Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, other bank stocks drop up to 2%, Nifty Bank falls 440 points. What lies ahead?

The Nifty Bank index fell around 0.8% to 55,611, as of 10.45 am. This came as the broader Nifty 50 index declined 0.4% to 24,236 as the seesaw political situation in the West Asia conflict kept oil prices above the $100 mark and sustained FII selling pushed the rupee down.

HDFC Bank shares declined nearly 2% to trade at Rs 783.25 apiece. The shares of India’s largest private bank have declined more than 4% in one month and 21% so far in 2026 after Chairman Atanu Chakraborty’s exit, citing “incongruence” between his personal values and bank practices, spooked investors.

Axis Bank shares followed, declining more than 1.5% in the morning. Notably, India’s third-largest private lender has signed a $500 million offshore loan with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, people familiar with the matter told The Economic Times.

Federal Bank and Union Bank of India shares also declined more than 1% each. ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Punjab National Bank shares fell around 1%, while Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India (SBI), IDFC First Bank and IndusInd Bank shares were trading with marginal losses. Bucking the trend, Yes Bank and AU Small Finance Bank shares recorded up to a 1% rise.

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Notably, SBI and Bank of Baroda will release their respective results for the January-March quarter of FY26 later today. Additionally, SBI announced yesterday that its board will consider a long-term fund-raising plan of up to $2 billion during its upcoming meeting scheduled for May 12.

Technical levels for Nifty Bank to watch out for

Bajaj Broking said that Nifty Bank in the previous session had formed a high wave candle with shadows in either direction, signalling consolidation amid stock-specific action. “During the current week it has generated a breakout above the upper band of the falling channel containing the last nine sessions’ corrective decline, highlighting a positive bias while holding above the breakout area of 55,000,” it added.

According to the domestic brokerage, the Nifty Bank index is currently placed around last week’s high of 56,475. Failure to move above 56,475 will signal an extension of the recent consolidation in the range of 55,000 to 56,475. On the downside, the brokerage said that the index will likely find support first at 55,720 and then at 55,400. On the upside, it will find resistance at 56,280 and then at 56,550.

Rajesh Bhosale, Technical Analyst at Angel One, sees the banking index finding support at 55,800 to 55,500, and resistance at 56,800 to 57,000.

At the current level of 55,611, Nifty Bank has already breached the first support level range suggested by the analysts. The next support levels, as suggested by the analysts, are 55,500 to 55,400.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)