The BSE bankex has drawn a blank with all the 14 stocks constituting the index slipping into the red in the morning trade today.

Bank stocks were down taking cues from the slump Dow Jones witnessed on Friday and the weakness displayed by the Asian markets that opened before Indian markets this morning.

But much would depend on how the European markets behave when they open mid-day today (according to IST).

SBI and Axis Bank were two of the major losers in terms of value, though rest of the banking pack were also in the red.

Axis Bank slipped to Rs 945.50, a loss of Rs 18.60. SBI slipped below the crucial Rs 2,000 levels, going down by Rs 44.65 to Rs 1,981.55.

Bank of India was trading at Rs 326, down by Rs 5.90, BoB shed Rs 11.80 to Rs 648.55 and ICICI Bank slipped to Rs 772, down by Rs 9.70.

HDFC Bank was trading at Rs 486.80, a loss of Rs 4.65, Kotak Mahindra Bank was trading at Rs 537.60, a loss of Rs 5.15 and PNB was down to Rs 718.45, a loss of Rs 8.80.