Railway stocks gain on deal to connect Middle East via railways

New Delhi, Sep 8

A potential infrastructure agreement encompassing ports and railroads being discussed by the leaders of the US, India, Saudi Arabia and other nations supported the outperformance of all railway stocks on Friday, said Vaibhav Vidwani, Research Analyst at Bonanza Portfolio.

After news broke on Friday that the Ministry of Power planned to launch a tender to buy 4,000 MW of gas-based energy for around 20 days between September and November, shares of power were up by 1-4 per cent.

Niche sectors like power, defence and shipping continue to garner interest. Railway stocks were in momentum following media reports of potential deal to connect Gulf and Arab countries via railways, said Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Nifty surged by an impressive 2 per cent, while mid-cap stocks soared an astonishing 4 per cent this week, said Shrey Jain, Founder and CEO at SAS Online.

Nifty Bank, not one to be left behind, posted a solid 1.5 per cent gain.

Among sectors, it was all green except pharmaceuticals. Capital goods, oil & gas, power, and realty indices all enjoyed gains ranging from 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent, painting a vibrant picture of the market's vitality.

An interesting aspect of this week's activity is the mixed participation from Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs). While FIIs engaged in some minor selling, DIIs demonstrated strong buying activity, underscoring domestic investor confidence.