ICICI Bank surges 11%; becomes second most valued bank

The much battered stock of ICICI Bank on Monday gained as much as 11 per cent on the bourses, a day after the bank said it has retired about Rs 24,000 crore expensive deposits to reduce cost and improve bottomline.

The scrip of ICICI Bank surged up to 10.62 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange and touched an intra-day high of Rs 441.80, while on the National Stock Exchange it witnessed an intra-day high of Rs 442, a jump of 10.84 per cent.

The scrip, which has been on an uptrend since October 24 has gained as much as Rs 120.95 or 39 per cent so far.

After being hammered regularly on rumours casting doubts over its financial health in the last few weeks, ICICI Bank last Friday surged 15.50 per cent, its biggest gain in three weeks. Today also the scrip surged nearly 11 per cent and witnessed an intra-day high of Rs 441.80.

On the volume front, good movement was witnessed as over 34.12 lakh shares exchanged hands on BSE and 1.19 crore shares got traded on NSE.

At the end of today's trading session ICICI Bank was quoted at Rs 430.85 on BSE and at Rs 430.70 on NSE.

Marketmen said, "The scrip of ICICI Bank witnessed a rally after the management assured about the financial condition of the bank. Besides, the surge in the domestic bourses also gave a push to investor sentiment."

ICICI Bank's Joint Managing Director, Chanda Kochhar, has said, "We have retired wholesale deposits of Rs 24,000 crore in the last six months. At the same time, we have increased the current account and savings account by Rs 3,000 crore in this period."

Source: EconomicTimes