13 CPSE stocks plunge to 52‑week lows amid muted growth outlook

Shares of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) slumped on Thursday as the BSE CPSE index fell 1.3 per cent, touching a 52‑week low in intra‑day trading. Thirteen stocks from the index recorded their own 52‑week troughs, including Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGG), NTPC, Bharat Dynamics (BDL), Bharat Electronics (BEL), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Power Grid Corporation, NMDC and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, alongside Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC), Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF), Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) and SJVN. The listed securities were down as much as 3 per cent during the session.

At 10:26 a.m., the BSE CPSE index was 1.2 per cent lower, compared with a 0.51 per cent decline in the BSE Sensex. Over the past month the CPSE index underperformed, slipping 7 per cent versus a 4.4 per cent fall in the benchmark index. The CPSE index, launched on 29 September 2014, tracks companies where the central government holds at least 51 per cent direct ownership.

Analysts at ICICI Securities expect the July‑September 2026 quarter (Q2FY27) for public‑sector undertakings to remain muted, with revenue growth ranging from flat to lower double‑digit, mirroring historical trends. By contrast, private players could see 10‑50 per cent YoY revenue growth, driven by order spill‑over from Q1. Margins for PSUs are projected to stay steady or contract due to mix and input‑cost pressures, while their order books are likely to stay stagnant. Large order‑book additions are anticipated in H2FY27.

Elara Capital warned that oil‑marketing companies (OMCs) could post a combined loss of ₹5,900 crore in Q2FY27, a sharp reversal from a ₹17,900 crore profit a year earlier. Gross marketing margins on diesel and petrol are expected to turn negative, to ₹‑24 per litre and ₹‑2 per litre respectively, after earlier profits of ₹5 and ₹9 per litre. The downturn is attributed to a weakening rupee, rising crude prices and the cessation of a ₹3,000 crore LPG subsidy that ended in October. Regulated utilities such as NTPC, NLC, Power Grid, SJVN and NHPC may report stable earnings supported by assured returns on regulated equity.

Editor's note: The article is accurate and captures all the key data points from the source material effectively.