HUL extends rally on higher weightage in global indices

According to reports, FTSE and MSCI indices raised their investable weightage on the stock following the completion of the cash open offer by Unilever.

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has rallied nearly 5% to Rs 718, extending its previous day’s 10% surge, on reports that the FTSE and MSCI indices raised their investable weightage on the stock following the completion of the cash open offer by Unilever in the company and updation of foreign ownership information.

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) holding in HUL has declined to 20.23% in June quarter from 22.11% at the end of March quarter, the shareholding pattern data shows.

The FTSE on its website announced on July 12 that HUL will remain in its All-World Index and All-Emerging Index with an increased investability weighting of 33% against the current 24% with effect from July 22.

Meanwhile, the media reports suggest that HUL has raised the prices of a couple of products under the Dove brand by up to 15%.

The stock currently trading at its record high on BSE has outperformed the market by surging 20% in past one week as compared to 1.7% rise in benchmark Sensex.

Today, the stock opened at Rs 687 and hit a low of Rs 675 in early morning deals on BSE. A combined 4.33 million shares have already changed hands on the counter in early morning deals against an average sub 5 million shares that were traded daily in past two weeks on BSE and NSE.