Profit booking hits bank stocks

DALAL STREET SPIKES

Bank stocks tumbled on profit booking on Tuesday. Among the big losers, State Bank of India was down 4.08 per cent to Rs 693, ICICI Bank down 3.28 per cent to Rs 395.20 and HDFC Bank ended down 1.67 per cent to close at Rs 550.75.

A research head with a domestic broking firm said, "Sectoral flavour is slightly on a decline and investors are focusing on individual stocks."

Among bank stocks, Alllahabad Bank and Centurion Bank witnessed some buying interest. Centurion Bank bucked the trend to end positive.

Market analysts said the latest RBI data on credit offtake is disappointing. The credit offtake between January 1 and March 4 was Rs 28,042 crore, much lower than the record credit offtake of Rs 80,000 crore registered in the October-December 2004 quarter.

Among other bank stocks, Canara Bank was down 5.29 per cent to Rs 202.40, Andhra Bank down 4.97 per cent to Rs 112.70 and Vijaya Bank ended over 6 per cent lower.