SBI advances on amendment to SBI Act

State Bank of India has advanced 2% to Rs 2,089, after the finance minister introduced the bill to amend State Bank of India (ABI) Act.

The stock exhibited weakness in morning trades and slipped to a low of Rs 2,032. However, it has bounced over 4% from the day's low, and rallied to a high of Rs 2,114. The counter has seen heavy volumes of 964,000 shares as against an average 394,000 shares traded daily in last two weeks.

According to reports the government today moved a bill in Parliament to cut its minimum holding in the bank to 51% to allow the state-run lender to raise more capital from the market. Under existing law, government holding in the bank can't fall below 55%. The government hold 59.41% stake in the bank as on December 2009.

All three listed subsidiaries of the bank, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Travancore have also gained between 3% and 7% each.