Bank Nifty hits 19-month low

HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, YES Bank, BOI, Union Bank of India and Axis Bank are down 5-10% on NSE.

Banking shares are under hammer falling by up to 10% after the rupee slipped past 66-a-dollar mark today.

HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, YES Bank, Bank of India, Union Bank of India and Axis Bank are down 5-10% on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). 

The NSE banking share index, Bank Nifty, has declined nearly 5.5% as compared to 3.6% fall in CNX Nifty at 1440 hours. Bank Nifty trading at its lowest value since January 12, 2012 has fallen 43% from its recent high of 13,317 on May 15 this year against about 15% fall in benchmark index.

The rupee tumbled to an all-time intra-day low of 66.08 per dollar on Tuesday on heavy month-end demand of the US currency from importers and banks amid sharp fall in the local equity market.

Among the individual stocks, YES Bank was down 10% followed by IndusInd Bank and HDFC Bank, which were down 8% each, while ING Vysya Bank, Federal Bank, Bank of India and Syndicate Bank are down 6-8%.