The Hindu Business Line : Not everyone fell with the markets

If the magnitude of the recent carnage has left you wondering whether anyone at all has been spared, you may be surprised to know that a number of stocks have managed to hold ground amidst this fall.

Stocks such as Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever and SBI from the index basket have all declined 16 per cent or less, even as the Sensex has plunged 31 per cent from its 15k levels in August.

About 32 stocks in the BSE 500 basket have recorded declines of 10 per cent or less in this period.

Stock selection and not the sectors you held, decided how your portfolio has fared in the market meltdown. In the construction/infrastructure space, investors who held Maytas Infra fared far better than those who held Nagarjuna Construction and IVRCL.

The stock of Maytas Infra has gained 6 per cent since August, closing Friday’s trading session at Rs 450. But both IVRCL and Nagarjuna Constructions have fallen by over 55 per cent in the period.

While automobiles sector has not been the most fancied of late, Hero Honda and Maruti Suzuki have done quite well during the fall, escaping the fate of their peers. Both stocks trade at almost the same levels as in August, while Tata Motors has shed 33 per cent, TVS Motors lost 10 per cent and Bajaj Auto 19 per cent.

Indian Bank, Bank of Baroda and Union bank have borne up well in the banking space.

These 3 banks have contained their declines to 3 per cent or less — and were safe havens when compared with ICICI Bank (down by 49 per cent), State Bank of India (down 13 per cent) and Indian Overseas Bank (down 11 per cent) — did better than the markets too.

Another large cap name to post gains was Bharat Petroleum Corporation. The stock’s price has risen 3 per cent since August.

Castrol India too didn’t shed much with its stock price pulled down only by 3.7 per cent. Indian Oil and Hindustan Petroleum, on the other hand, were battered down by 22 per cent and 17 per cent respectively.

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