HDFC AMC, Polycab, ICICI Pru hit record highs on inclusion in MSCI index

Shares of HDFC Asset Management Company (AMC), ICICI Prudential Life Insurance (ICICI Pru) and Polycab India hit their respective all-time highs on Thursday after their inclusion in the MSCI Global Standard Index with effect from November 26, 2019.

Polycab India surged 7 per cent to Rs 915, surpassing its previous high recorded on October 30 in the intra-day trade. In the past one month, the stock has rallied 32 per cent against an eight per cent gain in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Polycab’s net profit more-than-doubled to Rs 194 crore in September quarter (Q2FY20), on the back of strong revenue growth. It had logged profit of Rs 90 crore in the year-ago quarter. The bottom-line got an additional boost on the back of lower tax rates due to re-measuring of deferred tax assets/liabilities. The company’s revenue during the quarter grew 24 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs 2,242 crore driven by strong growth across segments.

Going ahead with a pickup in the industrial sector, revival of capex and increase in consumer spend can provide healthy traction to the company which can enable the company to fetch higher multiple, according to analysts.

HDFC AMC gained 5 per cent to Rs 3,183, while ICICI Pru gained 2 per cent to Rs 526 in intra-day trade on the BSE today.

Besides these three stocks, a total of 75 stocks have witnessed changes in the latest rejig. Berger Paints, Colgate Palmolive and DLF will included in the index. Other stocks in the ‘inclusions’ list include Info Edge, SBI Life Insurance and Siemens.

Meanwhile, a total of 13 stocks from the S&P BSE 500 index hit new highs on the BSE in an otherwise subdued market. The S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.17 per cent at 40,585 points at 12:22 pm.

ICICI Bank, Jubilant FoodWorks, Adani Transmission, Bajaj Holdings, Colgate-Palmolive (India), Indraprastha Gas, SRF and VST Industries were among the stocks that hit new highs today.

ICICI Bank

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