Surreal… but Real

From what we have read, seen and heard, we have been partially right in believing that the January-March 2008 period was all about sob stories. And we are partially right because there is a greener side to this as well. Despite the many odds and the general trend, sectors like pharmaceutical and FMCG managed to swim to the shores while their peers drowned after the January Sensex wreck. This meltdown that shaved off 23 per cent saw a few stocks - 12 out of the BSE 500 - that actually had a good outing... FMCG Hindustan Uniliver, Nestle and EID Parry were among those which remained intact and benign in the ongoing bull stampede that began in the beginning of 2008. HUL climbed up the hill and moved from Rs 218 in January to Rs 228 at the end of March posting a gain of 4.8 per cent. Similarly, Nestle and EID Parry sweetened by 1.5 per cent and 1.1 per cent in the first quarter of the calender year. The FMCG index however was down 3.5 per cent during the same period. REI Agro - the Rs 1,000 crore rice processing and marketing company, which is also a part of the BSE FMCG Index and has a weightage of 4.46 per cent, was surprisingly not a part of a single fund. A stock which inflated by more than 70 pe

This article was originally published on June 06, 2008.