HUL Q1 pulls market higher despite weak global cues

Sensex opens higher by 60 pts Wipro Q1 net up 18%

Markets have opened higher in trades today ignoring subdued global cues. The Sensex has advanced 56 points to open at 16,933 and the 50-share Nifty has opened higher by 16 points at 5,134 levels.

World equity markets sold off and the euro set new two-year lows against the dollar on Monday. US stocks fell 1 per cent, while most equity markets in Europe ended lower by over 2 per cent.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 125 points, or 1% to end at 12,697, S&P 500 Index ended lower by 15 points at 1,347 and Nasdaq was down 38 points to end at 2,887.

Asian markets are trading marginally lower. The Shanghai Compoite was down 0.2% at 2,136 and the Nikkei slipped 0.4% to 8,472. Hang Seng is closed today on account of holiday.

Back home, Hindustan Unilever is the top gainer among the Sensex stocks, up 3.6% at Rs 460 after reporting 112% year-on-year (yoy) jump in net profit at Rs 1,331 crore for the quarter ended June 2012, on back of land deals.

The core net profit (before accounting for exceptional items) has increased by a 48% to Rs 855 crore during the recently concluded quarter. Revenues grew 14% at Rs 6,250 crore during the quarter under review on yoy basis.

Maruti Suzuki has also opened higher by 2.2% at Rs 1,104 in trades today. Sterlite Industries, Gail India, Infosys, Jindal Steel, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto, ONGC and Dr Reddy's Labs have opened on a flat note.

On the other hand, Wipro is the top loser among the Sensex stocks, the stocks has slipped 3.15% to Rs 345 after it reported lower than expected, an 18% rise in quarterly net profit. Analysts were expecting the net profit to be around Rs 1,600 crore. the compay has forecast subdued IT services sales for the current quarter.

Sun Pharma, Tata Power, TCS, HDFC, Hero MotoCOrp, Coal India, ITC, NTPC and BHEL have alos opened in the red.

On the sectoral front, FMCG index is the top gainer, up nearly 1% or 40 points at ,4917. Auto, metal, bankex, oil & gas, healthcare and power indices are also trading marginally higher.  At the same time led by losses in Wipro, the BSE IT index is trading in the red.

The broader markets have opened on a flat note with BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices up 0.3% each.

Overall breadth is positive as 903 stocks are advancing while 526 are declining.