MUMBAI: HDFC Bank on Thursday earned itself a historic milestone emerging as the country’s first bank with a market capitalisation of Rs 5 lakh crore. The private lender is now ranked third among all Indian listed firms after Reliance Industries and Tata Consultancy Services, which are in the top two slots with a market cap of Rs 5.98 lakh crore and Rs 5.58 lakh crore, respectively.
HDFC Bank’s share price surged 3.31 per cent to a record high of Rs 1,953.75 on the BSE, even as the scrip rose 3.35 per cent to an all-time high of Rs 1,954.In fact, Indian bank shares rose on news reports that the government was considering allowing foreign investors to own larger stakes in banks. The Bankex Index, a gauge for 10 lenders, rose 0.7 per cent to a new record high after earlier surging as much as 2.5 per cent.
The country’s largest lender State Bank of India’s market cap is roughly around Rs 2.6 lakh crore, while that of private peers ICICI Bank and Axis Bank is Rs 2.2 lakh crore and Rs 1.5 lakh crore, respectively.
For HDFC Bank, it took more than two decades to cross the first Rs 1 lakh crore market cap, though the next four lakh crore took a mere seven years.Currently, the Nifty Bank’s total market cap increased to Rs 16.4 lakh crore with HDFC Bank contributing 31 per cent.