Extending its rally for the fourth straight session,shares of State Bank of India (SBI) today surged by 6 per cent in tandem with a strong broader market. SBI today settled 6.07 per cent higher at Rs 1,872.25 a piece on the BSE. Intra-day,it jumped by 6.58 per cent to Rs 1,881.25 a share. Similarly,on National Stock Exchange,the stock closed with a gain of 6.54 per cent at Rs 1,880. On October 5,the stock had dipped to a 52-week low of Rs 1,708.55 after Moody's downgraded the bank's financial strength. The government yesterday said it is looking to infuse between Rs 3,000-Rs 4,500 crore into SBI this fiscal,which analysts said,will address to some extent the concerns over the bank's downgrade. Earlier this month,Moody's downgraded SBI's rating by one notch to 'D+' due to its low tier-I capital ratio and deteriorating asset quality. Moody's cited a likely rise in the bank's non-performing assets in the near future as one of the reasons for the downgrade. In the last four sessions,the stock of the country's largest lender has advanced by 9.15 per cent,swelling SBI's market value by Rs 9,966 crore to Rs 1,18,887 crore from Rs 1,08,921 crore as on October 5. The uptrend in the counter is in sync with the rally in the broader market; the BSE benchmark Sensex today closed 2.55 per cent or 421.92 points higher at 16,958.39.
