Rating agency Standard & Poor’s has assigned a stable outlook to leading Indian banks. The agency has indicated that four banks-State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Indian Bank-have a better stand-alone credit profile than that of the Indian government. The rating agency on Thursday affirmed its credit ratings on 10 Indian banks, after applying new ratings criteria announced last month. The ratings have been retained at BBB- with the outlook at stable. This is in contrast to the action taken by rival agency Moody’s which lowered the rating outlook on State Bank of India to negative. The remaining six banks which have been rated are: Axis Bank, Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Syndicate Bank and Bank of India.