Railway-Related Stocks Settle Lower On Profit Booking

Shares of railway sector companies, including Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd and IRCON International, settled up to 9 per cent lower on Wednesday due to profit booking after the Budget announced a Rs 2.4 lakh crore capital outlay for the sector.

Most of the railway stocks had witnessed an uptrend in the morning trade, before succumbing to selling pressure.

Texmaco Rail & Engineering slumped as much as 9.32 per cent to settle at Rs 51.1 on the BSE, while shares of Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) fell 4.53 per cent to close at Rs 72.65.

In addition, Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) went down 4.54 per cent, IRCON International fell 4.23 per cent, Container Corporation of India lost 2.96 per cent and Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) dropped 1.43 per cent.

Shares of Jupiter Wagon and Titagarh Wagons fell 5 per cent each to hit their lower price band.

However, the stock of K&R Rail Engineering surged 5 per cent to hit its upper circuit on the bourse.

"Markets were already anticipating announcement related to railways and the related stocks were also pricing in same ahead of the Budget. With the announcement in Budget and negative sentiments the sector may have witnessed profit booking post event," said Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget for 2023-24 announced the highest-ever capital outlay of Rs 2.40 lakh crore for railways, which is 9 times the outlay in 2013-14.

With increased passenger expectations, the railways is planning to refurbish more than 1,000 coaches of premier trains such as Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto, Humsafar and Tejas. The interiors of these coaches will be improved with a modern look and for enhanced passenger comfort.

With more high-speed Vande Bharat trains set to hit the tracks, the allocation for track renewal has been increased from Rs 15,388.05 crore in Revised Estimate 2022-23 to Rs 17,296.84 crore this year.