Persistent Systems, L&T Tech Services: Here's what Ashish Chaturmohta of JM Financial says on these two stocks

Ashish Chaturmohta, Executive Director and Fund manager at JM Financial, said small-cap and mid-cap indexes are going to outperform the broader markets. "We are seeing a lot of traction in the mid-cap IT space," Chaturmohta told BT TV on Friday. On the stock-specific front, the market expert picked Persistent Systems Ltd as one of his top picks. "The stock is consolidating near its 52-week high (Rs 5,278.50) for the last 7-8 months. This kind of relative strength indicates that even when the broader indices and the IT as a sector were seeing profit booking, Persistant showed stability. In terms of performance, the company also recorded very strong quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) growth," he said.

"The stock is headed towards Rs 5,600-5,700 in the next 2-3 months. On a further shorter perspective, Rs 5,300-5,400 is on the cards in a 3-4 weeks' timeframe," Chaturmohta mentioned. Persistant shares were last seen trading 0.85 per cent lower at Rs 5,074.85. 

The other stock which Chaturmohta suggested was L&T Technology Services Ltd (LTTS). "LTTS is in a very comfortable position. The stock hit a 52-week high (Rs 4,427.20) in the previous session. It is poised for a move towards Rs 5,000 trajectory," the market expert said. LTTS today slipped 1.51 per cent to Rs 4,330.95.

In addition, Mayuresh Joshi, Head-Equity Research at William O'Neil India, said, Orient Paper & Industries Ltd looked attractive at the current juncture.

Meanwhile, Indian equity benchmarks traded lower in early trade today, dragged by technology, pharma, consumer goods and bank stocks. Mid- and small-cap shares were down as Nifty Midcap 100 fell 0.26 per cent and small-cap shed 0.01 per cent.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,525 crore on a net basis during the previous session, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 5,797 crore, according to provisional National Stock Exchange data.

13 out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the NSE -- were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty IT, Nifty Pharma, Nifty FMCG and Nifty Bank were underperforming the NSE platform by falling as much as 0.78 per cent, 0.75 per cent, 0.57 per cent and 0.63 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, Jio Financial Services was the top loser in the Nifty pack as the stock cracked 4.99 per cent to trade at Rs 202.80. Dr Reddy's, IndusInd Bank, L&T and Sun Pharma fell up to 1.56 per cent.

In contrast, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, BPCL and HDFC Life were among the top gainers.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,603 shares were advancing while 1,240 were declining on BSE.

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