SBI stock gains 4.5% on savings rate cut; m-cap up Rs 11,525 cr

On NSE, the stock rose by 4.48% to close at Rs 312.50

Shares of State Bank of India on Monday closed with 4.5 per cent gain after it cut the interest rate on savings bank account deposits up to Rs 1 crore by 0.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent.

The scrip soared 4.46 per cent to settle at Rs 312.55 on BSE. During the day, it had jumped 4.91 per cent to Rs 313.90.

On NSE, the stock rose by 4.48 per cent to close at Rs 312.50.

It was the top gainer on both the key indices during the day.

The company's market valuation also rose by Rs 11,524.74 crore on BSE to Rs 2,69,794.74 crore.

On the volume front, 34.17 lakh shares of the company were traded on BSE and over 4 crore shares changed hands at NSE during the day.

The bank's decision to lower the rate came two days ahead of the Reserve Banks's monetary policy review meeting and is likely to trigger rate war among peers.

SBI's savings bank account base is about Rs 9 lakh crore.

The country's largest lender will however continue to pay 4 per cent interest on savings bank accounts with deposits of above Rs 1 crore, it said in a statement.

The two-tier savings bank account interest rate comes into effect from today.

"Country’s largest PSU bank’s interest rate cut decision attracted investors to the banking stocks due to an expectation of more peers to follow the trend," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd.

Buying was also seen in other bank stocks, with Bank of Baroda rising 2.54 per cent, PNB (2.04 pc), ICICI Bank (2.01 pc) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (1.57 pc).

The BSE bank index gained 1.30 per cent to end at 28,386.54.