Investors gave a thumbs down to the Fitch downgrade of credit outlook of seven PSU stocks, some of which are blue chips, with the stocks not witnessing any major selling pressure.
It was only one stock — IOC — which figured among the Fitch downgrade that hit its 52-week low today. But this was probably more due to the fact that the counter was already very weak and was able to recover from the lows.
Some of the stocks that had hit their yearly lows in the recent past were able to hold themselves and stay afloat despite the credit downgrade by the foreign rating agency.
IOC slipped to its 52-week low of Rs 239 on the BSE this morning but managed to recover to Rs 244, a gain of Rs 2.55. NHPC, which hit its 52-week low of Rs 17.45 on May 18, rose to Rs 17.80 today, a loss of only 10 paise.
NTPC shed just Rs 1.20 to trade at Rs 148.20. It was close to its 52-week low of Rs 138.95 that it touched on May 16. But its problems are more to do with coal linkage and other issues rather than rating downgrade per se.
REC remained unmoved trading at Rs 167.85, down by Rs 3.80. The stock had made a smart recovery after dipping to its 52-week low of Rs 142 on June 7.
PFC was down by Rs 4.15 to Rs 156.60 and SAIL was strong at Rs 91.20, down by just 80 paise. It was way ahead of its 52-week low of Rs 73 that it touched on December 19, 2011.
GAIL also had witnessed significant bounce-back from its 52-week low of Rs 303.10 that it touched on May 18. It was trading at Rs 327, a loss of mere 45 paise.
It may be pertinent to point out that it was only on June 5, GAIL came out with a bond issue of Rs 750 crore (Rs 500 crore + Rs 250 crore green shoe option).
The issue was oversubscribed by nearly five times and the cut off rate was 9.14 per cent, which the company said was the lowest in recent times.
Out of the 60 stocks on the BSE PSU index, 44 were down while 16 others had advanced.
But in the seven PSU stocks that were downgraded, no panic selling was seen if the trading quantity and loss in share price was any indication.