Investors flocking to these counters, saw Bank of Baroda, Corporation Bank, Global Trust Bank, ICICI Bank and Bank of India emerging among the top ten gainers on the BSE's A group of stocks today.

SBI, which had been hammered to a low of Rs 155, gained 7.58 per cent to close at Rs 167.40.

Attractive valuations of ICICI and IDBI have forced investors to flock to these counters. Besides, expectations of these institutions maintaining their dividend payout at last year levels has led to a turnaround in the sentiment in these counters. These scrips were being hammered on fears of mounting non-performing loans (NPLs) and general distrust following the US-64 scare.

The ICICI scrip had started rising from Monday. The scrip had closed at Rs 40.6 (as against its bookvalue of Rs 91.7) on Friday but its rose to Rs 42.7 and Rs 46.05 on Monday and Tuesday respectively. Today it touched a high of Rs 47.75 and closed at Rs 46.9. On NSE the scrip closed at Rs 47.3 as against yesterday's closing of Rs 45.4. Similarly, IDBI hit the upper end of the filter to close at Rs 39.95 on NSE. It touched a high of Rs 40.15 on BSE but closed lower at Rs 39.85 against yesterday's closing of Rs 37.2. Both ICICI and IDBI have paid handsome dividends to the investors. ICICI paid a dividend of Rs 5.5 in 1997-98. Even if it maintains the payout at the same levels the yield at the current market price works out to 23.88 per cent per annum. The yield for IDBI's 1997-98 45 per cent dividend works out to 24.19 per cent per annum. Besides, marketmen expect these two institutions to announce good first half results for the current fiscal. The ICICI board is meeting on October 30 to announce its performance for the first half, while IDBI will be announcing its results in the first week of December.