BSE Sensex ends at 1-month high; HUL rallies 17%

Key equity benchmarks closed at one-month highs, boosted by heavy buying in FMCG, metal and telecom shares. Hindustan Unilever (HUL) rose 17 percent after parent Unilever announced an open offer to buy 22 percent stake in the company at Rs 600 apiece.

The Sensex closed at 19504 up 117 points and the Nifty ended at 5930 up 26 points.

Earnings remained the focal point for the market. The exchanges will remain close tomorrow on account of Maharashtra and Labour Day. All eyes will be set on the upcoming RBI's monetary policy on May 3. The consensus estimates a rate cut of 50 basis points.

The open offer for HUL lifted the sentiments of the entire FMCG sector. Shares of Dabur, Nestle and ITC recorded fresh 52-week highs on possible re-rating of the stocks.

Key gainers in the Nifty were HUL, HCL Tech, M&M, Lupin and Sesa Goa.

Laggards included IDFC, Jaiprakash Associates, PNB, IndusInd Bank and HDFC, down between 2 to 2.5 percent.

Major movers in the market were companies that reported earnings today. Godrej Consumer reported flat profit growth in the fourth quarter excluding an exceptional gain of Rs 129 crore. The operating profit margins also saw a drop of 290 basis points at 16 percent compared to previous year figures. The stock was down 2 percent.

Midcap stocks like Ajanta Pharma and SKF India disappointed the street with their fourth quarter earnings. Ajanta Pharma was down 9 percent from its intraday high of Rs 836 post results announcement.

Kolte Patil on the other hand reported five-fold jump in its net profit at Rs 50.5 crore over previous year. The stock ended flat.

The market has seen some recovery in the last trading hour of the day. The Sensex was up 76.19 points at 19463.69 while the Nifty added 10.50 points to be at 5914.60.

Selling pressure remained in banking, capital goods, oil and gas, auto and consumer durable stocks. The midcap index continued to hurt but was off the day's lows.

Investors were still lapping up Hindustan Unilever which was up 17.4 percent. Putting all doubts to rest, Unilever head of investor relations and M&A James Allison told CNBC-TV18 that the company will not raise Hindustan Unilever's open offer price.

Dabur gained 1.2 percent. Its fourth quarter (January-March) consolidated net profit grew by 17.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 200 crore, sending shares two percent higher. Consolidated total income rose by 12.4 percent to Rs 1543.6 crore from Rs 1,373 crore Y-o-Y.

Sterlite, ITC, Dr Reddy's Lab and Coal India were the biggest gainers in the Sensex.

From the midcap IT space, KPIT Cummins added 5 percent as margins improved to nearly 18% against estimates of sub-16 percent in the January-March quarter.

Meanwhile, some ADAG stocks like Reliance Communications, Reliance Power, Reliance Mediawork were among the big losers.

HDFC Bank, HDFC, L&T, Hindalco, Tata Power dragged during the day.

Key equity benchmarks gave up most of the early morning gains on profit booking. The Nifty, which rallied close to 400 points in the last fortnight, retreated back below 5900 after touching a fresh one-month high of 5950 in the opening bell. Shares in European markets were trading flat after a gap-up opening of a percent.

The Sensex was down 15 points at 19372 and the Nifty was down 18 points at 5885. The breadth of the market was negative. About 869 shares advanced, 1288 shares declined, and 125 shares remain unchanged.

Key gainers in the Nifty were HUL, ITC, HCL Tech, Coal India and Lupin.

Laggards include Reliance Infra, Jaiprakash Associates, PNB, Hindalco and IDFC, down 3-4 percent.

The most active shares on NSE were HUL, United Spirits, Reliance Communications, ITC and SBI.

Resting all doubts, Unilever chief James Allison told CNBC-TV18 that the company will not raise Hindustan Unilever's open offer price. Earlier, the parent company made an open offer to acquire 22 percent stake in HUL at Rs 600 per share.

Speaking on the phone from London he said, ''Rs 600 per share is a fair price and it is a good opportunity for the company to own a bigger proportion in its Indian unit. This deal represents further step in strategy to invest in emerging markets.''

Godrej Consumer reported flat profit growth in the fourth quarter after one removes an exceptional gain of Rs 129 crore. The operating profit margins also saw a drop of 290 basis points at 16 percent compared to previous year figures. The stock was down 2 percent.

Midcap stocks like Ajanta Pharma and SKF India disappointed the street with their fourth quarter earnings. Ajanta Pharma was down 10 percent from its intraday high of Rs 836 post results announcement.

