Positive impact of India-US agreement; SBI becomes country’s most valuable bank, surpassing ICICI to set new record

SBI News : The Indian stock market was buoyant on Monday due to the important trade agreement signed between India and the US.

These positive global cues had a direct impact on the domestic markets and major indices Sensex and Nifty opened strongly in the green.

The booming banking sector in the market has attracted special attention, with state-owned State Bank of India (SBI) once again in the limelight.

Shares of SBI rallied over 6 percent in the open on strong third-quarter financial results. As a result, the bank’s market cap has reached around Rs 10.50 lakh crore, with SBI surpassing the private sector ICICI Bank to become the most valuable bank in the country.

Currently, HDFC Bank is the bank with the highest market cap with a market value of around Rs 14.44 lakh crore. On the other hand, ICICI Bank’s market cap is currently down at Rs 9,99,069.47 crore.

Shares of SBI were trading around 6.54 per cent higher at Rs 1,136.10 during Monday’s trade. On the other hand, ICICI Bank shares came under pressure and its share fell by around 1.02 per cent to Rs 1,392.30.

SBI once again proved its strong position in the banking sector in its third quarter results announced on Friday.

SBI has a wide network of around 23,000 branches across the country and its direct benefit is seen in retail deposits. The bank reported a significant growth of 14.5 percent in retail deposits, which is considered a sign of the bank’s strong customer franchise. In addition, effective control of resource costs has improved the bank’s margins.

The India-US trade agreement is expected to benefit many sectors as old tariff barriers have been removed. Against this backdrop, SBI has expressed confidence to maintain corporate credit growth at double digit levels.

Overall, SBI has strengthened its dominance in the Indian banking sector on the back of positive global developments and strong financial performance.