Faster recovery in rural areas, cheaper oil augur well for paint firms

The March 2020 quarter (Q4) results of decorative paint majors — Asian Paints and Berger Paints — announced on Tuesday after market hours gave hopes to investors, and rubbed off well on all paint stocks on Wednesday. Shares of Asian Paints, Berger Paints, and Kansai Nerolac gained between 3.7 and 7 per cent, even as the Sensex fell 1.5 per cent on Wednesday. Akzo Nobel, too, was up 4 per cent during the day but ended only marginally higher.

The commentary from the management of Asian Paints and Berger Paints indicates a faster-than-expected recovery in the decorative segment, which earns