Asian Paints, Berger Paints & 16 other BSE500 stocks hit new highs

A total of 18 stocks from sectors as diverse as paints, tech, and financials scaled new highs on the BSE on Wednesday in an otherwise weak market.

Asian Paints and Berger Paints hit new highs. So did IT stocks HCL Technologies, L&T Infotech, and NIIT Technologies. Among financials, AU Small Finance Bank and City Union Bank hit new highs.

Apart from these, Polycab India, Ambar Enterprises, Gujarat Gas, Indraprastha Gas, Inox Leisure, Ipca Laboratories, Relaxo Footwear, SRF, Tata Global Beverages, and Trent and Tube Investments of India also hit record highs. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.57 per cent, or 239 points, at 41,714.

Analysts expect paint companies to post healthy revenue growth in October-December (Q3FY20) quarter on the back of growth in the decorative business due to the festive season. Due to the stabilized oil prices, brokerage firm say that the margins won't be impacted much for the quarter.

Polycab India jumped 6 per cent to hit a new high of Rs 1,109 since its listing on April 16, 2019. The stock of the fast moving electric goods (FMEG) company zoomed 111 per cent from its recent low of Rs 525, touched on August 22, 2019.

The company had reported more-than-doubled net profit of Rs 194 crore in the September quarter (Q2FY20) on the back of strong revenue growth. It had logged profit of Rs 90 crore in the year-ago quarter. Its revenue during the quarter grew 24 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs 2,242 crore driven by strong growth across segments. The FMCG products of Polycab largely include switchgears, fans, lightings & luminaires and solar pumps.

Analysts at YES Securities expect Polycab India’s revenue to witness 14.9 per cent y-o-y growth, driven by increased contribution from FMEG segment and higher contribution from exports and optic fibre cable.

AU Small Finance Bank hit a new high of Rs 858, up 1 per cent, today. The stock has surged 8 per cent in the past eight trading days on the back of delivery-based buying last week. Despite all the challenges, in Q2FY20, the bank delivered an all-round best quarterly result so far on asset quality, margins, costs to income ratio, profitability and ROA/ROE with measured growth on a smaller base.

“The bank has stepped up its focus on the used vehicle segment to combat the slowdown in new vehicles and capitalize on its long-standing vintage in used vehicle financing, which offers higher risk-adjusted yields and profitability”, Motilal Oswal Securities said in company update.

COMPANY	LATEST	ALL TIME HIGH	PREV HIGH	PREV DATE
AMBER ENTERP.	1346.40	1350.00	1327.00	01-Feb-18
ASIAN PAINTS	1826.75	1839.20	1833.65	31-Oct-19
AU SMALL FINANCE	854.80	858.05	854.35	28-Nov-19
BERGER PAINTS	539.70	542.75	534.45	14-Jan-20
CITY UNION BANK	241.55	241.95	236.80	06-Dec-19
GUJARAT GAS	269.50	278.20	271.75	09-Jan-20
HCL TECHNOLOGIES	595.20	598.30	597.30	14-Jan-20
INDRAPRASTHA GAS	447.55	451.00	438.55	21-Nov-19
INOX LEISURE	396.25	402.40	398.90	30-Dec-19
IPCA LABS.	1230.55	1251.85	1233.80	14-Jan-20
L & T INFOTECH	1949.40	2002.80	1990.00	10-Sep-18
NIIT TECH.	1808.10	1819.00	1816.95	14-Jan-20
POLYCAB INDIA	1086.50	1108.95	1093.40	14-Jan-20
RATNAMANI METALS	1207.35	1217.50	1217.00	04-Jan-18
RELAXO FOOTWEAR	651.55	654.75	649.95	14-Jan-20
SRF	3550.20	3564.75	3561.75	14-Jan-20
TATA GLOBAL	389.35	395.75	392.00	14-Jan-20
TRENT	575.50	580.95	567.50	30-Dec-19
TUBE INVESTMENTS	514.50	515.00	511.00	14-Jan-20