Shrimp, textile stocks rally on India-EU trade deal optimism; benchmarks snap losing streak
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Shares of Indian seafood exporters climbed on Tuesday amid optimism over the proposed India–European Union trade agreement, which is expected to gradually reduce tariffs on marine products. Under the deal, the EU will eliminate duties on 99.5% of goods traded with India over a seven-year period, with tariffs on Indian marine exports set to fall to zero.
Among shrimp exporters, Avanti Feeds rose 3% to hit an intraday high of ₹780 on the BSE, while Apex Frozen Foods jumped 12% to its day’s high of ₹296.
Shares of Coastal Corporation also moved higher, ending the session at ₹41.94, up 2.95%.
On a year-to-date basis, Avanti Feeds is down about 8%, Apex Frozen Foods is up 6.76%, while Coastal Corporation has fallen 7.7%.
Textile stocks also witnessed strong buying interest. Gokaldas Exports surged 5% to ₹585 per share, while KPR Mill jumped 7.22% to close at its day’s high of ₹910. Welspun Living gained 3.5% to trade at ₹125.25. Vardhman Textiles rose 5% to ₹422, and Trident advanced 4% to ₹26.42. However, Gokaldas Exports pared gains later in the session and ended 2.77% lower.
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On a year-to-date basis, Gokaldas Exports has declined 25.97%, Trident is down 3%, and Welspun Living has fallen 4%.
Overall market reaction
Overall, the Indian equity markets too closed in the positive today, finally snapping the losing streak seen till last week. The BSE Sensex closed at 81,857.48, rising 319.77 points or 0.39%, while the NSE Nifty50 advanced by 126.75 points or 0.51% to 25,175.40.
According to Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, the Nifty recovered from early lows to end at the day’s highs, closing 0.5% higher, supported partly by short covering and largely by optimism surrounding the India–EU FTA.
Broader markets also staged a recovery from intraday lows, with the Nifty Midcap 100 gaining 0.6% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 0.4%. Sectoral performance was mixed. Metal stocks outperformed, with the Nifty Metal index gaining 3%, followed by Nifty PSU Bank, which rose 1.8%. On the downside, Nifty Auto declined 0.9% after details of the India–EU free trade agreement indicated a potential reduction in import duties on a limited number of European cars to around 40%, from the current 70–110%. Sentiment improved after the India–EU FTA was finalised following nearly two decades of negotiations.
"The pact is expected to enhance market access for Indian exporters, particularly in pharma, auto ancillaries, textiles and chemicals, while keeping certain sensitive sectors excluded. Additionally, liquidity measures announced by RBI, including plans to inject over $23 billion through bond purchases, forex swaps and repos, added to positive sentiment.
Going forward, we expect markets to remain rangebound tracking global developments and geopolitical cues, while domestically, stock-specific movements are likely to be driven by the ongoing Q3 earnings season," Khemka said.