The BSE Smallcap index hit an over eight-month low of 47,627.96, falling 3 per cent in Tuesday's intraday trade amid selling pressure due to ongoing tariff-related concerns and rising geopolitical tensions.
The textile and apparel sector is India's second-largest employment provider, after agriculture, and it is now caught in a wave of uncertainty following the Donald Trump administration's tariff policy.
India's gain will be an additional business of $300 million to $400 million per month if 10-11% of Bangladesh's export is diverted to Indian hubs like Tiruppur.
IndusInd Bank, Suzlon, and Paytm will remain under focus, as the stocks are pegged to get added to the MSCI global standard index. These stocks, along with six others, are seen attracting cumulative inflows of nearly $2 billion from passive funds tracking MSCI indices. Persistent Systems, APL Apollo, Polycab, Macrotech Developers, Tata Motors DVR, and Tata Communication are the other six stocks that will be added to the MSCI index, shows an analysis done by Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research.
Textile stocks have exhibited a mixed performance so far this calendar year (CY23), amidst higher domestic cotton prices and tepid global demand. Shares of Page Industries, Dollar Industries, Lux Industries, and VIP Clothing have declined up to 13 per cent so far in CY23, as against a 9 per cent jump in the S&P BSE Sensex. On the contrary, shares of Arvind, Welspun India, Raymond, and Gokaldas Exports have gained up to 51 per cent, during the same period.
Notwithstanding the risk involved, analysts are upbeat on micro-cap investing as India remains in a firm bull market. Moreover, these stocks are available at relatively cheaper valuations compared to large, mid and small caps, assuring alpha returns. With a market-capitalisation (market-cap) of up to Rs 10,000 crore, micro-cap stocks are outside the purview of Nifty 500 stocks, and are ranked from 501 to 750 in the market-cap ladder.
The country's largest apparel exporter, Bangalore-based Gokaldas Exports (2006-7 turnover Rs 1,045 crore or Rs 10.45 billion), sprang a surprise last year when leading global private equity firm Blackstone acquired a 50.1 per cent stake in it.
Global financial services giant Citigroup has identified Jet Airways, Indraprastha Gas, Gokaldas Exports and Abhishek Industries as potential targets for leveraged buyouts by smaller companies looking for a presence in India, while acknowledging that
Chief executives in the real estate, consumer products, automobiles, construction, and textile sectors said they were all expecting workers to re-join in the next 45-60 days, which would help them ramp-up production from July.
The biggest worry is not the shrinking of the labour market, but the collapse of good jobs.
The Budget should look at giving suitable fiscal incentives both under direct and indirect tax proposals such as accelerated depreciation and nil customs/ excise levies on capital goods, say experts on the industry.
The CEO of Bangalore-based Gokaldas Exports, one of India's largest garment exporters, says the rise is forcing him to forgo new orders, which could impact business in the coming quarters.
Akhil Jindal, President of Welspun Group and Rajendra Hinduja, Executive Director of Gokaldas Exports say that there has been significant improvement in cotton, home textiles, and the apparel segment.
Exporters say their capacity utilisation has reached almost 70 per cent and that big firms have brought it up to as high as 85 per cent.
'My collection for LFW is all about Indianness.' Fashion designer Soumodeep Datta quit computer science to pursue his dream.
Promoters of 517 companies have pledged nearly 46.35 per cent of their shares, the highest since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Experts say it's not only important to get due-diligence done by an independent firm but it needs to be cross-checked, too.
Murthy no more chairman emeritus; founders do not want to be addressed as promoters.
Growth in the eight core sectors jumped to 8.5% in April, due to a sharp pick-up in refinery products and a commensurate rise in electricity generation.
Despite the recent Western criticism on Bangladesh's labour standards, India has a long way to go before it overtakes the neighbour in global exports.
