Market Movers: Tata Group guns for Rs 20 lakh crore m-cap, midcap IT runs riot

MUMBAI: One of the defining characteristics of the Covid-19 bull market has been its propensity for nostalgia. The heroes of the yesteryears are back in vogue as if this were some Marvel comic movie where you can’t kill them so you keep resuscitating them in the storyline.

Look at value investing, for example, the bruised and bullied child of Warren Buffett was shoved away like a mediocre backbencher a few years ago but is today back in the limelight. A similar picture could be painted for one of India’s oldest conglomerates, the Tata Group.

The return of the old economy stocks has turned around the fortune of this Old India giant as it now guns for a cumulative market capitalisation of Rs. 20 lakh crore, a first for an Indian corporate house. The Nifty Tata Group index rose another 1.5 per cent on Friday with the market capitalisation of the listed stocks rising to around Rs 19.3 lakh crore.

At the pace it is going, the conglomerate spearheaded by N Chandrasekaran, currently, could find itself on the footsteps of the elusive $300-billion club, and not even the Ambanis and Adanis of India can catch it.

The Show Stealers
For weeks, the IT space was being chided for being a Covid winner. A sector whose good days were well behind it yet, all it took for investors to come running back to the sector is a re-iterations of comments made by TCS’ chief, Rajesh Gopinathan, back in January. With the chief reiterating that the multi-year tech cycle in IT is, in fact, still intact, investors rushed to buy IT stocks.

However, this time it is the midcap IT stocks that stole the show as analysts highlighted their superior earnings performance in the March quarter. While the Nifty IT index rose 1.5 per cent, the mid-sized stocks part of the gauge jumped 2-4 per cent. Dalal Street knows now that it must back the mid-sized guys, if it wants the returns it is so addicted to these days.

Steel stocks make a move
The way this month has been going for the steel sector, Friday’s move almost feels like a mirage. After dominating the market in the March-May period, the sector fell awfully silent in June. However, commentary from some of the companies, most pertinently by JSW Steel, has reminded investors of the sector’s potential. Shares of , JSW Steel, and SAIL ended 4-5 per cent providing a timely reminder to the rest that they are still the sector to beat when it comes to returns.

That said, we are in no mood for a make-believe rivalry between sectors as the weekend is here and so are the Euros.