The positive vibes generated by the better-than-expected results of Bank of Baroda (BoB), which lifted the sentiment towards bank stocks in general yesterday, did not sustain for more than a day with the NSE Bank Nifty tanking by over 450 points around noon today.

PNB, which was helped by the negative tax provisions to put up a better show in Q4 of last year, almost breached its 52-week low as the market sentiment turned decidedly bearish despite the breather the FIIs got over the MAT issue.

The weakness witnessed by the bank stocks was not limited to the PSBs and even the private sector banks came under intense selling. In fact, all the 12 bank stocks forming the Bank Nifty were down.

Kotak Mahindra Bank shed ₹26.05 to trade at ₹1313, IndusInd Bank lost ₹22.25 to slip to ₹797.40, and HDFC Bank was trading weak by ₹16.40 at ₹973.90. Axis Bank lost ₹11.35 at ₹539.75, ICICI Bank was trading at ₹312.25, a loss of ₹11.35, and YES Bank shed ₹19.55 to trade at ₹824.80.

Among the PSBs, the major losers were Canara Bank , which shed ₹14.15 to trade at ₹348.40, Bank of India which lost ₹8.75 to trade at ₹197.50 and Bank of Baroda , which despite putting up a good Q4 show in 2014-15, was down by ₹10.10 at ₹159.60. SBI was able to limit the loss to ₹7.05 and was trading at ₹269.

PNB came close to breaching its 52-week low of ₹142.30 when it fell to a low of ₹142.60 before pulling back to ₹143.85, a loss of ₹5.25.

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