The government sold 9% stake or 42.2 million shares of Axis Bank via Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI), according to news report.

The SUUTI, which held 20.72% stake in the bank, offloaded 9% shareholding through multiple block deals which largely took place on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Shares of the bank declined Rs 5, or 0.37%, to trade at Rs 1,351.85. The total volume of shares traded was 49,306,420 at the BSE (10.39 a.m., Friday).