Karvy Stock Broking Limited has maintained ‘Sell’ rating on State Bank of India (SBI) stock to achieve a target that lies between Rs 1,140-1,150 today.

The investors are advised to sell the stock to avoid loss, as there are full chances of a downward trend in this stock in today’s session.

If the stock fell below Rs 1180, it may see more weakness.

According to Karvy, investors can sell the stock below Rs 1190 with a strict stop loss of Rs 1205.

After selling the stock in today’s session, the interested investors can enter the stock again, but only on declines.

Shares of the company, on Tuesday (June 24), closed at Rs 1211.95 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The total volume of shares traded at the BSE was 558414. Current EPS and P/E stood at 106.55 and 11.16 respectively. The share price has seen a 52-week high of Rs 2387.60 and a low of Rs 1192.05 on BSE.

The nation’s largest lender postponed a decision on raising interest rates. Further the bank will prefer to wait for one to two weeks before taking a call on the issue.  

While banks under the finance ministry’s domain may have deferred a decision on raising rates, Jammu & Kashmir Bank was the first to hike its PLR by 100 basis points to 14% on Friday. The yield on the 10-year government bonds shot up to 8.38% in the money market on Friday. The yield hardened on the back of inflation rising to a seven-year high of 8.75% at the end of May 2008.

SBI is establishing a Rs 5 billion private equity fund to cater to the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector. SBI owns 20% equity in the fund, with a domestic investor holding the remaining equity.

Moreover, the bank has also inked a joint venture (JV) deal with Societe Generale Securities Services (SGSS), a division of Societe Generale Group.

It also hiked the interest rates on foreign currency non-resident bank account deposits and non-resident external term deposits with effect from Jun. 01, 2008.

Foreign currency non-resident bank FCNR (B) deposits in US Dollar, having maturity of one year to less than two years, would now attract an interest rate of 2.41% as compared to 2.33% earlier.