Bank stocks were in limelight with eight of them hitting fresh 52-week highs on the NSE today and the CNX Bank index emerged as the biggest sectoral gainer in the exchange.

While PSU banks too made significant gains riding the positive momentum generated by the banking sector, all the eight bank stocks that touched fresh 52-week highs this morning belonged to the private sector.

Of the 12 stocks forming the CNX Bank Nifty, the six stocks to touch new yearly high were ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank (adjusted to stock split), Federal Bank, IndusInd Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Bank stocks outside the Bank Nifty that reached new yearly high were Karur Vysya Bank and DCB Bank.

ICICI Bank touched a new high of Rs 1,664 before easing to Rs 1,657.55, a gain of Rs 11.85. HDFC Bank jumped to a new yearly high of Rs 920 before being marginally down to Rs 919.

Federal Bank reached a high of Rs 145.90 before shedding 90 paise to trade at Rs 145, Kotak Mahindra Bank’s new high was Rs 1,128 (trading now at Rs 1,118.10) and Axis Bank touched a new high of Rs 456.40 before easing to Rs 454.80

KVB that is outside the Bank Nifty reached a new high of Rs 558.70 before easing to Rs 555, a gain of Rs 2.40. DCB Bank touched a new high of Rs 93.45 before moving down a bit to Rs 92.10.

But in terms of gains, PSU banks did well too. SBI was the biggest gainer among the Bank Nifty stocks, up by Rs 58.90 to trade at Rs 2,782.35. BoB was up by Rs 10.35 to trade at Rs 960.40 and PNB gained Rs 5.45 to trade at Rs 955.10.

YES Bank narrowly failed in breaching its 52-week high when it touched a high of Rs 689 today against its 52 week high of Rs 689.20. The stock has shed some of its gains to trade at Rs 679.70

The Bank Nifty was up by 198 points. The index had shed about 40 points from its high but was still the biggest gainer among the sectoral indices in the exchange.

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