ING and Kotak alternate as 'top gainer'

The top gainer on the BSE currently is ING Vyasya, hitting a new 52-week high at Rs.812.85, with an almost 3 times jump in volumes. Kotak Bank is alternating with ING as top gainer and it too hit a new high today at Rs.1160.05.

The stock is in the limelight as there is unconfirmed news in the market that the parent company, ING Groep NV, which was seeking a buyer for its 43% stake has found one in Kotak Mahindra Bank. ING has been mulling its exit from domestic banking and concentrate only on corporate banking for some time now. Given its clean books, some 575 branches and good customer base, it might as well prove to be a very good advantage for Kotak.

The exchanges have sought a clarification from ING on a news item appearing yesterday about Kotak Bank merging ING with itself in the swap ratio of 2 shares of Kotak for 2.5 shares of ING Vysya.