Sensex gains; Unilever's India bet cheers FMCG

Reuters Market Eye - The BSE Sensex gains 0.76 percent, while the broader Nifty is up 0.58 percent, underpinned by strong Asian shares and as Unilever Plc makes open offer to raise its stake in its Indian unit.

Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever will pay as much as $5.4 billion to raise its stake in its Indian unit, Hindustan Unilever , to up to 75 percent in a bet on fast-growing spending power in Asia's third-largest economy.

Shares in HUL gain 16.14 percent, after rising as much as 20 percent earlier in the session.

Other FMCG stocks like Colgate-Palmolive India Ltd rise 6.78 percent and ITC Ltd up 1.02 percent.

Shares in Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd rise 2.5 percent in early trades after its January-March profit beat consensus estimates by a wide margin.

Jet Airways shares rise as much as 2.59 percent a day after a founder group company of the carrier said it would sell a stake as part of public float rules.

Asian shares rose on Tuesday as investor risk appetite was underpinned by hopes for political stability in Italy and expectations for U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank to continue with growth-supportive monetary stimulus measures.

(Reporting by Archana Narayanan)