Bharat Forge, KNR Constructions: Here's what Devarsh Vakil of HDFC Securities says on these 2 stocks

Devarsh Vakil, Deputy Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, said domestic broader indices mid-cap and small-cap have seen a massive outperformance. Currently, we are going through a well-deserved correction which can continue for a certain period of time, Vakil told BT TV on Tuesday. On the stock-specific front, the market expert picked KNR Constructions as one of his top long-term fundamental picks. Accumulate KNR Constructions for a long-term period of around 2-3 years in a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP), he said.

Vakil mentioned that the company has a track order of timely completion of projects. He gave a target price of Rs 329 on the counter. Shares of KNR Constructions were last seen trading 3.88 per cent higher at Rs 265.25 against their previous close of Rs 255.35.

The other stock which the market expert suggested was Bharat Forge. "The company has sizeable defence and aerospace orders. We are also expecting growth in the private vehicle exports," Vakil said.

Accumulate Bharat Forge as it may deliver 10-15 per cent returns over the long-term, he added. The stock today rose 1.61 per cent to hits a 52-week high of Rs 995.20.

In a separate development, brokerage Nomura has assigned a 'Buy' call for Bharat Forge with a target price of Rs 1,157.

Meanwhile, Indian equity benchmarks were slightly up in early trade today, led by gains in metals, financial and automobile stocks. Mid- and small-cap shares were positive as Nifty Midcap 100 climbed 0.62 per cent and small-cap gained 0.64 per cent.

On the global front, Asian markets gained marginally today after declining in the previous session. Overnight, Wall Street equities closed mixed.

Back home, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold Indian shares on a net basis during the previous session, offloading Rs 1,901 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 626 crore, according to provisional National Stock Exchange data.

14 out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the NSE -- were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty Metal, Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Auto were outperforming the NSE platform by rising as much as 1.01 per cent, 0.50 per cent and 0.47 per cent, respectively. Nifty IT, however, slipped 0.22 per cent.

On the stock-specific front, HDFC Life was the top gainer in the Nifty pack as the stock jumped 2.80 per cent to trade at Rs 642.65. Adani Enterprises, SBI Life, Hindalco and PowerGrid gained up to 2.36 per cent.

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In contrast, Jio Financial Services, LTI Mindtree, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys were among the top laggards.

The overall market breadth was positive as 2,088 shares were advancing while 664 were declining on BSE.

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