Update at 3.06 PM: ICICI Bank shares were trading 9.26 percent higher at Rs 298 on the BSE, with volumes hitting a record 118 lakh shares as against the two-week average of 20 lakh shares. The market capitalisation was Rs 1,73,311 crore. It was trending as the most-talked about stock on the BSE, followed by Infosys and Lupin.
Original story:
After opening with a gain of 150 points, the BSE Sensex was trading above the 30,000 mark, up 141 points on Thursday, led by bank stocks. ICICI Bank shares hit a new 52-week high of Rs 298.50 on the back of upbeat Q4 results declared the previous day and bonus issue of 1:10.
Sentiments for bank stocks were also boosted on news that the government will pass an ordinance to give more powers to the Reserve Bank of India in dealing with bad loans.
Many bank stocks hit fresh one-year high in morning trade; these included Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Bank, Andhra Bank, Syndicate Bank, Canara Bank, Karnataka Bank and Punjab National Bank.
Other stocks that scaled new 52-week peak included Grasim, Ceat, GIC Housing Finance, Voltas, Colgate-Palmolive, PTC India and Siemens.
India cornered 50 percent of H-1 B visas issued between 2001-15
Pew Research a few days ago revealed that out of the 1.8 million H-1 B visas issued by the US government between fiscal years 2001 to 2015, 892,814 visas, or 50.4 percent, went to Indians, with China coming at a distant second (171,577 visas, or 9.7 percent). Fiscal year for the US government begins on October 1.
The news assumes significance in view of the ongoing buzz about Indian companies perceived as likely to be hit due to tightening of norms for issuing H-1 B visas by the Donald Trump administration.
ICICI Bank reported 189 percent increase in standalone net profit for the March 2017 quarter (Q4) to Rs 2,025 crore ($312 million) from Rs 702 crore ($108 million) in the corresponding period last year, helped by a drop in provisioning for bad loans and rise in net interest income.
In a statement released on Wednesday evening, the bank said that consolidated net profit for Q4 rose to Rs 2,083 crore ($321 million) from Rs 407 crore, YoY.
Net interest income for Q4 rose to Rs 5,962 crore ($919 million) from Rs 5,404 crore ($833 million) in the corresponding quarter of 2015-16, the statement said.
Provisioning for bad loans at a standalone level stood at Rs 2,898 crore, down from Rs 3,326 crore in the year-ago period.
The bank declared a dividend of Rs 2.50 per equity share and a bonus issue in the ratio of 1 share for every 10 shares held (10:1).
