Railway stocks jumped up to 10% after Ashwini Vaishnaw took charge as the Indian Railway minister continuing from his previous stint. The gains were led by Jupiter Wagons which shot up to the day's high of Rs 682.90 on the NSE, gaining 10% on the intraday basis. It was followed by Texmaco Rail & Engineering and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which surged 6% each as of noon.
The other gainers were Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC), BEML, Ircon International, RITES, and Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) which were up between 2.5% and 5%.
Vaishnaw who has headed the ministry since July 7 during Modi 2.0 has been trusted with the job once again by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The decision on portfolio allotment came on Monday.
Railway stocks have had a dream run over the last year and almost all the aforementioned stocks have delivered multibagger returns. State-run RVNL's year-to-date and 1-year returns stand at 214% and 113%, respectively. IRFC's 1-year returns are even better at 434% while this year so far, they stand at 76%. Ircon's 1-year returns stand at 218%. Among other PSY railway stocks IRCTC and RITES yielded 56% and 82%.
Among the private ones, Titagarh (189%), Texmaco (208%), and Jupiter Wagons (400%) have also moved on the fast track.
Commenting on railway stocks, market analyst Sudeep Shah said that the counters have experienced a strong upward rally over the past few quarters. Notwithstanding the recent correction on lower