Mumbai, Feb 24 Fears of spending cuts, coupled with lower revenue realisation in the upcoming railway budget dented the sector specific stocks on Wednesday.
According to market observers, stocks of companies associated with the railways ended the day's trade in the red.
"There is a general expectation that the railways has not met its earlier revenue targets due to shortfall in traffic and weak economic sentiment, despite low fuel costs. This might have spooked investors," Anand James, co-head, technical research desk with Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, told IANS.
According to James, investors' sentiments were further subdued over assumptions that the central government might not announce big ticket capital expenditure projects in the railway budget due to be presented to parliament on Thursday.
"The government might not go in for big ticket projects, so as to meet its fiscal deficit targets. This adversely impacted investors' risk taking appetite," James added.
Vaibhav Agarwal, vice president and research head at Angel Broking, elaborated that fiscal constraints and lower expectations from the upcoming budget has led to correction across railway stocks.
"We expect some positive announcements, like encouragement of private sector participation in the railways, update on dedicated freight corridors and increased emphasis on usage of technology," Agarwal noted.
During the day's trade, shares of major firms associated with the railway sector like Siemens, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure, ABB India, HCC and L&T declined at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Stocks of Siemens declined by 2.29 percent to Rs.993.85 from its previous close of Rs.1017.10.
Similarly, scrip of Reliance Industrial Infrastructure dropped by 1.21 percent to Rs.385.30 from its previous day's close at Rs.390.
Scrip of ABB India fell by 0.61 percent to Rs.1,077.25 from its previous close of Rs.1,083.85.
Shares of Hindustan Construction Corporation (HCC) slipped by 0.57 percent to Rs.17.35 per equity share from the previous close of Rs.17.45.
Larsen & Turbo (L&T) stocks declined by 1.49 percent to Rs.1,113.25, from its previous close of Rs.1,130.10.
In contrast, Bharat Earth Movers Ltd. (BEML) stocks rose by 0.47 percent to Rs.1,017.95 from its previous close of Rs.1,013.15 per equity share.
In the logistics space, shares of Timken and Container Corporation of India (Concor) dropped, and those of Gateway Distriparks and Allcargo Logistics showed a significant rise.
Timken stocks dropped by 0.49 percent at Rs.440.15 from their previous close of Rs.442.30 per equity share.
Concor's stocks, also, dropped by 0.19 percent to Rs.1,133.25 from its previous close of Rs.1,135.40.
On the other hand, scrip of Gateway Distriparks gained by 2.74 percent to Rs.213.65 from previous close at Rs.207.95.
Scrip of Allcargo logistics showed a rise by 0.37 percent to Rs.148.30 from the previous day's close at Rs.147.75.
Wagon manufacturer specific scrip -- Kalindee Rail Nirman, Texmaco Rail and Engineering and Titagarh Wagons -- all fell in the day's trade, as compared to the previous day's figures.
Scrip of Kalindee Rail Nirman (Engineers) declined by 1.68 percent at Rs.135, moving down from its previous close of Rs.137.30.
Texmaco Rail and Engineering fell by 1.80 percent to Rs.131.05 from its previous close of Rs.133.45.
Stocks of another wagon manufacturer, Titagarh Wagons declined by 2.60 percent to Rs.123.75 from its previous close of Rs.127.05.
Equity shares of other firms, such as Kernex Microsystems, MIC Electronics and KEC International, declined during the day's trade.
Kernex Microsystems fell by 3.08 percent to Rs.37.80 from its previous day's close at Rs.39.
Shares of MIC Electronics declined by 1.78 percent to Rs.19.35 from it's previous day's close at Rs.19.70.
Stocks of Transformers and Rectifiers (India) slipped by 3.88 percent to Rs.210.30 per equity share from the previous close of Rs.218.80.
Scrip of KEC International fell by 1.29 percent to Rs.103.10 from its previous close of Rs.104.45.
On the other hand, scrip of Hind Rectifiers gained by 3.41 percent to Rs.68.25 from the previous close of Rs.66.
Stone India's stocks rose by 0.52 percent to Rs.67.95 over the previous close of Rs.67.60 per equity share.
