Axis Bank and Max Financial revised the terms of their earlier deal, following which Axis Bank will now acquire 17% stake in Max Life, taking their total stake to 18%.

The private lender was earlier supposed to acquire 29% stake in Max Life. Both the involved parties have executed the definitive agreement for the same, according to the exchange filing.

Brokerages view this as a positive for Max Financial and its minority shareholders.

CLSA upgraded Max Financial to buy from outperform and also raised its price target to Rs 720 from the earlier Rs 640.

CLSA's View:

• Revision of deal further reduces uncertainty of long-term distribution tie-up with Axis
• Retains higher stake in the life insurance company
• Clarity on long-term distribution and change in control to Axis Bank may further drive re-rating

Shares of Max Financial gained as much as 13.5% - the most in five months to Rs 623.9. The stock trades at the highest level since September 2017.

Shares of Axis Bank gained as much as 1.6% to Rs 450.5 and are up for the third straight day.

Two large trades took place on the stock in the early minutes of trade where 1.36 crore shares or 8.9% of the total equity exchanged hands, as per Bloomberg data.

The company's promoter group had planned a sale of shares at a floor price of Rs 665 per share, implying a 8.3% discount to Monday's closing price.

The base deal size was intended at 1 crore equity shares, with an option for promoters to sell another 25 lakh shares.

Buyers and sellers in the trade remain unknown.

Shares fell as much as 8.5% - the most in over four months to Rs 663.8. The stock is the worst performer on the Nifty 500 index and has snapped a three-day gaining streak.

The company informed the exchanges on Monday that it received a letter from its promoters seeking to buy the remainder of the public shareholding of the company and delist the shares from the bourses.

As of August 24, the promoter group of the company held 70.01% stake while the remaining 29.99% was public shareholding.

The company will hold a board meet on August 27, to consider the delisting proposal and appoint a merchant banker for the same.

Shares are locked in an upper circuit of 20% - the most on record at Rs 130.8. The stock trades at the highest level since May 2018 and is up for the fourth straight day.

Indian equity markets opened higher for the fourth straight day, tracking positive sentiment on Wall Street and across the Asia Pacific.

The S&P BSE Sensex opened 0.4% higher at 38,948 while the NSE Nifty 50 index opened above the mark of 11,500, gaining 0.4% to 11,513.

Both Sensex and Nifty ended at the highest level since February on Monday.

Most sectoral indices have opened with gains. Nifty Bank, Nifty Auto, Nifty Metal, Nifty Pharma and Nifty PSU Bank have all opened with gains in excess of 0.5%.

Nifty Realty and Nifty I.T. are the only sectoral indices that have opened with a negative bias.

Broader markets are outperforming in the early minutes of trade. The midcap index has opened 0.8% higher while the Smallcap index is up 1%. Both midcap and smallcap indices are up for the sixth straight day.

Market breadth is in favour of the gainers. 1,199 stocks on the National Stock Exchange are trading with gains while 284 are declining.