Bangalore: Following the performance of Sensex last week, banking sector performed below the expectation and plunged 4.39 percent. The top losers in the list were HDFC and ICICI Bank, which plunged 6.64 and 6.31 percent, respectively. In the week ended December 18, 2009, the Banking index traded in the range of 10,094 - 9542.94 points. The performance of banking sector seems to be affected because market was worried that the RBI might hike rates even before the January policy meet as food inflation touched 19.95 percent as of December 5, has become a hot political issue which even stalled Parliament proceedings earlier this week. Among the 13 sector-specific indices of the exchange, Health Care and IT stocks were in keen demand and escaped selling amid hopes that there would be spurt in outsourcing from developed economies in the wake of signs of economic recovery in the U.S. As of December 22, 2009, total market capitalization of the Banking index was of 507,909.09 crore.