HUL Beats Street Estimates And Top Cues In Action Today

BSE Sensex lost 364 points in yesterday’s trade amid weak international market. Losses were largely seen in FMCG and realty stocks.

Asian Markets Tumble on US Healthcare News…

Asian markets ended yesterday’s trade on a negative note as the US dollar weakened. The dollar sank on news that two additional Republican senators had opposed the Republican health-care bill. Investors were now more doubtful over the future of U.S. tax reforms, given the difficulty the health-care bill has faced in making progress.

Top Stocks in Focus

The stock of ITC Ltd is expected to remain under pressure in today’s trade. The stock has shed around 15% since Friday as the government has raised cess on cigarettes. This increase may lead to the manufacturers taking price hikes; which may have an adverse impact on the cigarette consumption.

The company estimates that a fifth of the cigarette market is served by illegal cigarettes. If legal cigarettes become more expensive, the smuggling of illegal cigarettes could possibly rise. This could be negative for the company.

Maruti Suzuki India reported a sales volume growth of 30% in rural areas for the quarter ended June 2017 as compared to a year ago. The robust numbers are on the back of a rural recovery.

The company expects the growth in rural areas to accelerate during the current quarter as the festive season begins. Further, Indian Meteorological Departments (IMDs) prediction that monsoon would be around 98% of the long-period average provides fillip to the sentiments.

Jubilant Foodworks is expected to be in the buzz today. After eight quarters of sluggish growth, the company has reported a same-store sales growth of 6.5% during the June 2017 quarter as compared to a year ago.

The company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization grew by 38% YoY and its operating margins too improved by 2.2% YoY on the back of its strategy to control costs. Going forward, the traction from its new products coupled with the performance of Dunkin Donuts will be the key things to watch out for.