ITC falls on profit booking

The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month, rising 13% compared with the Sensex's 6% rise.

ITC has dipped 2% to Rs 355 on the BSE, with the stock falling on profit booking after recent upmove. The stock opened at Rs 362 and hit a low of Rs 354 so far. A combined 4.1 million shares changed hands on the counter till 1125 hours on the BSE and NSE.

Meanwhile, shares of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) major had outperformed the market over the past one month, rising 12.72% compared with the S&P BSE Sensex's 5.77% rise till yesterday. The S&P BSE FMCG index has gained 8.7% during the period.

The scrip also outperformed the market so far in 2014, gaining 12.83% as against the benchmark index’s 4.18% rise and 6.6% gain in FMCG index.

Analyst at Sharekhan advises investors to book partial profit in the stock and wait for a better opportunity to re-enter it.

Though we maintain our structurally positive view on ITC (historically, it was one of the few stocks that did better than the benchmark index in the bullish phase of 2004-08 as well as the bearish phase of 2009-14). However, the recent upsurge provides a tactical opportunity to take some profit off the table, says analyst in a report dated March 25, 2014.