BankNifty down by 166 points on RBI rate hike, private banks took massive beating

Things turned bleak for banking stocks when RBI announced another rate hike in the third bi-monthly monetary policy. Investors raked banking stocks on a hot coal bed, when RBI made 25 basis point hike in policy repo rate which now stands at 6.50% from previous 6.25%. Almost all stocks were trading on a negative with PSU banks taking most hit from investors. 

BankNifty and S&P BSE Bankex have tumbled by more than 165 points right after RBI announced repo rate hike. 

At around 1500 hours, BankNifty was trading 137.758 points or 0.50% below to 22,626.40, whereas S&P BSE Bankex was trading at 30,861.42 down by 144.54 points or 0.47%. 

Also, Nifty private banks was trading at 15,536.55 down by 76.90 points or 0.49%, wheres Nifty PSU bank reversed losses and was trading at 3,203.75 up by 17.50 points or 0.55%.

Share price of Bank of Baroda on NSE performed worst compared to other banks, as it saw plunge of 3.13% with intraday low of Rs 148.65 per piece. 

Other banks that saw selling pressure and tumbled heavily were - Federal Bank by 2.63%, ICICI Bank by 1.79%, HDFC Bank by 1%, Axis Bank by 2.08% and Yes Bank by 1.60%. 

Among gainers, PNB share price took a lead by 3.17% at Rs 87.85 per piece. The bank interestingly has surged by nearly 4% after the policy announcement. 

Meanwhile, SBI, Kotak Bank and IndusInd Bank share price gained between 0.43% to 1% . 

Five out of six MPC members opted for a rate hike in policy repo rate today. The decision of the MPC is consistent with the neutral stance of monetary policy in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4 per cent within a band of +/- 2 per cent, while supporting growth.