Value-buying push for bank scrips

DALAL STREET SPIKES

Bank stocks were fancied with Canara Bank registering gains of over 6 per cent on value buying. The stock spurted to its intra-day high of Rs 139.90 before closing at Rs 134 on healthy volumes of 55.09 lakh shares at the BSE.

According to head of research at a domestic brokerage firm, the entire banking sector has been witnessing value buying after the recent hammering.

"With the economy expected to grow at 7 to 8 per cent and the new government willing to spend more on rural infrastructure, there will be surge in credit offtake, which will benefit the banks," the analysts added.

The Bankex - the representative of the banking stocks on BSE - was up 0.19 per cent to close at 2,552.34, after touching the day's high of 2,605.65, up over 2 per cent from its previous day's close.

Canara Bank recently announced in Q4 results posting a net profit of Rs 384.12 crore (Rs 307.84 crore) on a total income of Rs 2,292.96 crore (Rs 2,133.31 crore).