Railway shares crash on Rail Budget 2013, log losses of up to 16%, Stone India, Kernex hit

Railway Minister P K Bansal, the first Congress Minister to present Railway Budget in 17 years, failed to enthuse investors and railway-related stocks witnessed heavy selling.

Stone India was the largest loser and dropped by 16.21 per cent on BSE, followed by Kernex Microsystems (15.13 per cent) and Kalindee Rail Nirman (11.62 per cent).

Among others, Texmaco Rail tanked by 11.36 per cent, Hind Rectifiers was down 8.82 per cent, Titagarh Wagons lost 8.14 per cent and BEML fell by 2.80 per cent.

"Overall neutral to positive budget as passenger fare and freight targets look reasonable and commensurate with the current growth rate. Reasonable allocations towards building of iron-ore and coal infrastructure. Market was expecting a marginal hike in passenger fare which did not come through," Aditya Birla Money Head of Research Vivek Mahajan said.

The Railway Minister today said that the railways will give a greater focus on safety devices – anti-collision devices, automatic fire & smoke detection system among others.

Accordingly, the stocks of those companies which cater the security segment ended the day with gains defying the tepid broader market sentiment. Zicom Electronics was up 4.24 per cent.

Commercial Engineers and Body Builders (CEBBCO) rose 1.41 per cent and Container Corporation (Concor) was up 2.23 per cent were also gainers.

Meanwhile, Railways is expected to fall

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