Three PSU stocks trump Jan to jump more than 50%

Cheer up, it looks like the good times are about to start once again. With hopes of an economic turnaround increasing, foreign investors are coming back in hordes. That has led to a sharp jump in the benchmark indices. The BSE Sensex, shot up by 7.5 percent after falling 25 percent in 2011.

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So which stocks made the biggest gains? _Firstpost_highlights the top five January winners.

Three of the top five were public-sector companies - State Trading Corporation (No. 1), MMTC (No.2) and Hindustan Copper (No.5). They galloped by 72 percent, 67 percent and 60 percent, respectively. The government’s decision to increase the dividend payout ratios to 30 percent for cash-rich public-sector companies undoubtedly led to a sharp rally in these stocks. While the government is the largest shareholder in these companies, other investors will also reap the rewards of higher dividends, which is why there was a scramble to own these stocks.

Prakash Industries, a company that caters to the steel and power industry, was another stock that zoomed 63 percent jump (No.3). The gain can be attributed to two reasons: the first is that the company had reported a sharp 74 percent fall in its stock price last year, and was the beneficiary of a turnaround in sentiment towards the overall market.

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The stock could also have gained because of the completion of its expansion plans.

KSK Energy Ventures is another stock that pocketed a 60 percent gain. The rise in its stock price could be due to expectations of better-than-expected profit numbers: net profit for the December-ending quarter soared by more than seven times from a year ago.

The promoter’s holding in the company also increased to 74.94 percent from 54.94 percent after the completion of its open offer last year.