Shrimp and textile stocks rally amid India-US trade deal hopes: Gokaldas Exports, Coastal Corp shares surge up to 20%

Shrimp and textile stocks

The shares of shrimp and textile exporters rallied in early morning trade on October 23 amid rising hopes for India and US reaching a trade deal. This would likely result in reduction in tariffs levied on Indian exports to the US, benefitting the export-oriented sectors significantly.

US President Donald Trump has reiterated his claim that India has agreed to reduce its purchase of Russian oil, a key reason cited by him earlier for imposing harsh tariffs on the country. He claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured him during a phone call on Tuesday that "was not going to buy much oil from Russia" as he too "wants to see the war end with Russia-Ukraine".

Trump had earlier made a similar claim, although Indian foreign ministry said it was "not aware" of any phone call between the two leaders. Irrespective of that, the development has increased hopes for India and US to finalise their much-awaited trade deal.

US to reduce tariffs on Indian imports to 15-16%, says report:

According to a report by Mint, India and US are engaged in extensive and advanced discussions on the deal, which may see the tariffs on Indian exports to US reduce to 15-16 percent, from the current 50 percent.

India may agree to reduce its imports of Russia oil, as part of the trade deal, and may also allow in more non-genetically modified (GM) American corn and soymeal into its markets, the report added citing people familiar with the matter.

Moneycontrol couldn't independently verify the report.

Why are shrimp and textile stocks rallying?

The shares of these export-oriented companies had significantly declined earlier after the Trump administration increased tariffs on Indian imports to a whopping 50 percent, citing New Delhi's continued purchase of Russian oil. However, the rising expectations of India-US finalizing on the trade deal boosted the export-oriented shrimp and textile stocks, who derive a significant portion of their revenue from the American market.

Top gainers among textile stocks:

Gokaldas Exports shares rallied nearly 13 percent to trade at Rs 898.95 apiece in the early trading hours. Raymond Lifestyle shares jumped more than 4 percent, while KPR Mill shares gained over 6 percent. Pearl Global Industries shares jumped around 7 percent.

Top gainers among shrimp stocks:

Apex Frozen Foods shares rallied around 13 percent to trade at Rs 261 apiece in the early trading hours. Avanti Feeds shares jumped 10 percent, while Coastal Corporation shares rallied around 20 percent to hit the upper circuit at Rs 44.80 apiece.

Notably, US accounted for 53 percent of exports sales for Apex Frozen in FY25. North America meanwhile contributed to 65.4 percent of total sales for Avanti Feeds, as of Q1 FY25.

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