Interest-rate sensitive stocks -- banking, realty and auto -- came under strong selling pressure today after the Reserve Bank disappointed markets by not lowering the key rate.
Among bank scrips, PNB tumbled 7.94 per cent, Axis Bank was down 4.95 per cent, and Bank of India fell by 4.59 per cent on the BSE.
Shares of Canara Bank went down by 3.51 per cent, Kotak Mahindra Bank lost 3.33 per cent, Yes Bank (3.09 per cent), SBI (2.49 per cent), ICICI Bank (1.48 per cent) and HDFC Bank (1.76 per cent).
Led by losses in these stocks, the BSE banking index fell by 2.61 per cent to end at 22,188.53.
From realty scrips, HDIL plunged 4.67 per cent, Anant Raj (4.34 per cent), Indiabulls Real Estate (3.44 per cent), Unitech (2.85 per cent) and DLF (1.54 per cent).
Following the dip in these scrips, the BSE realty index shed 1.43 per cent to 1,789.80.
Auto stocks also faced selling pressure with Bajaj Auto falling 3.74 per cent, M&M (3.52 per cent), Maruti (1.69 per cent).
"Markets showed its disappointment on the outcome of monetary policy by trimming the day's gains," said Hiren Dhakan, Associate Fund Manager, Bonanza Portfolio.
Awaiting cues from the Budget, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan today left interest rate unchanged saying there was no case for a reduction now and hoped banks will pass on the benefit to consumers from the last rate cut.
The Reserve Bank maintained the benchmark repurchase rate at 7.75 per cent, while leaving broad hints that future cuts will depend on the fiscal consolidation path to be provided by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his first full budget later this month, as also on inflation and other macroeconomic data.
RBI, which announced a surprise interest rate reduction of 0.25 per cent on January 15, said there has been no significant development since then to warrant any further easing of monetary stance.
Meanwhile, in the broader market the BSE benchmark Sensex ended 122.13 points lower at 29,000.14.
