Fmcg Scrips In Punters Sights

FMCG stocks hogged the limelight at major bourses yesterday as punters continued to target side counters for the second consecutive day.

Spurred by Nestle's excellent corporate results, players targeted other stocks in the sector which resulted in some off the scrips hitting new 52 week highs during intra day trading.

The notable gainers among FMCG stocks were Cadbury, Britannia, HLL and Colgate. "Earlier, there were apprehensions that BJP would not be favouring MNCs which had resulted in scrips losing ground, a few trading sessions back. However, the perception has changed as the Prime Minister has temporarily retained the crucial finance portfolio with himself.

This has given the signal that the BJP wants a market friendly finance minister at the helm of affairs. Also companies like Cadbury and Britannia have launched new products, the benefits of which will be felt in the first half results of the companies," said a leading BSE broker.

The Britannia scrip touched new 52 week high of Rs 486 and Rs 485.95 on the BSE and NSE during intra day trading. On the BSE, the scrip closed at Rs 474, a gain of Rs 32 over the previous close with 1.19 lakh shares changing hands.

The Colgate scrip touched an intra day high of Rs 266 on the BSE before closing at Rs 261, a gain of Rs 5 over the previous close. The scrip clocked trading volumes of 3.01 lakh shares on the BSE, which is far higher than average trading volumes of few thousand shares daily. The TVS Suzuki counter witnessed a bout of renewed trading interest yesterday with the scrip hitting the upper end of the filter circuit on the BSE at Rs 534. On the NSE, it touched a new 52 week high of Rs 534.15 during intra day trading but slipped to Rs 518 at close on profit taking .

Yesterday's rally was led by stocks in software pharma and fertilisers sector. Markets were agog with rumours that one of the Honk Kong based funds was actively buying into pharma scrips.

As a result, some of the pharma stocks hit the upper end of the filter during the intra-day trading. Trading at the German Remedies counter remained suspended yesterday at the BSE. The scrip closed at Rs 328.30, which was also its 52-week high. It clocked a turnover of Rs 6.09 crore at the BSE, while at the NSE, it clocked a turnover of Rs 1.2 crore.

This apart, Dr Reddy's Lab scrip shot up and closed at Rs 393 over its previous close of Rs 376.50. During intra-day trading, the scrip touched its 52-week high of Rs 403.

There was hectic activity at the Lakshmi Machine counter and trading remained frozen at the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs 1850 and later hit the upper end of price band at Rs 2034.75. While only 961 shares of the Lakshmi Machines were traded at the BSE, 375 shares were traded at the NSE. At the NSE, the scrip closed at Rs 2084.50.

Among the fertiliser scrips that flared up include Deepak Fertiliser, which closed at Rs 18.55 before touching its 52-week high of Rs 19.50 at the BSE. Nearly 1.2 lakh shares were traded at the BSE. There were reports that the company was trying to restructure its activities. Also, the company is expected to record excellent results during the current fiscal.