How did Nifty Bank perform?
The banking sector faced heavy liquidation during Wednesday’s session as Nifty Bank plunged 2.51% (or 1,458.10 points) to close at 56,742.60. Triggered by a gap-down opening at 57,918 amid escalating U.S.-Iran hostilities and soaring Brent crude prices near $76. The index accelerated its decline in the afternoon, hitting an intraday low of 56,549.40. Heightened volatility, aggressive foreign institutional investors (FII) outflows, and looming margin compression fears severely hit both public and private banking heavyweights. Sectoral indices reflected deep stress, with Nifty PSU Bank declining 2.72% and Nifty Private Bank closing 2.52% lower. Major banking constituents bore significant damage; key laggards pushing the index downward included HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India (SBI), and Axis Bank.
The index witnessed a sharp decline, forming a strong bearish candle after facing rejection near its recent swing highs, indicating renewed selling pressure in the banking space. It has once again slipped below its 100-DMA. Momentum indicators have weakened notably. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) fell sharply to around 48.5, slipping below its signal line and returning to neutral territory, reflecting a loss of bullish momentum. Meanwhile, the MACD remains above the zero line but has turned negative on momentum, with the MACD line crossing below the signal line and the histogram moving into negative territory, indicating weakening buying strength.
