Shares of wagon and coach-manufacturers extended their early trade losses on Indian stock exchanges Thursday in response to the Railway Budget 2016-17 presented by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, notwithstanding some positives. KEC International bucked the trend and rose almost 4 percent on news of accelerated electrification of rail network during FY2017.
The capital outlay for FY2017 announced by the minister was Rs 1.21 lakh crore, as against the Rs 1.25 lakh crore widely expected by analysts, and this could have dampened sentiments for Titagarh Wagons, Kalindee Rail Nirman, Texmaco Rail and BEML.
Shares of wagon-makers Titagarh Wagons and Texmaco dropped further from their early-morning opening prices and were trading at Rs 118.55 (down 4.20 percent) and Rs 124.95 (down 4.65 percent), respectively, around 2:25 p.m. Passenger coach-maker and defence PSU BEML slipped below the Rs 1,000-mark and was trading with a loss of 2.75 percent at Rs 990.
Simplex Castings was the biggest loser among rail stocks, down 8.09 percent, at Rs 67. The company supplies truck frames and bogies to Indian Railways.
Siemens, which supplies eletrical and signalling equipment, was trading flat at Rs 993.95.
Announcement of three new freight corridors — North-South, East-West and East Cost — and a proposal to review the freight tariff policy by Indian Railways to address concerns of "outpricing" of railway services in the freight market apparently failed to enthuse markets.
KEC International, an engineering, procurement & construction (EPC) provider to railways, among others, gained on news that the network would undertake electrification of about 2,000 km of railway lines in FY2017. The company has electrified more than 6,000 km of Indian Railways, according to its website.
The S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.15 percent at 23,053 while the NSE Nifty was trading 0.38 percent lower at 6,992.30, slipping below the psychological mark of 7,000.