Kolte Patil on the other hand reported five-fold jump in its net profit at Rs 50.5 crore over previous year. The stock was up 3 percent on heavy volumes.

Equity benchmarks gave up early gains and were trading flat Tuesday, on renewed political uncertainty following the latest twist in the coal allocation scam. Weakness in shares from the oil & gas and capital good sectors offset big gains in FMCG shares.

The BSE Sensex was up 48 points at 19435, while the Nifty was down 1 point at 5903.

BPCL, Hindalco, ONGC and Larsen & Toubro were among the key laggards, down 2-3 percent.

FMCG shares, led by HUL, retained much of the gains made early in the day. HUL shares were up around 16 percent at Rs 578.

The market is hopeful of the RBI cutting interest rates by 25 basis points at its monetary policy review on Friday. But brokers say the news has already been priced in, and that clear signs of recovery in the economy was required for investors to commit big money.

After the massive rally in morning trade, the market seemed to be losing steam quickly. The Sensex was up 24.90 points at 19412.40 while the Nifty was down 7.80 points at 5896.30.

Led by HUL (up 16.2 percent), the FMCG index was holding firm but capital goods, oil and gas, banking and consumer durable stocks were getting hammered.

Sterlite was up 2.1 percent after fourth quarter results were strong on expected lines driven primarily by Hind Zinc's stellar performance. Its net sales was up 17 percent to Rs 12609 crore, EBITDA was up 15 percent to Rs 3242 crore while profit after tax (PAT) rose a tad more than 50 percent to Rs 1924 crore.

Bank of Maharashtra gained another 4.4 percent after the 12 percent gain it saw on Monday. The bank reported strong earnings, with net interest income (NII) growth of 35 percent, and PAT growth of 255 percent to Rs 259 crore.

Shree Cements surged 2.7 percent on the back of good earnings.

Other lead gainers in the Sensex were Sterlite Industries, ITC and Sun Pharma.

IGL (down 4 percent) was in focus as the IGL-PNGRB case is likely to be heard at the Supreme Court today. The case dates back to last year in April when PNGRB had directed IGL to reduce compression charges and network tariffs. IGL had appealed against this order in Delhi High Court and the court ruled in IGL favour. After this ruling, gas regulator PNGRB went to Supreme Court.

Hindalco, L&T, ONGC, RIL and Maruti Suzuki were major losers in the index.

The Nifty was trading at one-month high in the morning trade after benchmark indices in US market closed at all-time high. Back home, the sentiment was further lifted by the open offer made by FMCG conglomerate Unilever.

The company made an open offer to acquire 22.52 percent stake in its Indian arm Hindustan Unilever at Rs 600 per share. The stock was up 15 percent.

Market expert and a shareholder in HUL, Ramesh Damani believes that it would be hard for Unilever to get 20 percent plus stake at Rs 600. "The offer was a big vote of confidence in the Indian consumer story," he added.

HUL was the top gainer in the Nifty followed by Sesa Goa, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddys Labs and Jindal Steel.

Laggards include IDFC, BHEL, ONGC, IndusInd Bank and UltraTech Cement, down 1-1.5 percent.

HUL's open offer lifted major FMCG stocks in trade today. Shares of ITC, Nestle India and Dabur India hit fresh high today. Marico and Godrej Consumer Products were also up between 2-3 percent.

Shares in Sterlite Industries rose 2.4 percent after its fourth quarter profit beat consensus estimates by a wide margin.

The market has opened on very strong note. The Sensex gained 208.62 points to be at 19596.12 while the Nifty soared 50.75 points to 5954.85. Star of the day Hindustan Unilever fired up the benchmark indices with the stock rising 18.9 percent on the BSE. 

Unilever Plc, the parent of Hindustan Unilever  Tuesday said it would make an open offer for an additional 22.52 percent stake in the company at Rs 600 per share.   The offer price represents a premium of 20.5 percent to Monday's closing price of Rs 497.

The FMCG index itself was up 5.4 percent while other stocks in the counter like ITC (up 3.1 percent), Marico (up 5 percent), Godrej Consumer Products (up 3.2 percent) too rallied.

Sterlite Industries, Tata Motors and Tata Steel were the other lead gainers in the Sensex.

Meanwhile, banking, auto and oil & gas stocks were growing weak. Hero MotoCorp, ONGC, M&M, Jindal Steel and HDFC dragged.

Investors are closely watching corporate earnings which and patiently awaiting for the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy review on May 3.