HUL Q2 Results, FM Sitharaman on Economic Assessment, and Top Buzzing Stocks Today

Wed, 21 Oct Pre-Open

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Indian share markets ended marginally higher yesterday.

Buying in index heavyweight stocks lifted benchmark indices higher, despite weak global cues.

At the closing bell yesterday, the BSE Sensex ended the day up by 113 points.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty stood higher by 24 points.

The top gainers in NSE were HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, and Asian Paints.

The BSE Mid Cap index ended up by 0.5%. The BSE Small Cap index ended up by 0.3%.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the realty sector and telecom sector witnessing buying interest.

Energy stocks, on the other hand, witnessed selling pressure.

Gold prices were trading up by 0.1% at Rs 50,704 per 10 grams at the time of closing stock market hours yesterday.

Even with the recent volatility in prices, gold remains among the best performing commodities this year to combat the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

To know more about gold, visit our YouTube Playlist on gold investing.

Speaking of the current stock market scenario, note that Indian share markets have climbed back to their highest levels since the pandemic began.

The Sensex breached the 40,000-mark earlier this month. Meanwhile, the Nifty went past the 12,000-mark last week on Monday.

As per Richa Agarwal, lead smallcap analyst at Equitymaster, there could still be a lot of steam left to this smallcap rebound rally.

Richa believes if you focus on the quality of business, margin of safety in valuations, and an optimum asset allocation, you are likely to create huge wealth for yourself.

Top Stocks in Focus Today

Tata Communications will be among the top buzzing stocks today as the company said that its CFO Pratibha Advani has resigned. Kabir Ahmed Shakir has been appointed new Chief Financial Officer with effect from 21 October 2020.

Last week on Friday, the Tata Group company had posted an around seven-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,848.1 million for the September quarter. To know more, you can read Tata Communications' latest result analysis on our website.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) share price will be in focus as the company has emerged as the lowest bidder for constructing the largest segment of the high-speed rail line between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

The company bid Rs 249.9 billion for the 237.1 km stretch for the bullet train project, beating two other bids led by Tata Projects and Afcons Infrastructure.

Market participants will also track BPCL share price as the oil major's privatization bid deadline will not be extended for the fifth time, as the government's strategic disinvestment program that was hit by the pandemic is back on track, DIPAM Secretary said on Monday. The current deadline is 16 November.

HUL September Quarter Results: 8.7% YoY Rise in Net Profit

In news from the FMCG sector, FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (HUL) posted 8.7% year-on-year (YoY) rise in its net profit at Rs 20.1 billion for the second quarter of the current fiscal year (Q2FY21). On a quarter-on-quarter basis, numbers grew 6.8%.

Revenue came in at Rs 112.8 billion, a growth of 16.1% YoY, while underlying domestic consumer business sales grew by 3% YoY in the quarter.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) came in at Rs 28.7 billion, up 17% YoY.

In a press release, the company said that economic outlook has improved given the various initiatives taken by the government and RBI. Rural markets have been resilient but the demand in urban India has been muted.

The company's board also declared an interim dividend of Rs 14 per share.

Speaking of HUL, in his latest video, co-head of Research at Equitymaster, Rahul Shah discusses HUL's lost decade and its implications for ITC.

The stock of ITC is a hot potato these days.

What should investors do in light of these differences? And how HUL's performance in the past could hold the key to ITC's future?

Know more here as Rahul answers these questions:

FM on Economy: Not Opposed to Another Stimulus Package; Assessing Impact of Pandemic

In news from the macroeconomic space, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government has not closed the option of a third stimulus package in the current financial year.

The Finance Minister said, "we have not closed the option for another stimulus package. We have now started doing some kind of assessment on GDP contraction, we have got some input. We will have to come up with the assessment, whether in parliament or in public."

On 12 October, the finance minister announced a stimulus package worth Rs 466.8 billion, including incentives for central government employees to spend more on consumer durables as well as higher capital expenditure for both the Centre and states.

Asked whether the finance ministry will come out with its own projection for the GDP contraction for the fiscal, Sitharaman said the ministry has just started making an assessment after waiting for the first half of the fiscal to be over.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has projected the economy to contract 9.5% in FY21 while the International Monetary Fund has estimated GDP to shrink 10.3%.

Replying to another question, the minister said the cabinet will soon take up a proposal to identify the strategic sectors in which public sector enterprises would function, opening up other sectors to the private sector as announced as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat package.

Earlier yesterday, Sitharaman held a video conference with Secretaries of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Ministry of Coal, along with the chairman and managing directors of 14 central public sector enterprises belonging to these Ministries, to review the capital expenditure in this financial year.

How the above developments pan out remains to be seen. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on all the news from this space.

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!

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