PSU banks gain; Bank of Baroda up 4% after huge block deal

SBI, Syndicate Bank, Andhra Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Union Bank of India, Bank of India and Punjab National Bank were up 1% to 2% on NSE

Shares of public sector undertaking (PSU) banks were in focus with Bank of Baroda (BOB) surging 4% after a huge block deal executed on the counter.

BOB gained 4% to Rs 151 on BSE after about 52.2 million shares representing 2.2% of total equity of bank changed hands on the counter. The name of the buyers and sellers were not ascertained immediately.

State Bank of India (SBI) was up 2% to Rs 272 as SBI Life Insurance Company’s maiden issue opens for subscription today.

SBI Life Insurance is a joint venture between State Bank of India (SBI-70%), and BNP Paribas Cardiff (26%). The insurer’s new business premium grew 35% from FY15 to FY17; it has a leadership position with 20% market share in New Business Premium (NBP) in FY17.

SBI Life Insurance Company has finalized the allocation of 31.8 million equity shares at Rs 700 per equity share aggregating to Rs 2,226 crore to 69 anchor investors.

Angel Broking believes the premium valuation for SBI Life Insurance Company is justified due to its higher incremental market share gain, and hence we recommended investors to “SUBSCRIBE” to the issue with long-term perspective.

Among other PSU banks, Syndicate Bank, Andhra Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Union Bank of India, Bank of India and Punjab National Bank were up 1% to 2% on NSE.

At 2:51 pm, Nifty PSU Bank index, the largest gainer among sectoral indices, was up 1.5% as compared to unchanged in Nifty50 index and 0.4% fall in Nifty Private Bank index.

COMPANY	LATEST	PREV CLOSE	GAIN(%)
BANK OF BARODA	148.80	144.30	3.1
ANDHRA BANK	63.30	62.00	2.1
CORPORATION BANK	44.50	43.80	1.6
ORIENTAL BANK	136.30	134.20	1.6
SYNDICATE BANK	70.40	69.55	1.2
UNION BANK (I)	138.60	136.95	1.2
ST BK OF INDIA	270.80	267.80	1.1
BANK OF INDIA	156.40	154.80	1.0
I O B	23.45	23.25	0.9
DENA BANK	31.30	31.05	0.8