Market Movers: Has the DMart gravy train finally come to a halt?

MUMBAI: Despite what seemed a genuinely strong earnings performance, shares of Avenue Supermarts plummeted nearly 8 per cent in trade today.

The company’s strong earnings performance became an excuse for investors to book profits after a stellar run for the stock since July. The gains in the past two months were built on the hopes of a strong Q2 earnings performance.

Those hopes gave way to doubt as investors wondered if the stock would be able to sustain one of the highest price-to-earnings multiples in the market currently. Most analysts acknowledged DMart owner’s strong performance, but some saw it enough to merit sky-high valuations and downgraded the stock.

Infosys carries the bull
Reliance Industries is undoubtedly the King of Nifty50 given its sway over the index’s movement, but Infosys is the unsung hero of this bull market.

The stock has continuously carried the bulls to record-high levels over the past 18 months swatting away any doubters who came along the way. The large-cap IT company’s industry-beating growth rate means that investors see it as the bellwether even if TCS enjoys bigger market capitalizations.

Whisper it but if Infosys’ growth trajectory continues to overwhelm TCS it may not be long before that valuation gap between the two is bridged once and for all by Infosys.

PNB Housing’s sorry takeover
The ill-fated takeover of PNB Housing Finance by Carlyle Group and others is now dead and buried. The efforts of the past year and more of the board are now down the drain and with it the possibility of rerating for the company.

Analysts were quick to highlight that the board’s decision to not proceed with the takeover is set to trigger a sharp de-rating in the stock. Shares of the company plummeted and ended at their 5 per cent lower circuit. Today’s lower circuit is likely to be the first of many for the stock.

MCX suffers a puncture
Shares of Multi Commodity Exchange have been flying high in recent weeks thanks to prospects of launching new products like metals options and spot power trading.

The possibility of entry into power trading like IEX has been one of the major drivers behind the stock’s rise in the past two weeks. However, the bull wagon suffered a puncture today as the stock fell over 4 per cent.

The fall in the price was not because investors lost interest in MCX’s bright future, but because the market’s most celebrated investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala decided to trim his stake in the company in the September quarter.

Tata Power in Rs 1 lakh crore club?
Tata Power has been a story in itself this year. The stock is one of the biggest money-makers of the past nine months as investors rushed to buy the stock on optimism for its renewable energy and electric vehicle infrastructure plans.

The stock’s market capitalization today soared to Rs 82,200 crore as the stock ended 15.6 per cent higher. If the stock gains another 20 per cent, it will cross the Rs 1 lakh crore market capitalization. Given the stock’s track record, the company should get the cake delivered on Wednesday.