Shares of State Bank of India (SBI) gained as much as 1.5 per cent in the morning trade on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on the reports that country’s largest state-run life insurer LIC has increased its stake in the country’s largest bank to 13.26 per cent through open market purchases.

At 10:30 hours, shares of SBI were trading at Rs 1,508.10 a piece, up 1.27 per cent from previous close on BSE.

Earlier, LIC had 10.4 per cent stake in SBI and with the acquisition of another 19.57 lakh shares from open market, its stake has gone up to 13.26 per cent, said an Economic Times report.