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Shares of organised retailers maintained the rally after the Government enacted an order fully opening up the country's single-brand retail sector to foreign investment.
Investors’ interest in the stocks of companies in retail business apparently stemmed from their expectations that the Government would take a positive call on permitting FDI in multi-brand retail once the Assembly polls are over and the Government succeeds in evolving a political consensus on the issue.
Pantaloon saw frenzied trading in the counter with the volume touching 43.35 lakh in about two hours of trading this morning. The stock was up by Rs 12.15 or 8.28 per cent at Rs 158.95. The stock had witnessed a huge fall from its 52-week high of Rs 369 to a low of Rs 125.20 but has managed to claw its way back from the lows.
Trent Ltd, in terms of value, surged Rs 49.05 or 5.89 per cent to trade at Rs 882.45 with the volume of trading being 29,045 shares. This counter too has shed significant value — from a high of Rs 1,280 to a low of Rs 752.05 over a year.
CESC Ltd, though technically not a retail chain, belongs to the Kolkata-based RPG Group that runs the Spencer's retail chain. The stock also was up by Rs 3.65 at Rs 217.60 and this counter also witnessed a surge in trading volume of 1,74,745 shares.
Provogue India Ltd zoomed 12.22 per cent or Rs 3 to Rs 27.55. The volume of trading witnessed was 7.09 lakh shares.
The Government order gives greater access to companies such as Nike. Foreign companies, which want to invest hike their stake beyond the previous cap of 51 per cent, will need to source at least 30 per cent of their goods from small and village industries, said the Government notification.
But the expectations that the move on single-brand retail would be replicated in the case of multi-brand retail soon seemed to be a trifle over-optimistic in view of the widespread resistance not only from the political spectrum but also from the small retailers and the Government may tread the path of caution before taking any decision on this issue.
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