HDFC Bank‘s share price went up close to 3% to hit a new 5-month high of ₹1,716.95. HDFC Bank’s share price had hit ₹1,704.90 on January 5.

What Happened: This is the first time since December that the banking behemoth’s market cap has gone past the ₹13-lakh crore mark. Shares of the private lender crashed in January after its December quarter disappointed investors. However, shares of the lender have shown strength at the bourses. In the past 30 days, the stock has gone up over 12%.

Today’s surge in the stock is driven by the upbeat outlook shared by Bernstein. The global brokerage firm sees shares of the banking giant going up over 20% and hitting the ₹2,100 mark.

Last week, another global brokerage house Macquarie picked HDFC Bank as its top pick in the sector. The firm in its note had said that the private sector banks are a steady compounding story. It expects private sector banks to report a healthy return on equity (ROE) of 16%-18% over the next 3 years. 

Only two other listed companies have a higher market cap than HDFC Bank — Reliance Industries and TCS.

Price Action: HDFC Bank’s share price was up 2.49% to trade at ₹1,714.10 on Tuesday afternoon.

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