The severely beaten down realty sector emerged as an outperformer in on Wednesday’s weak markets. The Bombay Stock Exchange Realty Index gained the most as it rose 3.18 per cent to settle at 2,499.74 on a day when the benchmark Sensex declined 0.38 per cent or 74.62 points to close at 19,612,20.
Mumbai-based HDIL was the top gainer in the realty space as its shares jumped 8.33 per to close at Rs 195.65. Another Mumbai-based firm Phoenix Mills was up 7 per cent followed by Sunteck Realty (6.61 per cent), Unitech (6.35 per cent), Ackruti City (5.22 per cent) and Anant Raj Industries (3.27 per cent).
During the fourth quarter of the previous financial year, a majority of the realty stocks had hit their 52-week lows. Interestingly, compared with their lowest levels, the major realty stocks traded 30-60 per cent higher on Wednesday.
According to industry analysts, the realty sector has attracted investors of late as it is emerging as a value buy. “In the last one year, the shares of realty companies were beaten down amid other sectors performing better. Moreover, in the February correction, realty stocks were hit very hard,” said an analyst at a Mumbai-based brokerage house. He said realty had been an illiquid counter as the volume traded was low, marked by a lot of volatility. “I would not be surprised if the stocks lose on Wednesday’s gains in the coming trading sessions,” he said.
An equity head of a mid-sized fund house, said, “Realty stocks were available at a cheaper valuation. As the government is learnt to be considering taking measures to keep a check on malpractices in the sector, I believe it may see further investor interest.”
