Gold financiers Manappuram Finance, Muthoot Finance and IIFL Finance experienced significant declines on Thursday, with stocks falling up to 5% despite continued elevated gold prices. Manappuram Finance dropped as much as 5.06% to hit an intraday low of ₹348.40, while Muthoot Finance declined 2.86% to ₹3,110.15 and IIFL Finance fell 1.68% to ₹643. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, Manappuram Finance shares were trading 5.17% lower at ₹346.50 on NSE on Thursday afternoon, touching an intraday low of ₹346. The stock opened at ₹365.40, hit a high of ₹369.90 in early trade before sellers took over. The decline was accompanied by heavy trading volumes with over 96 lakh shares worth ₹339.57 crore traded on NSE alone by afternoon, with the buy-sell ratio reflecting bearish sentiment at 67.52% sell side versus 32.48% buy side.
Gold loan stocks Muthoot Finance and Manappuram Finance have shown starkly different performance trends in FY27, with Muthoot Finance gaining 2.3% while Manappuram Finance surged 51% as of date, according to Business Standard reports. According to Sunny Agrawal, Head of Fundamental Research at SBI Securities, the divergence stems primarily from stock re-rating in valuations. Muthoot witnessed de-rating from 1-year Price-to-book (PB) ratio of 4.6x in January 2026 to 2.8x due to stable gold prices, margins normalisation and threat from new entrants. Conversely, Manappuram Finance saw re-rating from 1.4x (April 2026) to 1.9x driven by stable margins after rationalising asset yields from 21-22% range to 17-18% and management clarity improvements. Manappuram's stock has gained nearly 30% over the past year and over 148% in three years, leaving it vulnerable to profit-booking at elevated levels.
The sharp decline in gold financier stocks was attributed to profit booking as gold prices continue to surge, with investors looking to lock in gains in gold-linked stocks. According to NDTV Profit, the strong trading volumes could have contributed to the sharp fall in share prices. Gold 24K was down ₹430, or 0.27%, at ₹158,970 per 10 grams at the time of latest check, remaining near elevated levels despite the marginal decline. The broader gold lending space was also under pressure, with Ravi Singh, chief research officer at Master Capital Services, attributing the weakness to profit-booking following the strong rally in both gold prices and gold-linked stocks. He described the current correction as technically healthy and said further dips could offer accumulation opportunities for medium- to long-term investors, with the structural outlook for gold lending remaining intact.
Muthoot Finance is currently trading at ₹3,215 and has rallied nearly 13% in the last four trading sessions, testing the 100-day moving average at ₹3,189 after a gap of nearly six months. According to Sudeep Shah, Head of Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities, the stock has given a downward sloping trendline breakout on both daily and weekly timeframes, supported by healthy volume rise. The ₹3,020-3,000 zone coinciding with the 50-day Exponential Moving Average is expected to act as immediate support. Manappuram Finance is trading at ₹365 and has seen a strong pullback of nearly 9% since hitting its 50-day EMA on August 19, with the stock firmly trading above its long-term 200-DMA at ₹297. The RSI has moved from 41 to 61, indicating renewed bullish momentum, while the MACD line is on the verge of crossing over the signal line.
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