Benchmarks trade flat; FMCG stocks in demand

The domestic equity benchmarks were trading almost flat after hitting fresh intraday low in afternoon trade. At 13:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 1.66 points to 59,600.18. The Nifty 50 index added 25.75 points or 0.15% to 17,771.65.

Grasim (up 4.50%), ONGC (up 3.38%), Shree Cement (up 1.68%), Hindalco (up 1.57%) and Asian Paints (up 1.54%) were the top index gainers.

Bajaj Finserv (down 1.27%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.22%), HDFC (down 1.17%), Bajaj Finance (down 1.16%) and L&T (down 1.07%) were the major index losers.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.48% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.23%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,041 shares rose and 1,295 shares fell. A total of 107 shares were unchanged.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Industries rose 0.58% to Rs 2430.65. Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL) a subsidiary unit of RIL, has made an investment of $200 Million in the quick commerce startup, Dunzo. With this investment the company will own 25.8% stake in Dunzo.

Bharti Airtel shed 0.71% to Rs 705.20. The telecom major has confirmed to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) that it will not avail the option of conversion of the interest on deferred spectrum and AGR dues into equity.

Titan Company fell 0.76% to Rs 2577.10. The company witnessed strong demand across its consumer businesses and clocked 36% growth over the festive quarter last year. The company's flagship jewellery division saw 37% year-on-year revenue growth, the watch and wearables division grew by 28% YoY, the eyewear segment saw a revenue growth of 27% YoY and other businesses posted a revenue growth of 44% in Q3 FY22.

Godrej Consumer Products rose 0.95% to Rs 957.45. The company said it expects to deliver close to high single-digit sales growth in India in the quarter ended December 2021, largely driven by prices. Recently, the company's MD & CEO, Sudhir Sitapati had highlighted the unprecedented cost inflation witnessed during the quarter. This has resulted in low volume growth and high price growth coupled with high gross margin dilution and EBITDA margin dilution.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty FMCG index rose 0.65% to 37,868.10. The index had declined 0.76% to end at 37,622.50 yesterday.

Tata Consumer Products (up 2.20%), Britannia Industries (up 1.28%), Nestle India (up 1.08%), Hindustan Unilever (up 1.04%), Varun Beverages (up 1.02%), Dabur India (up 1%), Colgate-Palmolive India (up 0.97%) and United Breweries (up 0.61%) advanced.

Concurrently, Radico Khaitan (down 0.81%), United Spirits (down 0.74%) and Emami (down 0.58%) declined.

COVID-19 Update:

In the last 24 hours, India records 1,17,100 new cases taking the country's active caseload to 3,71,363. The daily positivity rate stood at 7.74%). Meanwhile, omicron tally in the country stood at 3,007.

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