Buyers find PSU stocks attractive on divestment hopes
Our Bureau Kolkata, June 9 PSU stocks witnessed targeted buying as market expected fresh Government initiative for divestments. Of the 45 listed PSU stocks, those with negligible or very small public holding evoked increased interest from the market. "If the Government plans to sell its stake up to 51per cent in the listed PSUs, the total sale proceeds could be over $95 billion, based on the current market prices of listed PSUs. This works out to about 9.48 per cent of the current GDP," according to Mr Jagannadham Thunuguntla, equity head of SMC Capitals. Mr Saurabh Mukherjee, head of the Indian equity at Noble, said investors have appetite for PSUs, most of which have strong fundamentals and high growth prospects. "But there could be resistance by unions, particularly bank unions, against Government holdings going below 51 per cent. Limited resistance, however, is likely if divestments are restricted to 51 per cent." There are several P...