New Delhi, Aug. 27 -- When Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last weekend at Jackson Hole that the time had come to adjust monetary policy, the clearest beneficiaries in India were not the software exporters or the commodity traders. They were the private banks.

if the Fed cuts U.S. rates, the Reserve Bank of India gains cover to follow, and the sector that gains most from cheaper money is the one extending credit to India's consuming class.

HDFC Bank, India's largest private sector lender by market capitalization, gained 0.7% to Rs 1,862. ICICI Bank rose 0.9% to Rs 1,254. Axis Bank, which has carried elevated credit growth and improving asset quality through a challenging rate cycle, added 1.2%. Kotak Mahindra Bank climbed 0.8%,...