LIC sells over 2 percent stake in Merck

New Delhi: Life Insurance Corporation has sold a little over 2 percent stake in drug and chemical firm Merck Ltd through an open market transaction.

With the sale, the total shareholding of the insurer has come down to 5.6 percent, Merck Ltd said in a BSE filing.

LIC earlier had 12,74,823 shares in the company constituting 7.68 percent stake.

It sold 3,43,147 shares totaling 2.06 percent.

The stock surged to a 52-week high of Rs 1,687.30 and trading volume soared over 7.25 times in day trade on Monday on BSE.

Over 5.5 lakh shares of the company were traded on both NSE and BSE stock exchanges.

The stock was trading up by 19.48 percent at Rs 1,680 on BSE. The scrip was trading higher by 18.80 percent at Rs 1,670.00 on NSE at 1450 hrs on Monday.