Canara Bank & Axis Bank: What Gaurang Shah of Geojit Financial says on these 2 banking stocks

Gaurang Shah, Senior VP, Geojit Financial, on Wednesday selected two stocks from the banking space as his top picks. First one was from the public sector segment, Canara Bank. "The stock has potential to hit an upside target of Rs 700," Shah told Business Today TV. Canara Bank shares were last seen trading 0.76 per cent higher at Rs 612.55.

The second one which the market expert recommended was private lender Axis Bank. "The moment Axis Bank takes off Rs 1,100-1,120 levels decisively, the stock may go towards Rs 1,350-1,400," Shah stated. The stock was up 0.82 per cent at Rs 1,089.65.

Bain Capital has sold its entire stake in Axis Bank at Rs 1,071 per share to raise $429 million, according to exchange data.

Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore, BofA Securities Europe and Societe Generale together bought a 0.4 per cent stake in Axis Bank through Bain's sale. Other buyers included Goldman Sachs, Nomura, Norges, ICICI Prudential and Mirae Asset.

Meanwhile, Indian equity benchmarks were trading higher near their all-time high levels today, led by gains in energy and metal shares. Broader markets (mid- and small-cap shares) were also up.

12 out of the 16 sector gauges -- compiled by the NSE -- were trading in the green. Sub-indexes Nifty Oil & Gas and Nifty Metal were outperforming the NSE platform by rising as much as 1.54 per cent and 0.78 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, BPCL was the top gainer in the Nifty pack as the stock soared 3.09 per cent to trade at Rs 603.85. Coal India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tech Mahindra and Hindalco rose up to 2.28 per cent.

In contrast, Divi's Labs, HDFC Life, Cipla, SBI Life and Sun Pharma were among the top losers on Nifty50.

The overall market breadth was slightly negative as 1,867 shares were declining while 1,716 were advancing on BSE.