Bank Nifty zooms over 500 points; Axis Bank surges 8%

Banking shares are in demand with the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Bank Nifty has surged over 500 points on hopes that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's proposal to simplify the procedures for local companies to attract foreign investments is likely to favour select private sector lenders who will now be able to raise additional money from foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank and Yes Bank have rallied more than 5% each, while Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, Canara Bank , HDFC Bank and State Bank of India (SBI) are up 1-4% on NSE.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's proposal to simplify the procedures for local companies to attract foreign investments is likely to favour select private sector lenders who will now be able to raise additional money from foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

At 1501, Bank Nifty zoomed nearly 3% or 537 points at 19,612 compared with 0.31% rise in the benchmark CNX Nifty. Bank Nifty touched high of 19,645, bouncing back 621 points from intra-day low of 19,023.

Among the individual stocks, Axis Bank has surged 8% to Rs 611 on NSE. IndusInd Bank rallied 6% to Rs 914, followed by Yes Bank (up 5% at Rs 862) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (4% at Rs 1,393).

Axis Bank