According to an analysis by Business Standard, about half (428) the 836 stocks in the BSE 500, BSE small-cap and BSE mid-cap indices have doubled in the past 15 months. During this period, the benchmark indices — the BSE Sensex and the National Stock Exchange Nifty — have gained about 60 per cent.

Experts said investor sentiment and valuations had hit rock-bottom last year due to weak domestic macro fundamentals. A subsequent improvement in investor sentiment and return of risk appetite had aided the market across the board.

Banking stocks continue to rally on the bourses, with the market value of the ICICI Bank, crossing the Rs two lakh crore mark. The private sector lender has become the third bank and ninth company in current list of companies having m-cap of over Rs 200,000 crore.

ICICI Bank scrip up 1.9% to Rs 1,766 on BSE, taking its market value to Rs 2,04,395 crore at 1121 hours, the BSE data shows. The bank is at the ninth positions in overall market capitalization (m-cap) ranking.

Shares of Infosys is trading higher by nearly 2% at Rs 4,213 in early trade on BSE after the company said it has fixed record date as December 3, 2014 for the purpose of allotment of bonus shares/stock dividend.

On October 10, 2014 the board of directors of Infosys had recommended a bonus issue of one equity share for every equity share held.

Shares of ICICI Bank has higher by 3% to Rs 1,732 on National Stock Exchange (NSE) after the bank has fixed December 5 as the record date for its proposed stock split.

The bank has fixed record date as December 05, 2014 for the purpose of ascertaining the eligible shareholders who would be entitled to receive 5 equity shares of nominal value of Rs 2 each in lieu of 1 equity share of nominal value of Rs 10 each of the bank, ICICI Bank said in a statement.

State Bank of India (SBI) today reclaimed its position as the country's most valued bank with a total market valuation of over Rs 2.25 lakh crore, surpassing private sector player HDFC Bank.

At 1008 hours, shares of SBI gained 2.2% to Rs 304 on BSE, taking its market value to Rs 226,734 crore, making it the overall sixth most valued company.

Kotak Mahindra Bank has surged 7% to Rs 1,242, extending its previous day’s 7% rally on National Stock Exchange (NSE), after the Kotak Mahindra Bank announced it was acquiring ING Vysya Bank in an all-stock deal.

ING Vysya Bank shareholders will get 725 Kotak Mahindra Bank shares for every 1,000 shares they hold.

Shares of Yes Bank is trading higher by 4% at Rs 700 on NSE after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said foreign institutional investors (FIIs) can buy equity shares in private lender as shareholding by foreign investors has gone below the prescribed limit.

On November 20, the RBI notified that it has removed Yes Bank from its caution list as the aggregate share holdings in bank by Foreign Institutional Investors (FII)/Registered Foreign Portfolios Investors (RFPI)/Non-Resident Indians (NRI)/Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) and through American Depository Receipts (ADR)/Global Depository Receipts (GDR)/Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) have gone below the prescribed threshold caution limit stipulated under the extant FDI policy.

The BSE Sensex and Nifty fell on Wednesday, retreating from record highs hit earlier in the session as investors pared positions in blue-chips such as Tata Motors after foreign investors marked their first sale of cash shares in three weeks.

Foreign institutional investors sold Indian shares worth Rs 102 crore ($16.5 million) on Tuesday, marking their first sale since October 28. Overseas investors have been key drivers of the stock market rally this year, buying a net $15.47 billion worth of shares so far in 2014, according to regulatory data.

Benchmark share indices remained rangebound after the first hour of trade as gains in Bharti Airtel and index heavweight Reliance Industries helped offset losses in IT majors and HDFC.

At 10:45AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 64 points at 28,242 and the 50-share Nifty was up 12 points at 8,443.

NEW DELHI: Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange are looking to set up small banks in the country once the Reserve Bank of India opens the window for applications.

The move will help the two exchanges, which have cash transactions running into thousands of crores, manage some of the funds, but will come as bad news for the existing players, such as HDFC Bank, which manage this amount and benefit by way of low cost of funds.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.