ICICI Bank, J&K Bank, Allahabad Bank, DCB Bank hit fresh 52-week low

Banking shares are under pressure with most of the frontline banks trading in red after retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of November rose to 5.41%, the highest in at least a year, compared with 5% in October and 3.27% in November 2014.

At 10:15 AM, ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank, Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Bank and IDBI Bank were trading lower more than 1% each, while Canara Bank, Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India (SBI), Syndicate Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce down 1% each.

Nifty Bank index, a gauge of private and public sector bank index, the largest loser among sector indices, down 0.71% as compared to 0.15% decline in the Nifty 50 index. The banking index hit an intra-day low of 16,188, its lowest level since September 8, 2015.

Four banks - ICICI Bank, J & K Bank, Allahabad Bank and DCB Bank have touched their respective 52-week lows in intra-day today.

SBI, Axis Bank, Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Corporation Bank and Canara Bank are trading nears to their 52-week lows.

According to Nirmal Bang Securities, going forward, we expect CPI-based inflation to touch 5.8% in the next two months, converging with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) projection. The retail inflation is likely to rise further in the foreseeable future. Accordingly, we don’t expect the RBI to cut policy rates significantly in the next 15 months. We believe the repo rate is unlikely to fall below 6.5% by March 2017.

ICICI Bank