The positive sentiment generated by the cut in cash reserve ratio by 75 bps appears to have evaporated within three hours of opening of the market today with the banking stocks losing much of their steam.
The CRR cut was aimed at injecting Rs 48,000 crore into the banking system.
Barring SBI, which had gained Rs 70.95 to trade at Rs 2293.25, many of the banking stocks were holding on to slender gains even as the Sensex and Nifty were battling to keep themselves in the green.
Axis Bank, which was up by Rs 10.30 at Rs 1,223.40, BoB (Rs 825, a gain of Rs 12.45), ICICI Bank (at Rs 926.55 had gained Rs 11.85) and PNB (up by Rs 11.20 at Rs 967.55) were those that registered notable gains.
But HDFC Bank and YES Bank were in the red by Rs 4.80 (Rs 518.05) and Rs 6.70 (Rs 358.40), respectively.