Bank stocks crack; Nifty Bank index declines over 3%; Axis Bank, BoB dip 4%

The Federal Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, and Bandhan Bank slipped in the range of 1.5-3 per cent

Banking stocks cracked at the bourses in the late afternoon session on Friday, dragging the benchmark indices S&P BSE Sensex and NSE's Nifty50 nearly 1 per cent lower. Nifty Bank index declined 3.3 per cent to trade at 21,459 level on the NSE in the intra-day trade. The index eventually settled 2.3 per cent lower at 21,679.4 level.

Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Financial Services indices, which skid around 3 per cent each in the intra-day trade, ended 2.6 per cent and 2 per cent lower, respectively.

The sharp decline came ahead of the Supreme Court's hearing in the