SBI reclaims spot in top 10 league

State Bank of India (SBI) has climbed four positions to seventh place in the league table of the companies with highest market capitalisation.

It was not part of the 10 most-valued companies list at the start of the year. Bad loans' concerns and deteriorating sentiment towards public sector bank (PSB) stocks had pushed SBI out of the list.

A sharp 16 per cent rally in its share price this year, despite weakness in the broader market, has since seen SBI leapfrog ahead of HDFC, Coal India, Hindustan Unilever and Sun Pharmaceutical, show data compiled from Bloomberg.

The lender has added Rs 28,000 crore in value since the beginning of the year, surpassing the Rs 2 lakh crore-mcap mark. In fact, SBI has been one of the best performers in banking stocks among Sensex constituents, which also has HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank.

Shares of some of the private sector banks have weakened after the recent demonetisation move. Analysts say SBI could be best-placed to take advantage of the government move, given the state-owned lender's wide reach. The demonetisation drive will help SBI in mobilising more deposits, helping it lower the cost of capital.

State Bank of India