Markets extend losses, HUL slumps 9%

HUL has slipped by 9% followed by ITC which has declined by 3%

Benchmark indices have extended the losses amid weak Asian cues, alongwith FMCG majors HUL and ITC leading the decline.

By 10:10, the Sensex was lower by 81 points at 19,667 levels and the Nifty dipped by 29 points at 5,857.

Japanese stocks fell on Monday morning, underperforming other Asian markets as the yen hit a one-month high against a dollar hamstrung by expectations of dovish comments from the US Federal Reserve after a policy review this week.   

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1%, following on from a 1.9% rise last week. But Tokyo's Nikkei slid 1.8%, extending last week's 3.2% decline.   

On Friday, US stocks ended higher on expectations of stimulus.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 3.22 points, or 0.02 percent, to end at 15,558.83. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 1.40 points, or 0.08 percent, to finish at 1,691.65. The Composite Index advanced 7.98 points, or 0.22 percent, to close at 3,613.16.

Back home, the rupee today lost 18 paise to 59.22 against the dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market due to month-end demand of the US currency from banks and importers, ahead of RBI's policy review tomorrow.

BSE FMCG index has slumped by over 3% followed by counters like PSU, Capital Goods, Banks, Realty, Metal and Power, all declining between 0.1-1%. BSE TECk, Consumer Durables and IT indices have gained by nearly 1% each.

From the FMCG segment, HUL has slipped by over 9% followed by ITC which has declined by 3%.

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has dipped nearly 6% to Rs 625, extending its Friday’s fall, after reporting a lower-than-expected 4% year-on-year (yoy) growth in underlying volume growth for its domestic consumer business against analyst estimates of 5-6% for the quarter ended June 30, 2013 (Q1) mainly due to the poor performance of the personal products segment.

Other losers on the Sensex include Hindalco, Maruti Suzuki, GAIL, HDFC Bank, Coal India and Dr Reddy’s Lab.

On the gaining side, Wipro has surged over 8% on BSE after the management has given a better-than-expected US dollar revenue guidance of US$ 1,620 million to 1,650 million for the second quarter ending September 30, 2013 (Q2 FY2014).

This is better than guidance given by Wipro since past several quarters, which translates into a qoq growth of 2-4% over June quarter and is above analyst expectations of 1.5-3%.

Other notable gainers are JSPL, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma and Tata Motors.

Among other shares, Natco Pharma is locked in 20% upper circuit at Rs 590, also its record high on NSE, after the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in the company's favour by allowing it to launch a similar version of Copaxone through its marketing partner Mylan Inc during May 2014.

Jet Airways (India) has soared 6.5% to Rs 421, extending its Friday’s 18% rally, on the hope that the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) will approve its proposed stake sale to Etihad Airways as the company has made "major" changes in their revised shareholder agreement to comply with FDI policy norms.

The markets breadth in BSE remains weak with 715 shares declining and 443 shares advancing.