Institutional buying takes sensex to a closing high

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Renewed investor interest in metal and FMCG stocks led to a 110 point rally which took the sensex to a record closing high of 10,950. Institutional buying was the main reason for the rally, combined with speculative interest ahead of the expiration of March contracts in the derivatives segment on Thursday, market players said.
Among metal stocks, Hindalco ended nearly 6% higher at Rs 170 and Tata Steel ended 1.7% higher at Rs 493. In the FMCG sector, ITC led the rally with a 4% rise to Rs 185. As a result, BSE’s metal index ended 3.5% higher while FMCG index went up 2.3%. Other top sensex gainers included Tata Power, up 3.4% at Rs 589 and Cipla which ended 3.3% higher at Rs 627.
The day’s gains also made investors richer by about Rs 17,000 crore with BSE’s market capitalisation now at Rs 29.11 lakh crore, its highest ever. Total turnover on the BSE, at Rs 4,551 crore was lower than the current month’s average daily figure of about Rs 5,000 crore.
FIIs, which have been consistent net buyers in the month, reported inflows of Rs 630.50 crore in the first three days while mutual funds pumped in Rs 375.41 crore in the same period. FIIs have pumped in nearly 5,000 crore in the month.

 

 

ITC to sell organic fruit, pulps

Mumbai: After ready-to-eat snacks and staples, it may well be organically farmed and processed branded fruits from ITC stable. If the tobacco-to-hotelsto-FMCG major’s plans to scale up its organic farming activities to sell in the domestic market are accomplished, ITC’s fruits and fruit pulps could soon be jostling for shelf space in Indian supermarkets this year.
“We are already exporting organic fruit pulps to institutions and the export turnover is estimated at Rs 4 crore. We could soon launch organic fruits and pulps in the domestic market,’’ S Sivakumar, head of ITC’s agri business, told TOI.
However, the company is yet to get into the specifics like the brand name under which it would market such products and the plan of action on the sales and distribution front. Finding end-to-end solutions in organic farming is a new business that ITC quietly ventured into three years ago. Being a $27 billion industry globally, and growing at the rate of 20% per annum, organic farming offers an immense opportunity for growth. In India, however, chemically treated fruits and vegetables tower over those which are farmed organically.
Not many corporates, having a national presence in India, are involved in this business. This is despite the fact that consumer awareness on the food front is growing. One of the main reasons is the price premium that an organically treated food would attract over that which is chemically treated. The price of an organically farmed produce can be at a premium of 20-100% over the chemically treated ones. Though premature at the moment, ITC hopes to make the pricing of its organic fruits and spices relevant for the domestic market. It also hopes to extend the domestic brand, as and when it is launched, to exports.
Another reason why organic farming has not taken off in India as much as it has in the US and Europe, is the cost involved in certification of organic foods, which the farmer may not be willing to pay. Training of farmers is another issue, and so is the yield, which may not be as high as when it is chemically treated. The organic input industry too is not as big as the chemical input industry which has a vast presence of domestic and multinational companies.
“Before venturing into organic farming, we kept these issues in mind and decided to come up with end-toend solutions. We started from the beginning by collecting farmers in groups and training them. Certifications were done by groups so as to facilitate the process. We have already covered Maharashtra, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, with the total area being over 1,000 hectares,’’ said Sivakumar.

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