The Hindu Business Line : Small and mid-cap stocks still lagging

Mumbai, Feb. 13 Investors’ lack of interest in in the small- and mid-cap stocks have led to these segments underperforming the benchmark indices. While the Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex fell 18.26 per cent since last month, small- and mid-caps lost 25.04 per cent and 28.71 per cent respectively.

Technical indicators such as circuit summary and advance/decline ratio have captured the grim picture of the market.

More than 1,000 stocks had hit the lower circuit filter in a few days. On Wednesday, as many as 870 stocks – majority of them from mid-& small-cap space – have hit the lower circuit whereas 66 stocks hit the upper circuit.

While 769 stocks advanced, 1,940 stocks ended weak on Wednesday. The advance/decline trend was somewhat better on Wednesday as the ratio used to be 1:6 or 1:7 a few days ago.

Even on Wednesday, while the Sensex was up by 2.05 per cent, the mid-cap segment gained only 0.24 per cent and the small-cap segment was down by 1.35 per cent on Wednesday.

Among the mid-cap scrips that fell the most on the bourses today were Bajaj Hindustan Ltd (9.30 per cent), Carborundum Universal Ltd (6.88 per cent) and Dalmia Cement Bharat (6.49 per cent).

Arihant Foundation and Housing, Astra Microwave Products Ltd and Automotive Axle were among the top losers in the small-cap segment.

Large corrections

Mr Vijay L. Bhambwani, CEO, BSPL India, explained that there was a lot of build up happening in these counters recently and now the reverse has been happening.

“Unless the A-group stocks start to pick, we won’t see the mid- and small-cap stocks pick up. The confidence has to be restored back in the markets for them to start buying the smaller stocks as well. These penny stocks are the worst hit due to uncertain market conditions as they are momentum driven and investors trade in them based on speculation,” said a sub-broker with a brokerage.

Sharp corrections in the large cap counter have made the valuations of these scrips more attractive, say analysts. “Why would an investor buy expensive mid- or small-cap stocks when they can get a cheaper and more valuable large-cap scrip?,” asked Mr Prashant Bhansali, Director, Mehta Equities Ltd. He also explained that as people have lost out on a lot of money in the F&O segment, in order to pay off for these losses, they have been pressured to sell their stocks in the mid- and small-cap segments.

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