Private sector HDFC Bank has again crossed the foreign investment prescribed ' title=' limit prescribed '>limit prescribed as a percentage of paid-up capital for Indian companies, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday

Only a day earlier, on Thursday, the RBI announced that such investments had fallen below the ceiling.

The apex bank had said that foreign investors' holdings HDFC Bank ' title=' in HDFC Bank '>in HDFC Bank had fallen below the threshold prescribed ' title=' limit prescribed '>limit prescribed under the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy.

In a raction, foreign investors bought the stock, crossing then limit.

"The foreign shareholding by American Depository Receipts (ADR)/Global Depository Receipts (GDR)/ Foreign institutional Investors (FIIs)/Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs)/ Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)/Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)/ Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) in M/s HDFC Bank Ltd has crossed the overall limit of 74 per cent of its paid-up capital." an RBI statement said on Friday.

"Therefore, no further purchases of shares of this company would be allowed through stock exchanges in India on behalf of Foreign institutional Investors (FIIs)/Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs)/ Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)/ Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs)," it added.

The RBI monitors the ceilings on FII/NRI/PIO investments in Indian companies on a day-to-day basis.

The HDFC stock surged initially on Friday after the RBI removed the ban on buying by FIIs, but fell later in the day to close at Rs 1,377.15 a share, up 49.80 points, or 3.75 per cent, over its previous close on the BSE.