Railway Budget 2016: Railroad firms rise on positive expectations

Market analysts attributed rise on short-covering triggered by hopes of an increase in capital expenditure by Indian Railways

Positive expectations from the upcoming railway budget buoyed stocks of companies associated with the Indian railroads during the volatile morning trade session on Thursday.

Market analysts attributed the rise on short-covering triggered by hopes of an increase in capital expenditure by the Indian Railways.

At the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), shares of major firms associated with the railway sector like Bharat Earth MOvers Ltd (BEML), Siemens, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure, ABB India and Hindustan Construction Co. (HCC) rose during the morning session.

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Stocks of BEML rose by 1.81% to Rs.1,036.40 from previous close of Rs.1,017.95 per equity share (at 10.30 a.m.).

Siemens stocks increased by 1.87% to Rs.1,012.40 from previous close at Rs.993.85.

Similarly, scrip of Reliance Industrial Infrastructure surged by 1.17% to Rs.389.80 from previous day's close at Rs.385.30.

The ABB India scrip rose by 0.23% to Rs.1,079.75 from previous close of Rs.1,077.25.

Shares of Hindustan Construction Corporation (HCC) increased by 0.86% to Rs.17.50 per equity share from the previous close of Rs.17.35.

In contrast, Larsen & Turbo (L&T) stocks declined by 0.02% to Rs.1,113, from their previous close of Rs.1,113.25.

In the logistics space, shares of all major firms showed a significant rise.

Timken stocks increased by 1.92% to Rs.448.60 from previous close at Rs.440.15 per equity share.

Container Corporation of India's stocks also rose by 0.42% to Rs.1,138 from its previous close of Rs.1,133.25.

The scrip of Gateway Distriparks gained by 0.16% to Rs.214 from previous close at Rs.213.65.

Allcargo Logistics firm rose 0.78% to Rs.149.45 from previous day's close at Rs.148.30.

In the case of wagon makers, scrip of Kalindee Rail Nirman and Texmaco Rail and Engineering fell, whereas Titagarh Wagons' rose.

The shares of Kalindee Rail Nirman (Engineers) declined by 1.70% to Rs.132.70, moving down from previous close of Rs.135.

Texmaco Rail and Engineering fell by 1.64% to Rs.128.90 from previous close at Rs.131.05.

Stocks of Titagarh Wagons surged by 0.20% to Rs.124 from previous close of Rs.123.75.

Equity shares of other firms, such as Kernex Microsystems and Hind Rectifiers declined.

Kernex Microsystems showed a fall of 0.79% to Rs.37.50 from its previous day's close at Rs.37.80.

Scrip of Hind Rectifiers declined by 1.98% to Rs.66.90 from the previous close of Rs.68.25.

On the other hand, shares of MIC Electronics rose by 4.13% to Rs.20.15 from the previous day's close at Rs.19.35.

Scrip of KEC International surged by 1.65% to Rs.104.80 from the previous close of Rs. 103.10.

Another firm, Stone India's stocks rose by 2.58% to Rs.69.70 from its previous close of Rs.67.95 per equity share.

Vaibhav Agarwal, vice president and research head at Angel Broking, elaborated that shares of companies involved in business with Indian Railways were volatile ahead of the rail budget.

"Some of these companies like, Hind Rectifiers, Kalindee Rail, Kernex Microsystems and Titagarh Wagons are trading in broader range of positive 1% to negative 1%," Agarwal noted.

Anand James, co-head, technical research desk with Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, said most of the railway stocks were choppy ahead of the presentation of rail budget.

"The sector usually sees major volatility during the budget presentation, but this time, with traders would be approaching the event with reduced expectations," James told IANS.

According to James, investors' sentiments were subdued over assumptions that the central government might not announce big ticket capital expenditure projects in the railway budget, so as to meet its fiscal deficit targets.