CPSE stocks rally; BHEL surges 25%, REC and Engineers India up over 10%

Rail Vikas Nigam, MSTC, and India Tourism Development Corporation were locked in 5 per cent upper circuit on the BSE.

Shares of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) were in focus on Wednesday with Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL), REC, Engineers India, Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) and Power Finance Corporation (PFC) advancing over 10 per cent on the back of heavy volumes on the BSE.

BEML, Bharat Electronics (BEL), Moil, Balmer Lawrie & Company, NMDC, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Shipping Corporation of India and National Fertilisers were up in the range of 6 per cent to 10 per cent, while Rail Vikas Nigam, MSTC, India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) were locked in 5 per cent upper circuit on the BSE.

At 01:38 pm, the S&P BSE CPSE index was up 3.6 per cent, as compared to a 2.2 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Rs 20 trillion relief package for the Covid-19 impacted Indian economy in a late evening address to the nation on Tuesday. The package would cater to various sections, including the cottage industry, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), labourers, and middle class.

The PM said the stimulus package would help the country achieve the objective of self-reliance through five pillars--an economy geared for quantum jumps, not incremental changes; modern infrastructure; technology driven systems and processes; demography; and a strong demand and supply chain. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL REPORT

The brokerage firm Barclays believe more measures to invert duty structures to protect and promote domestic manufacturing might be on the anvil, but we await more clarity. Self-reliance is a big theme in PM’s speech, and may indicate more protectionist tendencies.

Among individual stocks, BHEL has surged 25 per cent to Rs 26.90 on the BSE in the intra-day trade on the back of over 5-fold jump in trading volumes. A combined 258 million equity shares, representing 20 per cent of total free-float equity of BHEL, changed hands on the NSE and BSE till the time of writing of this report.

Last week, BHEL had called for Expression of Interest (EOI) from foreign companies who wish to use its currently idle factories for manufacturing from India. As per brokerages view, this could be a win-win situation for both the foreign company and BHEL.

“The partnership can shorten the time to set up manufacturing facility for the incoming partner while also helping BHEL utilise its idle factories and employees. With power sector demand still struggling, this is a significant diversification move. With BHEL offering a readymade solution in the form of factories, staff as well as pre-set vendor base and supply chain, this can open up several possibilities for BHEL in the longer term if handled well, in our view,” analyst at Emkay Global Financial Services said in flash note.