SKS Microfinance at 52-week high, surges 35% in two weeks

SKS Microfinance rose nearly 5% for the sixth day in a row and was locked in upper circuit at Rs 166 on the BSE, after the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) hike their stake in the company to record high of 31.77% in the July-September quarter.

Meanwhile, the Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said that the Government was hopeful that the proposed Microfinance Institutions (Development and Regulation) Bill will shortly be cleared by the Parliament's Standing Committee and will be brought to the House for “early passage.”

The Bill seeks to empower the Reserve Bank to regulate the microfinance industry and fix interest rates ceiling on loans to be provided by lender.

The stock has rallied 35% in past two weeks compared to around 5% gain in benchmark index Sensex.

A combined 257,806 shares have already changed hands on the counter and there are pending buy orders for 529,595 shares on the BSE and NSE at 1056 hours.