KOCHI: With the stock markets going into a tailspin, share prices of companies in the state too plunged on Thursday, led by non-banking finance companies. Stocks of Geojit Financial Services, which started the year at Rs 119/share, ended trade on Thursday at Rs 43/share. Manappuram Finance dropped from Rs 121 to Rs 73. Shares of firms like Kitex Garments dipped from Rs 308 to Rs 107 and Cochin Shipyard from Rs 552 to Rs 379.
“There’s a price correction as the IL&FS issue has resulted in a liquidity crisis, which is having an adverse effect on all non-banking finance companies as their cost of capital has increased,” said Geojit Financial Service Chief Investment Strategist V K Vijayakumar.
He added globally the rising interest rates of government bonds and uncertainty of policies at the Federal Reserve under Donald Trump administration have resulted in severe negative sentiments.“With the state and national elections fast approaching, the markets will be volatile for the time being. It’s also time for investors to swoop in to acquire high-quality shares,” said Vijayakumar.