ICICI Bank, India’s largest private-sector lender, plans to sell its Russian subsidiary ICICI Bank Eurasia Limited Liability Company (IBEL) to Sovcombank, a mid-sized Russian bank.

“The sale is subject to execution of definitive agreements and regulatory approvals. The purchase price will be determined on the transaction completion date based on the financial statements of IBEL at that date. The transaction is expected to conclude by the end of the financial year,” ICICI Bank said in a notification to the exchanges.

Markets surged in opening trades to hit record highs with the Sensex topping the 28,800 mark but retreated later as traders turned cautious and booked profits at higher levels.

By 9:30, the Sensex was higher by 175 points at 28,618 whereas the Nifty gained by 88 points at 8,625. Sensex and Nifty have hit the fresh record high of 28,809 and 8,627, respectively.

Markets opened flat on Wednesday with Tata Motors leading the gains in early trades along with select index heavyweights.

At 9:19AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 6 points at 28,450 and the 50-share Nifty was up 4 points at 8,529.

HSBC India Services PMI for November 2014 is due on Wednesday. Adjusted for seasonal factors, the headline HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index fell to 50 in October, from 51.6 in September.

Benchmark share indices which had pared early gains rebounded after the first hour of trade, amid encouraging manufacturing growth, led by FMCG majors and select private banks.

At 10:40AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 64 points at 28,758 and the 50-share Nifty was up 20 points at 8,609.

Markets have opened marginally higher with IT and select bank shares leading the gains in early trades. Some volatility is expected later in the session ahead of the RBI policy meet tomorrow.

At 9:35AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 64 points at 28,758 and the 50-share Nifty was up 20 points at 8,609.

Markets continued to trade firm in late noon trades led by rate sensitive shares on hopes of a rate cut by the central bank and index heavyweight Reliance Industries.

At 2:15PM, the 30-share Sensex is up 333 points at 28,772 and the 50-share Nifty has gained 109 points to trade at 8,604.

Markets continued to trade flat with stock specific action seen ahead of the expiry of November derivative contracts today.

At 1:15PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 41 points at 28,345 and the 50-share Nifty was down 10 points at 8,466.

Shares of most of the frontline banks are trading lower between 1-4% on profit booking after rallying 20% in past one and half months.

Canara Bank, Bank of India, Federal Bank, Yes Bank, Punjab National Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda are down between 2-4%, while State Bank of India (SBI), IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank are down 1% each on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

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.

ICICI Bank, which more than doubled its headcount in the past five years, has decided to go slow on hiring for now.

The country’s largest private sector lender has paused on fresh recruitment and, in many cases, isn’t even replacing those leaving the company. Instead, it is focusing on improving the productivity and efficiency of its existing workforce.

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