation page has the full series. For every NSE index against its own median P/E, see the cheapest and dearest NSE indices.

The guide on banking and financial services funds explains how sector funds in this space are built, and sectoral and thematic funds covers the concentration risk that comes with them.

For how much fund money sits in these banks, see bank stocks in mutual funds.