Bank stocks in demand; gain up to 6%

Bank stocks today gained up to 6 per cent after the government said it is examining the funds requirement of public sector banks over next three years and promised required capital support as part of a comprehensive package to strengthen them.
Shares of Union Bank of India climbed 5.76 per cent, Bank of India jumped 4.87 per cent and Bank of Baroda surged 4.06 per cent on the BSE.
Similarly, SBI gained 1.83 per cent and Punjab National Bank was up 1.15 per cent.
"We are working and trying to understand exactly what the capital requirements are going to be in the next 2-3 years for (public sector) banks. And we are there to support them and provide them the capital that they need," Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said at an event organised by IVCA in New Delhi.

Last year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that to be in step with Basel-III norms, there is a requirement to infuse Rs 2.40 lakh crore as equity in public sector banks by 2018.
For the current fiscal, the government has allocated Rs 7,940 crore in the Budget for capital infusion in state-owned banks.
Meanwhile, in the broader market the BSE barometer Sensex ended at 28,020.87, up 240 points.