- Shares of ITC Ltd. have climbed to a record high, demonstrating investors may be starting to focus on stability in a market.
- It’s the best-performing stock in the NSE Nifty 50 Index with a 15% gain this year, pushing its market value to nearly $57 billion.
- ITC whose operations range from tobacco to food and hotels, has one of the highest dividends yields and returns-on-equity among Nifty members.
- Nine of the 10 most valued firms faced a combined erosion of Rs 1,87,808.26 crore in market valuation last week, with HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries taking the biggest hit amid an overall weak trend in equities.
- Reliance Industries continued to retain the title of the most valued firm followed by TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, HDFC, State Bank of India and Bharti Airtel.
Shares of Indian conglomerate ITC Ltd. have climbed to a record high, demonstrating investors may be starting to focus on stability in a market churning with concerns over corporate governance.
It’s the best-performing stock in the NSE Nifty 50 Index with a 15% gain this year, pushing its market value to nearly $57 billion. Its climb has accelerated this month, as Adani Ports & & Special Economic Zone Ltd. the index’s worst performers. “ITC’s stable cash flow and dividends have won hearts of investors in this volatile environment amid Adani’s troubles and inflation. The company is also expected to unlock value in its non-cigarette businesses.”- Experts said.
ITC whose operations range from tobacco to food and hotels — has one of the highest dividends yields and returns-on-equity among Nifty members. It also ranks top in a Bloomberg Economics analysis of governance, liquidity and leverage at Indian conglomerates. Tech Mahindra Ltd., a software services provider with similar characteristics to ITC, is the Nifty’s second-best gainer year to date.
Last week, the BSE benchmark tumbled 1,538.64 points or 2.52 percent amid concerns that the US Federal Reserve might raise interest rates further to curb inflation.
Nine of the 10 most valued firms faced a combined erosion of Rs 1,87,808.26 crore in market valuation last week, with HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries taking the biggest hit amid an overall weak trend in equities. Barring ITC, all 10 firms, including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, ICICI Bank and Hindustan Unilever, were the laggards.
HDFC Bank’s valuation declined by Rs 37,848.16 crore to Rs 8,86,070.99 crore at close on Friday. The market valuation of Reliance Industries fell by Rs 36,567.46 crore to Rs 16,14,109.66 crore. The valuation of TCS tumbled Rs 36,444.15 crore to Rs 12,44,095.76 crore and that of HDFC tanked Rs 20,871.15 crore to Rs 4,71,365.94 crore. The market capitalization of ICICI Bank fell by Rs 15,765.56 crore to Rs 5,86,154.58 crore and that of Infosys declined by Rs 13,465.86 crore to Rs 6,52,862.70 crore. Bharti Airtel’s market capitalisation dipped by Rs 10,729.2 crore to Rs 4,22,034.05 crore and that of State Bank of India went lower by Rs 8,879.98 crore to Rs 4,64,927.66 crore. The valuation of Hindustan Unilever slipped Rs 7,236.74 crore to Rs 5,83,697.21 crore.
However, ITC added Rs 2,143.73 crore taking its market capitalisation to Rs 4,77,910.85 crore. Reliance Industries continued to retain the title of the most valued firm followed by TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, HDFC, State Bank of India and Bharti Airtel.
