FMCG stocks on Wednesday (19 April) gained after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasted a normal monsoon this season. FMCG firms derive substantial sales from rural India and good monsoon may boost farm income and consumer spending.
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (up 1.32 per cent), Britannia Industries (up 0.39 per cent), Dabur India (up 0.55 per cent), Godrej Consumer Products (up 1.32 per cent), Hindustan Unilever (up 0.22 per cent), Marico (up 0.47 per cent), Tata Global Beverages (up 0.2 per cent), Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care (up 0.45 per cent), Jyothy Laboratories (up 0.24 per cent) were the biggest gainers.
Bajaj Corp (down 1.43 per cent), Colgate-Palmolive (India) (down 0.38 per cent), Nestle India (down 0.21 per cent) stocks saw a dip the day’s trade.
IMD, in its first stage forecast of southwest monsoon for 2017, on Tuesday said that, quantitatively, rainfall is likely to be 96 per cent of the long period average (LPA), with an error of 5 per cent. Forecast assessment suggests 38 per cent of probability for near-normal monsoon, it added. IMD will issue the updated forecasts in early June 2017 as a part of the second stage long range forecast of monsoon rainfall.
The June-September southwest monsoon cycle is critical for the country’s agriculture because a considerable part of the farmland is dependent on that for irrigation.
